Dot in here, please.
House GM test send - please ignore.
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The dwarf named Ingmar does not appear to be your typical dwarf. The long hair and beard is probably not too unusual, and neither are the earth tones that make up his wardrobe. The fact that he has a clan pistol strapped to his belt, well, that isn't common, at least not around here.
There is a feeling of weight around Ingmar, as if he represents more than just the dwarves, but the very stone that is used in all aspect of dwarven life. This is offset by the sprigs of mistletoe he seems to have situated around his body... tied into his hair and bear, worn as an amulet, and so on.
At the looming foot of Droskar’s Crag, a dormant volcano, the Pathfinder Society’s base camp bustles with activity. Wagons arrive with new goods as merchants set up shop. A steady stream of Pathfinders trickles into the camp, and joyful greetings fill the air, together with whispered rumors about the mission ahead. Venture-Captain Luna Aldred has called everyone here for a major expedition, and if the rumors are to be believed, the secret road to a legendary lost city awaits!
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"Well this is exciting," Aurika says to Ingmar as she watches all the hustle and bustle of the base camp. "From Qadira to here. It's a far cry different from the Puddles District back in Absalom!"
Short even by halfling standards, Aurika is a young woman with wild blond hair and a penchant for the colour green. Her tunic and leggings are two different shades of green, and she even has a couple streaks of green in her hair. For anyone who's seen her around the Grand Lodge they'll know she's a new Pathfinder and a bit of a prankster. Of course, that means she studies illusion magic.
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A heavily armored dwarf hops off a wagon with a resounding thud. He carries a shield embossed with golden hammer in one hand while another rests over the ivory cloak on his back. His skin is pale and his white hair is shaved close to the skin. As he approaches, the air around him is noticeably cooler.
"Aye, Zourn Duvalo! Hand of Grundinnar, for full disclosure." he introduces himself extending his free hand to shake for any takers.
He doesn't have much to add for information but he does let out a chuckle, "Did they bring us together because the tunnels are too small for the others?"
A red-cheeked halfing runner arrives at your group and says, "Leadership told me these are the locations we'll be exploring. Please pick one and I'll report back to make sure we're not in each other's way."
He hands over several scouting reports.
Sunken Halls “Strangely, one of our members heard a voice coming from the lake. When we went to examine it, we found a tunnel at the bottom of the lake. We secured the area but turned back when we found carnivorous fish.”
The Labyrinth “At the end of these passageways is a sort of door. A tombstone stretches from floor to ceiling and seals off the next set of halls. It reacts to the touch, but we haven’t found a way to open it yet.”
The Unsealed Way “We used the rest of our munitions to clear the rubble from these hallways. They seem clear enough now, but we can’t figure out why it was sealed before. We recommend a larger team investigate.”
"You'll have to do some underwater exploration for the Sunken Halls," the runner says, "we'll provide you with potions of Water Breathing if you go that way. If aquatic environments aren't your forte it's completely understandable to let better-equipped people handle that area. Plenty of us around out here, I'd say," he says, looking around at the mass of Pathfinders gathered.
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Aurika laughs at the joke before slapping Zourn's hand. "Nice to meet you, Zourn. You might be right about tunnels. I've gotten myself through a sticky situation or two before by simply being the right size. The best size!"
When presented with choices about their route in, she says, "They all seem interesting. And though I'm not against fighting off some angry fish, I feel like the Labyrinth is more my speed. I like solving unopenable doors."
When Zourn speaks she adds, "Or the Unsealed Way. That's fine by me really."
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A young human, about average human height with a blue turban walks up to the group. He has a long beard and luxurious mustaches that are styled so that the tips point up. It seems clear to you by the way he seems to walk casually in his chainmail with a fauchard on his shoulder that he is heavily muscled. He also has a slightly curved dagger sheathed in the front of his belt and three sharp looking plate sized hoops hooked to his belt on the side.
