[SFS/Bounty] DM Kludde's Super-fun Bounty Castle (Inactive)

Game Master Kludde

Volitare cringes a bit at seeing all this decay. I don't like this .... I don't like this one bit

"Huh...reminds me of home," Talgoth grunts as he takes in the look of the place. "That is not a good thing, for the record." He pulls his rifle out of its case, and checks it before looking around warily.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21

Talgoth sees the play of shadows, in which the bushes wave back and forth in the wind and momentarily cause shadows that depict persons, seemingly walking or performing tasks, then dispersing. There are faint wisps of reflection that are visible in the windows every now and then, and then disappear.

Chance pats Talgoth reassuringly on the knee and then smiles down to Volitaire. "Don't worry! You have me here to amp your luck!"

If the door is unlocked, she pushes it wide open and steps inside.

I placed all minis on the slide for you, GM.

I placed all minis on the slide for you, GM.

Thank you. You are a good servant of RZMR

The double doors lead to an overgrown entry hall. As the group moves about, the plants try to grasp at ankles and coil around legs, though it's easy to overpower and pull away from. A metal fence separates this area from a room of sand (To the right). There's a little side office.

"Oh! Hello!" Chance says to the plants coiling around her feet. "Excuse me, we're doing an inspection!" Remembering that Volitaire could talk to the mistuours, Chance asks the tiny plant, "Volitaire, can you talk to plants as well? These ones seem pretty lively! Is that normal for this species?"

She glances once again at the checklist:

🔲 Remove any animals and/or people from site.

🔲 Stop any dangerous and/or unexplained occurrences.

"These plants aren't animals..." She turns back to a plant that is grabbing her feet. "Are you a person? Or a danger? Hmm... You may be an unexplained occurrence. If so, we have to remove you!"

Then she pauses, looking at the metal fence and the room full of sand. "Does anyone know why a hospital would have a room full of sand? Were they doing some sort of beach therapy?"

Then she takes a look at the side office. "Hello, is anyone here? Inspection coming through!"

Volitaire Stares at the plants ((Veiled Threat feat - the closest I could find to PFS2e's Intimidaating Stare))

Stop That!
Intimidate: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

It probably doesn't have much effect though.

No .. sorry ... just animals at the moment. I am even not sure Commune with Nature would help. But, if you like .. I could do that

life sciences: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7 (+5 to identify plants and animals)

Experiencing the eery silence of the area as they enter, he holds his weapon ready, anticipating an attack anytime. Or he just wants to flex his weapon, actually. He keeps following the group that has now found a room with sand. "Weird. Why would someone would keep a room full of sand? Are they trying to recreate a mini-desert?" he chuckles. He gets close to the room and shakes the metal fence to see if he can remove it or something.

Volitaire confirms these plants aren't animals. Most of them are very sick, though, as if the life has been drained from them.

The sandy room sure has the look of a therapy room, though at the time it wouldn't be very relaxing. When Jortek tries to shake the quite solid metal fence, he spots movement in the sand... as if a giant invisible finger is drawing curved lines in the sand.

You might need to find a way around

Chance asks Volitaire, "Do you want me to move these pots outside the hospital? If the plants aren't doing well here? To be honest, they will need to be moved out anyway if our employer is going to demolish the building."

Chance waits a moment for Volitaire to answer. If Volitaire wants the pots moved, Chance attempts to move them. If Volitaire decides to wait (or the plants have all been moved outside), Chance then goes to the door to the West and pushes it open to the next room.

"Hello! We're conducting an inspection!"

Lego's screen alternates between a furrowed brow and a sad face as they move in following the group. "I do not like how sad this place is. Haunted may be more right than the locals know."

Ack! Wrong character again!

Vaidra follows around, her fur rippling in odd directions as she walks. For a moment, it looks like she's invested with fleas before she strokes her fur flat again.

Yes. We should

They reach out with their LFAN to attempt to lift a pot.

Talgoth moves to the door of the side office, thinking there might be some useful information or items there that his hireling can collect. He checks the door carefully before trying to open it.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19

If it's locked, Hackrat will try to pick the lock.
Computers or Engineering: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3 ...and will fail.

Chance asks Research Rat and Hack Rat, "Do you two smart people have a way of rigging something that might make it easier for us to move these plants?" Meanwhile, Chance puts some muscle into taking the plants outside.

Meanwhile, Chance puts some muscles into moving the grabby house plants outside.

Athletics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

Let me look at that lock.

Computers or Engineering, both have the same bonus: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

That is a really tough lock

I can't make heads or tails of this thing

As Chance shouts out her claim of an inspection, all she hears is a rustling of leaves in return, and a faint, electric hum brhmbhrm.

As for the plants: while hospital once surely must have had neatly potted plants, the majority of the flora here are weeds that have crept in due to neglect, threatening to overgrow the whole building. If it weren't for their poor state of health.

Talgoth goes on to inspect the side office. Remarkably, the door is unlocked, and as he steps in the faint electric hum turns into the whizzing sound of an old-fashioned magnetic hard disk spinning up, then an emitting a high-pitched warbling, followed by a distorted audio recording of a woman speaking.

They’re dead... My work... complete...

The computer then falls silent, emitting a faint wisp of blue smoke.

Chance moves on the west pair of doors, which leads to a hallway with a desk in it. The desk is a mess of torn papers and books. Hallways on either side lead to a raised, windowed seating area overlooking an operating room.

"Can we clear the place first before we try to save the plants? They aren't going to get any healthier in the next hour."

Did another show up on the map? I see the one straight ahead.

Vaidra strides boldly into the opened room and looks around for something of interest. The rustling leaves are slightly disturbing, given the lack of wind inside the building.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5 Hooray! Nothing to see here.

"Oh, alright." Chance says, after moving one pot full of weeds outside. Chance looks at the desk full of papers.

Is there any particular skill that would help with this, GM? Chance has culture, mysticism or can make a lucky guess.

"Does someone smarter than me want to look at these?" Chance asks, holding up one of the papers.

Also moved the rest of the group up to the new room. It would be a bad idea to get too separated in the potentially haunted hospital.

Volitaire just nods and puts down the pot she was struggling with and continues following the others.

Unlocked, of course, that's why I couldn't unlock it.

Perhaps Medicine would help understand what was going on?

Medicine check looking at the papers?: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

Hey, a halfway decent roll, but probably the wrong skill.

Is there anything useful to learn in the side office or lobby? And with what skills? Talgoth (and perhaps others?) would prefer some kind of answer to that before the group moves on.

The paper of the desk are completely torn, as if they had been gnawed upon. When Chance and Phelps investigate the books, there is very little that can be reconstructed that has any meaning, what is left of the pages indicates these were mostly medical text books.

Volitaire puts the potted plant she was moving back down. She spills a trickle of black sand, which falls onto the floor, but then seems to wipe itself up into a neat heap.

As Phelps inspects the area, he clearly recognises the middle room as some kind of operating theater, to instruct medical students. When he glances at the operation table through the glass, the light in the room flickers, drawing long shadows over the group. The glass shows a strange reflection, as if a Lashunta, cast in a blue hue, is standing behind him. It might have just been a figment of his imagination, as the image is gone as soon as the light returns to normal.

What is definitely real is the knocking, rattling sounds coming from the bathroom.

Not sure where the bathroom is, but Vaidra heads towards it.

Streaming out of Vaidra's fur are thousands of tiny...bugs? She narrows her eyes at the rattling sounds as they form up into a Tactical Numbing Beam weapon which she aims at the bathroom door. "Who's there?" she commands, with only the slightest quiver to her voice.

I am also not sure where the bathroom is, but I'll follow Vaidra there.

Chance puts down the papers, which appear completely uninteresting and follows Vaidra. "Hello! We're doing an inspection! Do you need any help?"

Maybe those are tiny little bugs .... but piling themselves in a tidy heap is not bug like behaviour ..... huh .... Vaidra has tiny bugs too. - I wonder if they're related to those ones. I could ask ..... but ... maybe I could cause offense if I did. Can't do that ... she could be embarrassed about having them .... Parasites? Symbiotes?

They too wander to the bathroom door, sticking close to Chance.

Phelps will follow along, about 10 feet back.

Jortek follows the others after hearing the same noise as well. He has no interest with papers and whatnot. He prefers battle if possible. "Let's take a look at that and see who is there." he tells them as many of them proceeds to the bathroom. He even kicks the door (if it is closed).

Athletics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

The bizarre phenomena here have Talgoth a bit on edge--though to be fair, those who have met him before (Chance, Voltaire, and Jortek) have noticed that slightly paranoid seems to be the half-orc's natural state. He walks quietly out of long habit, trailing the group, rifle held at the ready.

Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

Chance calls out, "Will you open the bathroom door? There's a really long line here!"

If it is possible for a Raxalite to facepalm, Volitare would.

I'm glad Volitare doesn't have any bugs

Vaidra's 'tiny bugs' stream out. Somehow that causes some of the thicker, dark dust on the floor to... scurry off? float away? In any case, the floor around her seems to be cleaner now.

There's no response to Chance's call, but when Jortek kicks the bathroom door it, flies open, just fast enough to reveal a lanky, furry animal screeching and then scramnling up a vent. Hissing.

If you want to interact with the creature, you might need to calm it first. That would usually be Diplomacy or Life Science, or an applicable Profession

life science: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24 (+5 to identify plants and animals)

Volitare tries talking to it with Speak with Animals

Hi. