GM Frost's S04-01 Intro: Year of Boundless Wonder [PbP Gameday XI] (Inactive)

Game Master Frozen Frost

Wonder abounds!

Clad in the two-toed sandals of the mysterious warrior mystics of legend, our hounded hero backflips into the [redacted] lodge window, ready to perform his great heist!

Word spread of a great treasure trove having been recently been sealed away behind the Great Vault, it is left to those of great cunning and subterfuge to obfuscate their presence and abscond with the prize, parting a fool organization from it's stored value.

And the thrill of it all - such Boundless Wonder!

Having recently been infiltrating the ranks of the Pathfinder Society - the perfect cover for the perfect job - the hobgoblin sneaks around in his footpads through the halls, suddenly lost in the enormity of the architecture... and is caught! [Redacted] asks him "What are you doing?" to which with quick tongue and fast social reflex he feigns his attention "Reporting for duty, captain!" easily falling into a military salute from his conscription days (long behind him now) to seal the disguise...

...but what now!?

Thevenin shuffles into the the Grand Lodge. It's all boundless wonder to them, outside of their former life in the Findahar Forest, there are all sorts of things to explore.

They offer a leafy hand to Hisaki.

"Greetings!"

Checking the outstretched hand for a hidden dagger and finding none, our hounded hero salutes the leshy, adopting the appropriate phrase.

"Greetings, yes. Reporting for duty, captain!" Misidentifying his soon-to-be ally as leadership.

His own "hidden dagger" hand patting the contents of a pocket currently out of site from the room (whew!) containing a document detailing an agreement of sorts on behalf of the Society's rival organization - the Aspis! - a sub-contract and a stipend amount. He swallows nervously before opening the conversation to exonerate himself from potential suspicion "A fierce warrior, you have the bearings of. What is your rank?" coming "at ease" but keeping his body language appropriate for being in the presence of an officer (just in case).

And altogether, blending in, like a true ninja, with the common recruits!

dot

Sticking to the shadows of the lodge, and out of sight of the window is a man covered in leather armor and wearing a red and black executioner's mask. He seems eager to be on the move, though he knows he can trust those in the room as he whispers his name. "Name is Xanthe, though refer to me in public as the Headsman." He explains his situation a bit more clearly. "I am on the run, an ex-Gray Gardener from Galt, hence the disguise, it is the only one I had packed unfortunately. If they track me down, then I'm afraid that will be the end for me." He taps a fearsome looking hatchet, looped on his belt. "Hence the anonymity." He seems quite well spoken, likely some sort of socialite in his past life.

They must have kept it somewhere else...

A half-elven man joins the group, trinkets and ornaments swaying by his backpack. He introduces himself to the group, though somewhat lost in thought.

"Hello there! The name's Mirthal Winterheart. Former servant of House Merrosett of Taldor. Pleasure to have met your acquaintance..."

He extends his hand but his eyes seem to dart from the windows to the corners of the room.

A small, nervous looking, fruit leshy comes carefully in the door.

Um ..... I'm Flutters Shyly in a light breeze ... but I usually go by Flutters Shyly, or Fluttershy, although my last group kept calling me Squishy ... and I'm a gardener too. I help look after all the gardens here.

It looks to have a leafy growth on one shoulder

As more and more shady and paranoid characters enter the lodge, Hisaki senses his feeling towards the Pathfinder organization shift slightly - it seems he isn't the only stranger from a strange land.

Nevertheless, he buries the sentiment beneath his ego, and remains in character. The leshy looks harmless enough "Shy you say? Why, on General Susumo's Great Black Battlefield, only the dead are shy! Surely there is some courage to you, and if you follow me, I can lead you to glory!"

Well I have endured some tests from the Masters and investigated some missing Ioberian relics sooo ... it is just ... well ... I'm afraid of fire

A beautiful Chelaxian woman, dressed all in white enters the room. Her blonde hair is staright and shoulder length. She carries herself with a sense of pride and dignity. Looking around, she gives you all a half-smile, almost because it is what is expected and then introduces herself. I am Askani. before she sits down next to the half-elf after looking him over.

As the agents have their small chit-chat just outside the Vault of the Grand Lodge, the Pathfinder Society’s headquarters in Absalom, the City at the Center of the World, their adventure begins when a fungus leshy Pathfinder agent with a bright green body and a purple mushroom “cap” atop his head, and wearing a white scarf and brown vest emblazoned with the Glyph of the Open Road, greets them, ”Greetings, everyone! You’re just in time. Thank you for heeding the call of Grand Archivist Zarta Dralneen to help us with the mission today. By the way, I am Rain in Cloudy Day. I am a new Pathfinder agent who has been assigned important tasks around the Grand Lodge. And with me is Grand Archivist Zarta Dralneen,” he introduces themselves including the female human archivist that has long dark hair and black nail polish and is wearing a vibrant blue dress. Grand Archivist Zarta Dralneen smiles and thanks them, ”Thank you for coming, we have lots of things to do and we need you to sort things out inside the vault.” She tells the agents, and then lets Rain continue the briefing.

