[Gameday XI, PFS1 CORE]#4-25: Glories of the Past Pt 3 - The Secrets Stones Keep (5-9) (Inactive)

Game Master Aldizog

Gameplay thread. Game will begin September 11, 2022.

A large half orc wearing a chain shirt and carrying a greataxe enters the lodge. He finds a comfortable chair in the corner. Setting down the axe he wonders. An Andoran eagle tattoo is visible on his forearm.

What Pathfinders will they have for this mission?

Venture-Captain Canayven Heidmarch is waiting in the foothills of the Mindspin Mountains, just outside of Urglin. Gripping the leads on a trio of laden pack animals, he nods in greeting, then begins. “Pathfinders, in light of recent discoveries in the orc city of Urglin, we now have enough information available to send a team into Koldukar. It’s been a long several weeks, so let me bring you up to speed.

Pathfinder agents recently entered Janderhoff and found a damaged stone stele marked with the names of the other five known Sky Citadels, the fortress cities of the dwarves. The rune for Koldukar glowed when we spoke its name, and we suspect an even more complete stele resides in that city. Getting in would be rather difficult,” he admits with a grim face, “but it seems that Gulros knows the way.”

With that, Heidmarch motions to a lean orc who nods his acknowledgement.
“I have had some time to speak with Gulros, and I believe him trustworthy. Do not abuse that trust, and do not abuse him. He owes us a favor, but you will be at his mercy if he feels betrayed. Follow him to a series of caverns to the west of the orc city of Urgir, and there he will direct you through a tunnel that leads directly to subterranean Koldukar. From there, navigate the Sky Citadel and find your way to the stele. If it is still intact and functional, activate it and see what else you can learn of dwarven history. I suspect that you will also be able to use the stone to signal Janderhoff. I will be there awaiting that signal, at which point I’ll coordinate your extraction from hostile territory.

These animals have all the supplies to see you to Urgir and back; if you find anything missing, hurry to Urglin and acquire it. You’re heading into a ruin that predates the common language, so make sure that somebody has the means to speak and understand Dwarven. Any questions?”

You may each, if trained in the skill or otherwise able to make checks above DC 10, make a Knowledge (History) check for Koldukar and a separate check for the Dwarven Steles. Make one check for each and open the appropriate spoilers. You can Take 10 on these checks.

A diminutive man with a remarkably striking red beard sits on top of his trusty travel companion. The little gnome smiles at all of this talk about dwarves. His memory of dwarves are of a stubborn and greedy people who seldom bathe. Of course his jaundiced opinion is in no doubt coloured by his memory of a particular trader whom he met on occasion.

"That is a fair point. Does anyone here speak Dwarven?"

"Sylvester here by the by in case we have not met yet."

"This is Shaggy of course."

A beautifully maintained wolf hound with a deep fawn coat looks around at all the new people. He is content to simply stand and watch for now. As most dogs he seems friendly enough.

A blue haired gnome entered the briefing. ”Apologies! It seems like I’m a bit late,” she adds as she takes her seat.

”A dwarven sky citadel, eh? I like the sound of that. Im sure there will be plenty of interesting things to find! Im Doodle by the way!”

Seems we are outside.

A tall and well muscled woman dressed in shades of greens and browns moves out of a heavily treed area with no discernible trail to join the group. Her breastplate is dragonhide and an expertly crafted shield is across her back. a scimitar is belted at her side and a club hangs by a thong from her wrist. A sharply curbing blade that glints of silver balances the scimitar on the other side. Merry met all you I am Stormy. Hey, Doodle, good see you again. Why are you sting on the ground? she says and immediately moves to both check and calm the pack animals. It is obvious she has some affinity with the beasts.

A large black cat moves just up to the edge of the clearing and settles into a crouch still within the trees. It seems to understand that if it gets closer it might upset the other animals.

As the venture captain speaks Stormy continues to check the animals, their loads, how the loads are distributed and the contents. But it is obvious that she is listening as she offers {b]I speak Dwarven.[/b]

1 point in History here. Lets me roll :)

Knowledge History, Koldukar: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 = 19

Knowledge History, Steles: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

When the Venture Captain finished speaking Stormy asks What's a Stele?