He stops and places the butt of his polearm on the ground to lean on and takes a good look at the group with his hazel eyes before addressing you with in mildly accented Common.
"You all match the descriptions given to me by the Venture-Captain, so you must be the group I am to accompany. I am Karamjeet Jatt. I was told that I was to complement this team with my combat skills. It is a pleasure to meet everyone, and I hope we are successful in our explorations."
After examining the reports, Karamjeet shares his opinion.
"I am in agreement with Zourn's recommendations. I think that the heavy armor should not be an issue in the Sunken Halls if we have access to water breathing. I am more concerned with our combat effectiveness under water. We will be slightly off balance and the water will slow down our attacks. Perhaps another group will tackle that task before we are needed."
Karamjeet and Aurika know the following about Droskar's Crag:
Droskar’s Crag, also known as the Pallid Peak, is a dormant volcano. It erupted nearly 800 years ago in a cataclysm known as the Rending, which toppled the great dwarven empire of Tar Khardurrm. Expeditions into the Pallid Peak have uncovered a wide range of dangers, from vermin to duergars to fiends. Expeditions should be well-stocked and prepared with deal with a variety of different threats.
Speaking of well-stocked, the Pathfinder base camp has enough merchants that you can buy any item in the Core Rulebook you have access to, up to your level. It also has enough spellcasters to remove any negative conditions you might gain during the adventure.
When you switch locations (from the Unsealed Hall to the Labyrinth, for example) or you want to take a break to recover spells, you have to go back to base camp and rest for 8 hours. I will notify the House of a rest. After enough rests, things might happen. But just to let you know that there's always an option to recover spells and resources if you're running low during the adventure.
Ingmar and Nic, please fill out the slides HERE and Nic, please fill out the macro sheet HERE.
I've asked this often enough. Enemies might mysteriously start targeting you if the special starts and I don't have your information.
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Karamjeet seems shocked after relaying his knowledge of Droskar’s Crag.
"I'm surprised that I remembered so much about the Pallid Peak. I was a farmer before being brought into the Society, so book learning is not very exciting for me. I guess my teachers were more effective than they thought they were."
Venture-Captain Luna Aldred bangs on her shield to gain the attention of the gathered crowd. As the noise dies down, she points to a piece of stretched canvas with a whittled stick. “When I was first told about the discovery of a ruined outpost under this mountain, I assigned a few agents to explore it.”
On the canvas, charcoal and chalk outline a sprawling underground complex. The map already lists names, discoveries, and potential hazards. However, three highlighted routes lead past the end of the explored segments. Each route is labelled with a name and shaded with a distinctive color: yellow for the Labyrinth, blue for the Sunken Halls, and white for Unsealed Way.
“Their preliminary explorations found extensive ruins, as well as signs that this path will lead us to a find that’s worthy of the Pathfinder Chronicles: the lost city of Raseri Kanton, which has been missing for almost a thousand years! This expedition warrants a large team. I reckon this group is enough, though I won’t turn away any stragglers.” Venture-Captain Aldred chuckles.
Her tone darkens as she continues, “This expedition was set to take months. However, the Aspis Consortium has heard of our plans, and they’ll surely be dispatching their own teams. We need to act quickly before those destructive louts claim the ruins. Move quickly, but not recklessly. Report back regularly. And for all that Aroden left us, don’t die.
“You know what to do. Explore. Report. Cooperate.”
You make your final preparations, then head off towards the Unsealed Way.
A slender post spans from floor to ceiling in each corner of this stone chamber. The bracket that holds the posts in the floor is chipped, leaving the posts only loosely attached.
Before you enter, Ingmar and Nic stop the rest. They both notice something up with this room. Looks like there's some kind of sub-flooring below the actual floor. If weight is put on the floor, it will see-saw up and potentially slam you against the wall.
Do you tackle the hazard, or go straight ahead?
Nic finds the see-saw mechanism and locks it. After a few cautious steps, it seems like the floor's stable to walk on now.