”As I was saying,” Rain continues, ”the Society has recently acquired vast amounts of exciting treasures in the Vault of Boundless Wonder!” he exclaims while excitedly waving his hands. ”I am very excited for you to see what we have gotten!”

Rain and Zartha lead the agents inside the vault as Rain continues to tell them how the Society is keeping him busy. Sorting files, receiving reports, sorting Chronicles, receiving more reports. He may sound complaining but he is actually happy doing them all.

Rain in Cloudy Day waves exuberantly to indicate the piles of treasure in the vaulted chamber as they enter. “Wow! Just look at all these magic items! And enchanted weapons! And a skull that always looks at me funny! Big magic books about even bigger magic books! Well, I’m not sure about that last one. I haven’t read them. Cataloging all this treasure is bound to be exciting! It sure beats sorting the mail.”

Zarta runs her fingertips along the table, lifts a strange hourglass, and inspects it with dubious curiosity. “Exciting, yes, and possibly quite dangerous.” Rain frowns. “Well, yes, but… at least we’re in the safety of the Lodge? Can’t be that bad! You said these items are harmless.” He picks up a skull from the table. Its eyes glow with pink fire, and it speaks, “Unhand me, you hideous rotten mushroom! Harmless?! How dare you!” Rain replaces the skull and covers it with a cloth, muffling the voice. “Well… mostly harmless?”

Zarta fails to stifle a grin. She tilts the hourglass this way and that, shrugs, and sets it back on the table. “Yes, mostly harmless. We believe these items present no major threat to us, and we’ve secured those we believe to be cursed. The true danger comes from an old enemy of the Pathfinder Society, the night hag Aslynn. She nearly claimed these treasures for herself before they were entrusted to us. We don’t know why she needs the items, or which ones are most central to her wicked plans.

“I’m off to a meeting to discuss the situation with Eliza, Ambrus, and the faction leaders. You’ll stay here with Rain and continue cataloging these objects. We need to learn where the items come from and understand what they do. Then we can decide what to do with them. Any questions?”

"Fire is nothing. If the enemy cannot exploit your weakness, then you have succeeded in obscuring it!" thinking his advice to the leshy profound, he turns as everything happens...

...and soon finding himself inside the very vault he had intended to break into, begins looking for items whose value to weight ratio might lend themselves to easy picking. Hisaki eyeballs the floating skull, wondering if it can read his mind's intentions... he eyeballs the other agents as well - for shady they may also appear, but indeed, enemy of my enemy does not make a friend. Thinking over his teachings, he refrains from brazen theft for the time being...

..."What is the reward for completing the 'cataloging' of this Vault?" and suddenly realizing he has painted a great target on his head by wondering aloud about payment (to measure against the bounty set by his opposite organization), freezes like a jackelope caught in wayfinder light!

"Seems simple enough, as long as we are getting paid. I need to keep moving and that costs a bit of coin." Xanthe heads into the Vault. "Quicker we get in the quicker we get done."

Instinctively, Mirthal stands and guides the Chelaxian woman to her seat. "Greetings Askani. I am Mirthal Winterheart. Former servant of House Merrosett of Taldor."

After listening to the instructions, Mirthal nods his head. "No more further questions. Where can we start working?"

Another leaf leshy waddles in, but their colors are far less vibrant than Flutters'.

"I'm Thevenin," they say, simply.

Standing in a corner, little sparks of electricity jump between their leaves, an afterglow of an abyssal corruption that once tainted their soul.

Thevenin yelps as the skull talks, a memory of animated skeletons from his past suddenly thrusting themselves into his thoughts.

"Ew, a talking skull? What's that doing here?"

She seems to listen to the mission with disinterest. She smiles at Mirthal and his introduction while sipping of a glass of elven red wine.

When nobody is looking, Hisaki swipes a scroll from a nearby pile!

School Item: Scroll of Magic Weapon!

When nobody is looking, Hisaki swipes a scroll from a nearby pile!

School Item: Scroll of Magic Weapon!

lol

Presumably it is part of the collection in this Vault Flutters says to the other leshy.