Khellek listens carefully to the briefing, before starting to talk.

"Well, at least it is obvious why I, the societies premier historian, got picked for this expedition. Unfortunately I don't speak dwarven... yet. My specialization has been in human languages, and other ancient tongues. Though I have picked up a couple of extra-dimensional languages too. That said, I do have a couple of tricks up my sleeve for reading unknown texts."

So, despite speaking 22 languages, none are dwarven :-( I do have both tongues and comprehend languages available as spells though.

The scholar then starts to recite what he knows.
Feel free to open spoilers. I can T10 for a 41 on a history check. Knowledge skills is what I do

"The dwarves built Koldukar upon completing their Quest for the Sky more than 9,000 years ago. However, the site is now the capital city of the orcs, a place they call Urgir, meaning “first home.”
Originally, Koldukar was a multi-level city held aloft by giant pillars of stone and iron deep beneath the earth. Tremors and earthquakes ravage the area around Urgir. So whether the pillars still stand.. seems doubtful."

He then turns to the matter of the Stele.

"These steles are more than just maps; they are carved from the same type of stone and radiate an aura of divination magic. It is said they can speak, but what other powers these steles hold is either a secret guarded by dwarves or lost to time. Of course, I have read about a couple of them.
What I do know is that each stele has the ability to contact its sister steles. As long as the runes are intact at both sites, one can merely call out the desired Citadel’s name. If this is done properly, one can talk to the contacted stele as if that stele were the monument before them. Presumably, Captain, this is how you want us to contact you?
Sky Citadels have all manner of guardians; it is said that these guardians rarely attack dwarves. Furthermore, the guardians can be deactivated and even controlled with the proper use of a stele."

He bobs his head to Doodle "Ms Montafescue. Lovely to see you again. " Likewise he offers a short bow to Sylvester. "Mr Solstar!" I do hope that we won't get going anywhere too short. The three of you won't have any problems, but ...[/b]"

"A stele also known as stela is a type of monument. It is a wood or stone plank with writing or carvings on it."

This is an actual English word (of Latin origin) but is clearly not widely used outside of academic circles. My character's description is not exactly correct but is close enough.

Sorry to cross-post with you Khellek. I will have to roll with it. :)

The gnome was suitably impressed with himself. He might not be a wizard but he is not uneducated. Still he has to blush at the outpouring of information coming from the historian.

The young gnome does his best to hide his insecurities and he turns on the charm with the old man.

20 Bluff on a take 10.

"That is rather impressive Khellek. I am certainly glad that you are around here to fill in the gaps of our knowledge. "

Sylvester thinks for a moment trying to make some practical use out of Kellek's knowledge.

"If one or more us can appear as dwarves then perhaps we will be safe from the guardians. This is possible with magic."

A dour-looking elf comes walking up. His gaze alternates between his surroundings and an unrolled parchment in his hands. He consults what must be a missive as he tries to find where exactly he has been dispatched to.

My sincere apologies.

"Dwarven? Sorry, I don't have the stones for it." He scans the faces of the others looking for any glimmer of familiarity. Bah! Why do I bother? They all look the same anyway. If only they had the details and distinction of elven features.

He half-heartedly waves at the others as if it is clearly an effort he would rather not be bothered with. "Well met. I am Fethril. I am certain you are all very good at what you do. I am here to help make you better at it."

Fethril is a sour-puss to be sure, but I can dial it back if it is a bother to anyone. Fethril is my (probably very ill-conceived) experiment with the mystic thurge. His role is some healing, some buffing, some crowd control. I usually start fights off casting Enlarge Person and/or Bless. Any requests for something specific? Happy to oblige if possible.

Khellek eyes up the elf for a moment.

SM: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (10) + 13 = 23
The elderly scholar nods his head toward Sylvester. "Well, maybe you should sign up for one of my history courses. There is always plenty of space." he shakes his head. "You'd think in an organization such as The Society more people would be interested in history. Never mind, as we go I'll be sure to offer you some tips and pointers."

Sylvester just giggles at the thought of everyone dodging the old man's classes.

