[GAMEDAY XI] GM ECLIPSE'S RACE FOR THE RUNECARVED KEY (Inactive)

Game Master Agent Eclipse

Oh of course Triix replies. Dessert is my favourite thing, especially in the cool of the evening at Qua .... erm .... where I come from. Triix is, as usual, dressed as a stage magician, complete with hat.

Nearly slipped up there. Darn it. She's not given her name and I can't probe her mind yet. And what is this ... Order of the Nail? Food is darn good though

Triix is most likely sitting between Aylanni and Ella, unless subtle maneuvering was done to prevent that.

"Expensive, and possibly dangerous," Gorrig agrees. "I don't know what it does, but a unique item like that turning up now, of all times? What do you make of it?"

Aid Another (Diplomacy): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19

Ella bides her time, waiting for the mysterious patron to expose some weakness for her to pounce on!

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20

When confronted by Aylanna regarding the Hellknight's interest in the key, the woman pauses for a moment of reflection, then turns stone-faced and politely excuses herself from the dinner.

As she exits, she curtly adds “Thank you for the meal Doctor, and best of luck at tomorrow’s auction.”

And she stands and walks out of the dining room.

"Rude! Doctor, are you sure you trust this hellknight who would not even share her name or answer simple questions. If you are in any kind of trouble, please let us know, we can help!"

More Diplomacy!: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13

if someone else wants to help, a seperate check if allowed would be better lol

Triix just frowns and whispers over to Ella. What's a Hellknight and the Order of the Nail?

The Doctor looks flustered. A...a Hellknight? Who? She was? How do you know?
If this is true, well that will not do. I cannot be associated with such an organization.
I would recuse myself from the auction immediately!

You can role play the information with the doctor.

Also, time to select the next mission...
I can choose for you, roll for it, or you can decide from the name of the tasks:
-The Curse
-The Debtor
-The Scandal
-Underbridge Exports
-The Good Doctor
-Glow of the Rushlights
-Dead Woman’s Debts
-Hydra Bait

I hope you do not get into trouble for that. And yes. I presume a Hellknight is a Knight from Hell which implies evilness. We do not have them where I come from.

"They're not actually from Hell, they just think that life would be better here if it were more like Hell. So you know, nutjobs. The Order of the Nail is... one of their groups. The torture one? I mean, most of them are the torture one, but the extra torture one?"

I'll just vote for Curse to keep things moving, but I'm easy :-D

I have to admit, there is still a lot of things I do not know and probably I should know. Thank you for that. I guess I will be studying more history and culture when I return to Absalom.

I'm easy too, Curse will do

"Not all of them are evil, but definitely evil-adjacent. Still, they do know how to eat!"

Well done team! Curse is fine.

Curse sounds good

Sheila Heidmarch greets you and commends your progress but jumps right to the point on the next one.

“We have no time to lose.
I think we got lucky with our merchant friend, Falrig Sneve.
He mentioned that he was trying to conserve funds for
the auction, so we sent him an invitation to stay at Haruka
House on the grounds of our manor. If you have yet to see it,
Haruka House sits alone on the west side of the main house
and is the most luxurious of the four Thassilonian cottages
on the property. As far as I can tell, Sneve suspects us of no
foul play. Still, we can’t have him mucking up the auction,
can we? Thankfully, I doubt we have to do much. Ensure no
actual harm comes to him, though, as such would reflect
poorly upon Heidmarch Manor and the Pathfinder Society.
Rather, somehow trick him into believing the Runecarved Key
is cursed and he should withdraw from the auction without
any further urging.”

He dismisses you "I am sure you will devise a suitable plan.

"Well, sounds as though we need some flour, phosphorus, a convincingly faked diary... though I'm amenable to any of that labor being replaced by magical means."

"I'm honestly not that clandestine... I could PURIFY the flour if you want though? Is that good enough???"

I'll roll an Aid on Bluff since I assume someone will lie at some point.

Bluff Aid: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
can't even do that!

Oooh .... should I appear out of a puff of smoke and say spooky doom and gloom things.

You are given the address to Haruka House, which you can reach without difficulty despite the darkness.

You can attempt to fool Sneve through the use
of social skills, create some kind of phantasm to haunt
Haruka House, or use a combination of the two.

Triix tries using some of her stage magician tricks as well as actual magic to cause spooky effects.

profession stage magician: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17

Lo will enhance Triix's efforts using Ghost Sound.

Gorrig has no magical abilities (certainly none that would help here), so he will wait to see how it plays out before opening his mouth.

ok so going to the house and casting through a window or ?

Most likely through a window

"Agreed, magic would be useful. But maybe some item or other would work instead? If we had some way of pushing things around without touching them, we could make it look like the item repels other things."

Looking into a window you spot Sneve in the study. No guard apparent.

Mage Hand? Unseen Servant? Telekinesis?

Trillix and Lo Pei use tricks and sound to try to rattle poor Sneve.

will: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 4 + 2 = 12

And the poor man nearly jumps of his chair and drops his book.

1 success...likely needing a couple more to scare him completely.

How about Linguistics and knowing Abyssal to make super-creepy but also unintelligible haunting words to scare him. Aylanna is a halfling, so can probably make it sound like a creepy kid type of thing.

Linguistics: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (18) + 11 = 29

Ella does her best to zhush up Triix's spectral show with glowing props and other accessories.