You move across it down south, and you come to a room with a large stone wheel connecting to gears along the wall.
You turn the wheel and with a lot of creaking sounds, the gears come alive and the floor starts to shake. With a shock, you realise this is a hand-operated elevator! It's tough going at first, it's clear this contraption hasn't been used in hundreds of years. But as you turn the wheel more and more, the turning becomes smoother as the gears shed their muck and bite together easily.
After a few minutes of slowly ascending, you arrive at a wide, natural cavern. The walls are completely smooth and Ingmar and Aurika recognise this as the work of countless shape stone spells. Abandoned wagons of of metal and stone mark this as the start of a caravan route, though any cargo that may have once been here has long since decayed. Approximately a thousand feet down the road, a set of double doors seal off the next chamber. A warning sign in Dwarven reads: Maximum Width: 8 feet.
You make note of this passage and turn back. It's important that the base camp knows of this before you head in deeper.
You head back down and explore the other hallway you've left alone up to now.
Moldering bags and gear pile in the southwestern corner of this square room. Stone stairs lead upward to the south. Passageways show glimpses of rooms to the northwest and south. Leaning along the wall are moldering bodies.
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Are we still outside of the room or have we entered already? The text says we are inside, but the map makes it look like we are not,
"We should inspect these bodies and bags. I would have thought that any bodies we find in here would all be skeletons by now?"
Karamjeet will continue to have his weapon ready expecting that these bodies might be undead.
You're still in the hallway, sorry if that was unclear.
The bodies have rotten away to skeletons, even though the picture isn't clear.
Zourn enters the room. Nothing happens just yet.
The party slowly enters the room. Nothing happens. Someone takes a few steps forward to inspect one of the bags, and surprise surprise, several of the bodies stand up. You make ready to defend yourselves.
Zourn
Karamjeet
Aurika
Skelly 4
Skelly 2
Ingmar
Skelly 3
Skelly 1
Nic
Zourn, Karamjeet, and Aurika may act! It's a Religion to identify these things. They all carry scimitars and a shortbow. On the picture they carry a shield, but it's too broken to be of use.
The stairs don't provide any difficult terrain.
Zourn thinks what he remembers of skeletons. He must have been dozing off during Pathfinder training that day, as he comes up empty. He walks forward and tries to smash a skeleton, but it dodges out of the way.
Aurika comes closer to the front line and throws out electricity at the enemies. One dodges out of the way completely, the other one gets singed slightly. Sadly, it seems like bones aren't good conductors and it resists the damage.
Karamjeet moves closer to the fight as well and delivers a powerful slash. Bone splinters fly everywhere, but the skeleton is still barely holding itself together.
The northern two skeletons finish assembling and grab their shortbows, each firing two arrows.
Skeleton 2's aim is clearly unsteady, but Ingmar isn't so lucky and takes two arrows to the chest.
Zourn
Karamjeet
Aurika
Skelly 4
Skelly 2
Ingmar
Skelly 3
Skelly 1
Nic
Ingmar may act!
The stairs don't provide any difficult terrain.
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"Hey, what did I do to you?"
Casts crushing ground on skeleton #4.
[dice=bludgeoning, DC17 Reflex]2d6
He then raises his shield.
Ingmar stomps his foot on the ground and a tear runs from his foot to that of Skelly 4. The tear becomes a chasm, then slams shut. Skelly manages to jump out of the way in time, but his skeletal foot gets crushed by the ground slamming together.
Skelly 3 grabs its shortbow and starts plinging at Zourn.
Both miss horribly. Skelly 1 drops its shortbow and grabs its scimitar, not knowing that Karamjeet is trained in catching openings in an opponent's defenses.
Karamjeet slices his fauchard through the skeleton's spine and it collapses in a heap of bones to the ground.
Zourn
Karamjeet
Aurika
Skelly 4
Skelly 2
Ingmar
Skelly 3
Nic
Nic, Zourn, Karamjeet, and Aurika may act!