"Maybe you need to spice it up a bit. You know make it more exciting. I can help you with that with my fey magic. People can feel like they were actually there. Hear noise from the past. That sort of thing."

"Oh... an assistant? That could work. I tried doing something like that once myself in class.. but while I was working on it, I dropped my notes. And then as I was leaning over to pick them up, my glasses fell off. And in all the confusion I lost my focus on the spell. " he sighs.

"It was not a good experience for anyone."

Sylvester nods.

"We can work out the details when we get back but leave the showmanship and illusions to me and you can concentrate on teaching your class."

The gnome looks around.

"As for this mission are we planning on starting anytime soon?"

"Sorry Fethril, I do not mean to rush you if you want to ask questions and welcome of course."

I usually start fights off casting Enlarge Person and/or Bless. Any requests for something specific? Happy to oblige if possible.

Feel free to cast Enlarge Person on Stormy any time there is enough room for it not to be a disadvantage. Not sure it will work on her cat or on her if she is shifted to a large animal.

I speak Dwarven. She says again, this time without mumbling. Typo caused the statement not to be bolded last time. :)

"As for this mission are we planning on starting anytime soon?"

"Sorry Fethril, I do not mean to rush you if you want to ask questions and welcome of course."

Patience! Yes, I was waiting for anyone to ask any questions. But if not, off we go.

Your journey to Koldukar is largely uneventful, though at times Gulros directs you to take cover to avoid mountain orcs or leads you through winding arroyos to stay out of sight.

Gulros offers no details on his background or what brought him to work with the Society, other than to remark "Pinkskins pay well. And don't eat their own."

Following 2 weeks of travel thankfully without random encounter rolls you reach the entrance to the tunnels that Gulros claims will lead you to Koldukar.

At least one of the casters will need Create Water prepared, since there is no reasonably way you could carry enough water for two weeks. The scenario claims that three pack animals carry enough supplies for you to make it there and back, so let's assume it is supplemented with hand-waved Survival checks.

Gulros indicates a cave entrance.

"I could go in. But I would rather lay low outside. Guard the pack animals. Wait for your return. I will keep them hidden if anything passes by, and keep an eye out for you."

"Some Belkzen orcs do know about this tunnel. Not many use it. Goes to a useless part of the old dwarf fortress."

What do you do?

The naturally charming gnome winks at Gulros.

"Excellent plan, big man. Stay alive and be there when we need you for the return trip. Take care of yourself."

"So is everyone ready to go underground? Do we know how far we have to go to get to the fortress?"

After a couple of weeks of travel Shaggy has warmed up to their guide. The dog does not understand Taldane but he can read their body language well enough. He barks a good bye.

"Woof! Woof!

Doodle pulls her spear and casts Mage Armor. ”Do any of you know how to check for traps? When I try that, I normally end up in a pit or hit with some dastardly poisonous dart or something!”

Sylvester looks over at Doodle and smiles.

"Well I have sharp eyes. It must be that hint of Gold Dragon blood pumping in my veins. Of course with such an experienced party I would not presume to be at the front of the party but if you want me to check out a door or something that is fine by me."

Technically I think that Fethril's Perception score is a smidge higher. Of course Sylvester does not know that.

"I love your Taldane nickname. It is so cute."

The little sorcerer wards himself against harm (Mage Armor) as well.

"If the local orcs use the tunnel sometimes, we can hope there are not traps left about. If there are... well, there is not a lot I can do to help. The darkness on the other hand..."

Khellek peers into the dark tunnel and sighs, wiggling his fingers. A set of small lanterns appears in the air.

Khellek has a negative perception score. The only way he will find a trap is the Doodle method!

He offers a friendly wave to the guide. "Do we know how far in we are expected to travel? If this was a city, we may need to take some food with us.."

Those who took note of the scholar during the two weeks will have noted that he sleeps little, and eats even less. Long nights are spent pouring over an improbably large library that seems sequestered within a rather small looking knapsack.

Khellek wears a ring of sustenance, more for thematic reasons than any practical ones.

Doodle pulls her spear and casts Mage Armor. ”Do any of you know how to check for traps? When I try that, I normally end up in a pit or hit with some dastardly poisonous dart or something!”

@Doodlevain, remember that anybody can look for traps, although you need to be a Rogue (in Core) to Disable magic traps. You also need to be a Rogue to get the Trap Spotter talent for the passive checks, but Stonecunning is equivalent in some cases (or the Find Traps spell).

Passive checks let the party move 40'-60' each round instead of 10' (which is what active checks require; move 10' and move action to search a 10' square). This mostly matters for active buffs.

Take 10 is entirely allowed on Perception. For what it's worth, I am very lenient about Take 10 (but very stingy on MW tools for skills that are not explicitly tool-based).

If the party wants to establish some protocol for trap-checking (every 10', or doors and doorways only, or something else) let me know. I don't mind automating that with Take 10.

----
The orc guide replies to Khellek. "You shouldn't have to go through Urgir itself. Just the old dwarf ruins below. About three hours' walking. More if you want to be sneaky. How long do you want me to wait?"

Sylvester pipes up.

"Seriously Gulros as long as you are able to. We will try to be as fast as we can but we might need to rest or get turned about. It would obviously go faster with you around but I understand your reluctance to risk your neck for the society but if you could wait at least a couple of days that would be great."

@GM Aldizog - Sylvester has two MW-Tools. A pair of riding boots which he wears to aid with his riding checks and a rabbit foot which he uses for UMD. They are both legal in PFS but if you want to suspend the use of either/both of them for the duration of your game then let me know. :)

"I'm not so good at traps. Is anyone?"

"Apparently Doodle is fantastic at setting them off and that is one way to go."

Sylvester says with a giggle.

Doodle shakes her head at the other gnome. ”Sometimes I hate being in the society,” she laughs.

”Alright! I volunteer to be one of the front line. Who else wants to take the chance on falling into a pit with me?”

Khellek coughs. "I most definitely do not volunteer. Not only are my bones getting a little more fragile in my old age, my ability to get out again is not exactly something the Master of Swords would want to use as an example."

Sylvester grins. He is pocket sized even by gnomish standards. He is absolutely useless on the front-lines and he knows it.

"Well you have the other big guy (pointing to Grog) and the lady with the big cat. I would think that you would be fighting for the front spots."

"I will be darting in and out at times with my spells. I need to be careful with Shaggy and I will keep an eye on this old man here."

So how do you proceed?

Active Perception checks every 10'? Or just at doors? Or at any other specified times?

Edit: such as... looking for tracks on the ground before going in?

On the trip Stormy takes good care of the pack animals and helps track (+14).

My eyes are at least somewhat sharp, if I have light. I will go in the front if needed but would prefer the second rank with Shade. When do we cast buffs?

Stormy has Create water prepared. I recommend we only check doors. too slow otherwise. A lot of my buffs will be 10 minutes/level so likely not casting them yet if we expect 3 hours of travel.

Agree with Stormy. Active checks the whole way would take forever. Let’s just check at doors, etc.

As my character is mounted he does not use any of his actions to move. Therefore he can be an effective look out that does not slow the party down. Even at half speed (Shaggy and Sylvester) will move as fast as Doodle and Stormy. So Sylvester can effectively make an active perception checks every 10 feet and still keep up with the rest of the party. We can go with a 25 on a take 10 or a 27 if someone is generous enough to hit Sylvester with a Heroism spell. :)

As my character is mounted he does not use any of his actions to move. Therefore he can be an effective look out that does not slow the party down. Even at half speed (Shaggy and Sylvester) will move as fast as Doodle and Stormy.

The area that a Perception check covers is the limiting factor that makes it significantly slower than half speed. It is a move action to search a 10' square, so it could be:

That would be a speed of 20' per round, so half as fast as the party would go with doors-only Perception checks, but twice as fast as if going unmounted and checking everything.

Since Shaggy would only use a fraction of his speed (10' with each move action), Stealth would have no penalty. Everyone else could likewise try Stealth with no penalty since they would be going at half speed or less.

How about this for a plan. My character will search the 10 foot square in front of the party from the third rank. This will mean that either other characters from the first two ranks of the party will have travelled over the area or the area will be covered with a Perception check. This should not slow down movement at all but will leave some gaps for the first two rows of the party. This is probably the best compromise to move at full speed if you agree with my reasoning.

It sounds like you are envisioning checking half of the "hallway" squares. Sylvester makes a check of the 10' square in front of the front rank; they move 20' (one move action). Then he makes another check of the 10' square in front of them, and they move another 20' (another move action). That is entirely possible. Should there be hallway traps (i.e. not on a door), there will be a 50% chance of Sylvester having searched that square (I will roll 1d100, and if >50 then I will apply Sylvester's Perception check).

Sound good?

Yes I agree. But at least with this plan Sylvester should not be triggering the trap himself. :)

Grog can auto assist on Perception

Grog looks at Stormy. "Hey long time no see..."

Khellek nods to the suggestion. "MS Weathers, I can either move my lanterns ahead of you, or cause a coin, weapon or similar item you hold to glow. Either should provide you with sufficient illumination."

@Grog - Actually you cannot aid the Perception check without slowing the party down (I wish you could). Thanks for the offer anyways. :)

Hmm. If your light is the only one perhaps we should consider using both?

Sylvester chimes in.

"I can put up some light as well in the back of the party."

"Don't you burly fighter types have glowing axes and swords when you wade into battle anyways?"

Sylvester does a rather fair job of mimicking Grog's movements and gestures as he wages a mock battle.

16 on a take 10 for Perform-Comedy(Buffoonery).

Khellek shakes his head. "Oh my, my memory must be going. I'm sure I learned the lantern spell a while back. Guess I'll just have to stick with a regular light."

I must have traded out dancing lights at some stage, I'm sure I kept both for a while, just for such a situation as this.

Before every door, Fethril will also cast Detect Magic.

"I believe light will not be an issue for this party." The elf seems almost hopeful. Have I finally been sent along with a team of professionals?

”Let”s go then. Time is a wasting,” Doodle says, beginning the journey through the tunnel.

”Let”s go then. Time is a wasting,” Doodle says, beginning the journey through the tunnel.

"Hey Doodle long time no see..." says Grog.

Sylvester casts the light spell on a lucky chestnut of his. He puts in an open front pocket which he can close easily enough to put out the light. He can also if he chooses magically levitate the glowing chestnut around as needed.

The sorcerer straightens his blue and silver starred hat in preparation to continue their journey.

"Right, everyone ready?"

The gnome takes his place in the third rank of the party ready to potentially (hopefully) spot any traps along their journey underground.

He pets Shaggy and expertly guides him with his knees alone.

Well met Grog. Glad to know your axe will be with us again. You want point or shall I take it. I have to admit I usually need a moment before I start swinging so you might be better.

I usually need to cast a buff or shift before I start fighting.

1d100 ⇒ 16 Nothing to see here...

You enter the caves. The The passage is natural and varies between 5 and 15 feet in width, with a ceiling that averages 10 feet in height. There is no natural illumination within, but the various Light spells suffice - though make it impossible for the party to be stealthy.

Somewhere, Harsk sits and sips his tea sadly. I was meant for this, he thinks, but nobody ever wants me around.

The monotony of cavern terrain—gray sand, gray walls, and gray rocks—is broken by the appearance of a fierce banner as the tunnels open into a slightly wider stretch of cavern. At the cavern’s center, a standard constructed from a column of giant vertebrae is planted into the sandy floor. An intact femur forms the standard’s cross beam, and a sheet of purple cloth hangs from its knobby prominences. An image of an orc skull almost entirely encircled by coiled spinal column is emblazoned across the banner’s center.

Map is up, and also linked above. Please place your tokens (included on the first slide) within the red dashed box.

Before entering the wider cavern Stormy will cast a few buff spells. Those spells lasting ann hour or more she casts just inside the cave complex.

This is about 15 minutes in on what Gulros said would be about a 3-hour journey.

If you cast all of the hour+ spells just as you started, then they are still active.

If you want to cast anything else, you can cast another spell now, but don't cast more than one - the actions of others may affect what happens next and you may or may not have multiple rounds to cast.