Craft (alchemy): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

Already a bit shaken, Sneve pulls away from the Abyssal gibberish. He backs into a corner of his room and shakes, "What is going on here!"

Ella helps improve the various tricks happening around the room, and Falrig is certainly terrified but the group just needs to convince him it relates to the Runecarved Key.

One more success needed.

Anyone got the Silent Image spell? If you do, project an image of the Key into the room ..... and make it really spooooooky

She is also noting down all the ideas that the others are coming up with as they are useful for her act. She may also be spell scroll shopping in the near future.

Also, since Sneve dropped his book, Triix is using her Mage Hand to make it float all around the room, accompanied by glowy dancing lights which she tries to make into the shape of the Key.

spellcraft: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (5) + 11 = 16

To make it even worse, she uses her Limited Telepathy to project an image of the Key into his mind along with words relating to the Runelords and general evil.

"Aylanna - you know any Thassilonian? Or at least enough to fake it?"

Linguistics: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13

"I don't really know Thassilonian, just the very most basics."

I could cast Murderous Command on him? As long as there's not actually anyone inside that he could hurt, he might at least feel possessed and lash out at the nearest chair?

Triix probably has the best idea for tying it to the key, unless someone has a really good bluff and an idea to knock on his door to tell him about.

Deception is... shall we say, not this paladin's strong suit. Intimidate seems like a relevant option, but lying is against the paladin code so probably not helpful here.

Triix's Limited Telepathy seems like a good idea!

Falrig: 1d20 + 4 - 2 ⇒ (2) + 4 - 2 = 4

Trix creates a show of Falrig's dropped tome and projects her own thoughts to his mind directly, he can discern where it could be coming from and quickly panics. He rushes to pack his items into bags, tossing a sheet over his tome before packing it away.

"I can't this one is already torturing me...I need to get away from it." he laments aloud. He quickly lets the caretaker know that he will be leaving the city immediately, apologizing for the quick departure. The Pathfinders can confirm easily he leaves town that night with no intention to return to the auction.

---

Time for another mission. I can choose for you, roll for it, or you can decide from the name of the tasks:
-The Debtor
-The Scandal
-Underbridge Exports
-Glow of the Rushlights
-Dead Woman’s Debts
-Hydra Bait

In the mood for a fight - I'll guess/vote Hydra Bait

Sure. I hope I can handle it, but I'm in.

Triix spends the rest of the evening giggling to herself - at least it doesn't devolve into maniacal laughter.

Does that mean Triix becomes the bait? :)

Lo will happily share a few laughs with Triix.
"The look on his face.."
A little combat is fine. Hopefully no actual hydras show up. :)

Dibs on not being the bait! But sure I'm good with that.

“We’re still a little short on funds and we need to make some quick coin! If you’re daring enough, head over to the Alabaster District and enter a hydra baiting competition at the Serpent’s Run coliseum. The Master of Games, Axetongue Droaeb, has offered a decent sized purse to adventurers willing to get in the ring with one of his ferocious multi-headed beasts. As always, this event draws a tremendous crowd, one whose coin will more than double the purse he pays to contest participants.“ Heidmarch says as the group prepares for their next mission.

They easily find Jorston “Axetongue” Droaeb, the Master of Games. He smiles as the new recruits arrive.

"Now, your job isn't to damage our monsters too bad. Just put on a good show! Hopefully you survive but if some don't, you get to split the purse in more ways. You ready?"

As the group readies themselves in the arena, the Master of Games waits for their signal.

Putting up the slide in a moment.

As they leave after the briefing Lo looks at his companions. "I will not lie. I thought the Hydra was going to be rhetorical. Oh well.."

Gorrig grins. "I thought maybe the 'bait' was someone else's nickname. Previous adventurer, maybe. I guess after this we can all call ourselves that!"

In the arena, Gorrig draws his two-handed sword but needs no other preparation.

Aylanna double checks to make sure she's got everyone in the party on lifelink. "Focus on making it flashy, and I'll focus on keeping the bait alive!"

I can do flashy

Ella and Snorri can both make preparations before the Hydra is released. It is also Knowledge: Nature to identify.

---

Combat Round 1:
Players in BOLD may act.

Triix
Aylanna

Hydra

Ella
Snorri
Lo Pei
Gorrig

Aylanna makes a little show out of granting guidance to Lo Pei. (+1 competence bonus on a single attack roll, saving throw, or skill check)
"Gods grant this champion your power to defeat this mighty creature!"

Then she flashily tumbles into cover behind one of the pillars!
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19

Triix does some flashy spellcasting with Prestidigitation as she enters. When battle commences she launches what appears to be comets at it before ducking behind a pillar.

mm: 2d4 + 2 ⇒ (3, 4) + 2 = 9

Has Triix had a chance to recharge her spellslots since the battle with the Aspis caravan?

Snorri tries to remember what he can about hydras.

Knowledge Nature: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

With a shrug (and possibly a few words to his allies), he saunters toward the front of the group, drawing his greatsword. He grins at Gorrig and does a flourish, showing off the resources he has put into making this an expensive but deadly weapon.

Lo murmurs, something about being too short to be a champion...
He also wracks his brain to see if he knows anything interesting about a hydra.
know nature: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

Gulping down a Shield extract
Knowledge (Nature): 1d20 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (3) + 7 + (5) = 15