The Grand Archivist shakes her head as she hears some of them asking for payment for their work today. Understandable. After all, it is no joke to spend time and energy cataloging everything in the Vault. She stares at them for a while and gives them a smile. "How about this: as long as I am satisfied with your work here, I assure you to discuss this immediately with the Society to repay your efforts here. What do you think?" she asks. "And you also get to choose some items you might find interesting in the Vault, as long as I allow you to take it, of course." she adds.

The talking skull interrupts her when it hears Thevenin. "Ew yourself! I can still hear you from here even though I can't see you, you ugly snot!." it says in a muffled voice.

Zarta shrugs it off. Don't worry about it, that skull just insults everyone. Maybe you can talk to it later and learn more. Not sure if there are other 'objects' alive that you can find here, well it is now part of your task today. So far, we haven't found any other creatures in the Vault---yet! It’s not our business to keep creatures captive, so we’d like to help get them home if we can and keep them safe from Aslynn. And you can actually start whenever you're ready. As I said, I will be leaving you with Rain in Cloudy Day, since I have a meeting to attend. I advise you to be ready for anything, perhaps you make a quick trip outside to purchase supplies that you might need."

You can make your final purchases before everyone starts exploring the Vault. And if you are ready, please do tell in a roleplay.

Thevenin peeks under the covering to look the skull in the eyes. "Why, hello, friend," They say to the skull. "Have you been corrupted by abyssal energy? Pathfinders can help you. Pathfinders helped me!"

Mirthal checks his equipment and backpack for anything else he might need in their mission. "I think I'm ready to go. Let's start cataloging then." He joins Thevenin and tries to recall what he has read about talking skulls.

Recall Knowledge (Esoteric Lore): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

Xanthe claps his hand against the hatchet. "This is all I require. I am ready to head in."

Flutters also tries to talk to the skull.
diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11
((Hero point. I don't like that roll))
diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

Hello Mister Skull. What's your name. I'm Flutters Shyly or Fluttershy. How did you get here?

Having slid the scroll into his pocket moments ago, our hounded hero simply nods at the first person to look at him.

Perhaps we should figure out what the skull knows on our way to our mission. she suggests to the group,

Seeing that everyone is ready, Zarta bids her goodbye and leaves Rain in Cloudy with them.

"What are you talking about? I don't need help!" the skull replies to Thevenin. Mirthal cannot recall anything about the talking skull, perhaps it is so unique he may not have encountered or even read about it. The skull talks again, "'Hewwow Mistew Skwull. What's youw name? I'm Fwutters Shywy or Fluwwershy. How did you get hewe?'"What are you, a baby?! You can speak louder than that!"

"Just keep asking that thing, maybe she can spill something out, sooner or later." Rain chimes in and announces to them to begin exploring the Vault. "Okay, you can all start now exploring the Vault of Boundless Wonder!" he says happily while waving his hands. "I suggest you split up so that you can maximize your exploration. Here, take these, written there is the list of what I believe are some of the most interesting or most important items to analyze and areas to search.” He says and hands over copies of a page from his overstuffed journal. See “To-Do List for My Amazing Pathfinder Friends!” below.

Searching an area of the vault takes about 10 minutes. When you Explore the Vault of Boundless Wonder, attempt a skill check, choosing from the skills indicated in the area you’re searching. Other Lore checks might be appropriate at the GM’s discretion. See the MAP and move your tokens to the labeled area you want to explore. Appropriate skills checks can be found on page 2 of the Map but are also listed here below.

----------
To-Do List for My Amazing Pathfinder Friends!
1. Talking skull. Please talk to the skull. It doesn’t seem to like me. Maybe one of you will have better luck? (Skill Check: Arcana, Diplomacy, Occultism, or Religion for A1)
2. Pile of treasure. We probably shouldn’t leave everything in a pile like that, but we’ve been short-staffed. See what’s in there! (Skill Check: Arcana, Crafting, or Perception for A2)
3. Assorted items. There’s all kinds of stuff up in the raised storage areas on the west wall and in the northeast corner. Did we find any magic potions in the vault? Alchemical items? Talismans? You bet we did! I know a healing potion when I see one, but some of this stuff is beyond my experience. See what you can find! (Skill Check: Arcana, Crafting, or Perception for A3a, A3b, A3c)
4. Pile of empty chests. I already looked through these. If you find more empty chests, just pile them in the southwest corner of the vault.
5. Danger! These shelves are way up high and piled high with dangerous poisons and possibly cursed items. I think Zarta felt it would be safer if they were out of reach, but we should make sure there’s nothing too dangerous up there. (Skill Check: Acrobatics, Athletics, Medicine, Thievery, or Underworld Lore for A5)
6. Weapons. There are lots of magic weapons lying around. See if you can find the most powerful ones. Our field agents sure could use them! (Skill Check: Arcana, Crafting, Gladiatorial Lore, or Warfare Lore for A6)
7. Scrolls and such. We sure did find lots of scrolls! Thought I saw some wands in there, too. Might be something useful for the Society’s spellcasters in there. (Skill Check: Arcana, Nature, Occultism, or Religion for A7)

Thanks for your help!
—Rain in Cloudy Day
----------

Xanthe heads on over to the southern end of the room. "I will help take a look at these shelves over here." Giving the shelves a small tug to make sure it will hold his weight he begins to climb.

Athletics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

The Chelaxian will take a look through the assorted items to see she can see in A3.

1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19 Perception

Thevenin is speaking with the skull. Abyssal Lore (+4), if applicable; Diplomacy (+8) otherwise.

Skull: 1d20 ⇒ 4

Gonna guess that's not going to work either way.

Flutters just meeps and wilts as the skull responds to them. They then carefully sidles backwards across the floor away from it before booking it to area A7.

Nature: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

Attempting to sneak away from the party, but ending up near the masked vigilante, Hisaki enters under the "Danger" (#5) sign and looks around at the skull-printed black bottles, relics with dubious auras, and shifty shelves. "Hmm... the items of Most value are probably hidden in here!" he thinks to himself/

Thievery (Trained) vs DC ??: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

Mirthal continues to observe the talking skull, listening and pacing around it. "So who -- or what -- are you?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9 Oof. Gonna reroll that

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20

Xanthe heads to the area with lots of shelves. These shelves are precarious not only because they're piled high and hard to reach, but because the items stored here are of a dangerous or frightful nature. He finds a demon mask in one of the shelves.

Askani goes to the area with assorted items and begins to sort them based on type. Amongst the pile of mundane items, she finds Random Item: 1d4 ⇒ 2 a potency crystal. Neat.

Thevenin attempts to speak with the talking skull since most of the items in the table they are on have already been sorted. Unfortunately, whatever they are telling to the talking skull, she just blurts out the same words but in a mocking way.

As for Flutters, the area has shelves filled with scrolls that lined the walls. As she files back the scrolls littered on the ground, she finds Random Item: 1d6 ⇒ 1 a scroll of glitterdust.

Hisaki also makes his way to the same area Xanthe went. Lucky him since he goes deeper into the shelves ahead of Xanthe where he finds a dagger of venom. I moved your icon to the area you are exploring. You can change it if you want within the said area.

Mirthal, joining Thevenin, attempts a conversation with the talking skull. Tired of blabbering whatever Thevenin is saying, she finally speaks something with sense. "Well, call me Zykyryz! No, it isn't my name, but it's shorter than 'all powerful wizard.' That's right, I can do magic! Just wait. Keep me close, and I'll prove it to you. Come on, hold me, if you want, I won't bite!" I would like to know if you want her to hold or not before I wrap this part of your first exploration.

Flutters lists the names of the scrolls as they, and their leshy companion, put them back on the shelves, but the Scroll of Glitterdust gets retained and taken to Rain for cataloguing.

Mirthal hesitates but grabs the floating skull with one hand. "Alright! I'll take your word for it."

Xanthe grips the demon mask and slips it on to better help hide his face. "Nice!"

Hisaki, without pause or hesitation, pockets the Dagger of Venom!

Thievery DC 17 w/ Pickpocket!

He looks over at Xanthe as he tries on the mask. "Did he see?..." But after a moment seems to decide "Probably not..." And "I wonder what he has to hide..."

He glares at the vigilante, wondering if he is simply ugly, or if he is telling the truth. I mean, most humans are ugly - but his curiosity grows as he realizes that two masks now cover the man's face, whether or not his acceptance with his own kin is a matter of birth or circumstance. His own sense of belonging, of course, projected outwardly by some strange transference; could he even return to Oprak!?... a question for another day... Working up the courage to ask him about his crimes!

After about ten minutes of exploring the Vault...

“They’re not real! They can’t be real!” The panicked voice of Rain in Cloudy Day precedes his rapid footsteps as he races back into the vault. “I can’t… I don’t… help! Please, help! They’re after me!” Rain collapses just inside the vault, clutching the sides of his head and whimpering in fear. A hideous snarl from just past the entryway causes Rain to go completely still.

When Mirthal also finally grabs the talking skull, ”Yes! That’s it!” Moments later, Mirthal feels like Zykyryz taps his inner heroism, granting him a +1 status bonus to attack rolls, Perception checks, saving throws, and skill checks for ten minutes.

RAIN’S NIGHTMARE! Round 1
Terrain Condition: Stairs are difficult terrain. Some areas are elevated by about 10 or 15 ft relative to other areas.
Active Conditions: ---
ENCOUNTER MAP
Character in BOLD can act!

Flutters Shyly HP 17/17, AC 14
Thevenin Serkat HP 26/26, AC 18
Xanthe 'Headsman' Gnareshim HP 32/32, AC 19

Petrifying (Blue)
Frightening (Green)
Creepy (Purple)

Askani HP 15/15, AC 15
久紀 Hisaki, Errant Ninja HP 26/26, AC 19
Mirthal Winterheart HP 17/17, AC 17 | Heroism

Scary (Red)
Chilling (Yellow)

Ohmyohmyohmyohmy

Flutters skitters up to where they can see Green around the orrey and launches a Ray of Frost at it.
sa v t: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9 cold: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

How DARE you .... How DARE you

have our foes and their type been identified>

Thevenin steps forward and immediately jumps into action, sending an electric arc between the two closest foes.

Electricity: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Green and Purple: DC 18 basic Reflex save

Hearing the sounds of screaming Xanthe draws his hatchet and rushes down the stairs as he grips the side of his cape defensively, putting a meager barrier between these creatures and himself.

◆ Draw Weapon
◆ Stride
◆ Dueling Cape

Thevenin, would not that be DC 17 for a level 1?

Flutters sends an icy ray to Green but it goes wide overhead, Green is not able to dodge the electric arc from Thevennin, while Purple manages to somewhat evade it.

Askani, none have identified what they are which anyone can do so with a secret Society check to Recall Knowledge for one action.

Xanthe makes his way as he draws his weapon and shields himself with a cape.

Petrifying (Blue) reveals itself and advances toward Xanthe to poke him with its spear.
Spear Attack vs Xanthe AC 20: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20
Spear Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 3 piercing damage

The attack gets right through his cape.

Frightening (Green chooses to attack Flutters, poking her twice!
Spear Attack vs Flutters AC 14: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19
Spear Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6 piercing damage

Spear Attack vs Flutters AC 14, MAP: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12
Spear Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6 piercing damage

The first attack connects, but fortunately, the second attack doesn't. On the other hand, Creepy draws close to Askani, poking her as well.
Spear Attack vs Askani AC 15: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17
Spear Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6 piercing damage

Spear Attack vs Askani AC 15, MAP: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13
Spear Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 3 piercing damage

Same with Flutters, the first poking pokes but not the other one.

RAIN’S NIGHTMARE! Round 1
Terrain Condition: Stairs are difficult terrain. Some areas are elevated by about 10 or 15 ft relative to other areas.
Active Conditions: ---
ENCOUNTER MAP
Character in BOLD can act! Recall Knowledge for 1 action to identify the specific creature.

Flutters Shyly HP 11/17, AC 14
Thevenin Serkat HP 26/26, AC 18
Xanthe 'Headsman' Gnareshim HP 29/32, AC 19(20)

Petrifying (Blue)
Frightening (Green) -7
Creepy (Purple) -3

Askani HP 9/15, AC 15
久紀 Hisaki, Errant Ninja HP 26/26, AC 19
Mirthal Winterheart HP 17/17, AC 17 | Heroism

Scary (Red)
Chilling (Yellow)

"I'm terribly sorry, but duty calls." says Mirthal as he puts the skull down. He immediately grabs his chalice and tries to identify the creature engaged in combat with Flutters.

Recall Knowledge (Esoteric Lore): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

◆Interact, ◆Interact, ◆Recall Knowledge

I want to make sure that the stairs are North of her and also the the SW? She needs to know where to run away to :)

Yes, both stairs connect to the elevated area you are into, and are both going down.

Not liking being poked with a spear, she begins to insult the creature and its abilities

1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22 diplomacy with bon mot

You launch an insightful quip at a foe, distracting them. Choose a foe within 30 feet and roll a Diplomacy check against the target's Will DC.

Critical Success The target is distracted and takes a –3 status penalty to Perception and Will saves for 1 minute. The target can end the effect early with a retort to your Bon Mot. This can either be a single action that has the concentrate trait or an appropriate skill action to frame their retort. The GM determines which skill actions qualify, though they must take at least 1 action. Typically, the retort needs to use a linguistic Charisma-based skill action.
Success As critical success, but the penalty is –2.
Critical Failure Your quip is atrocious. You take the same penalty an enemy would take had you succeeded. This ends after 1 minute or if you issue another Bon Mot and succeed.

and then knowing that discretion is the better form of valor, runs towards her companions (double move)

Thevenin is level 2. I'll update his tagline, but his character profile is correct.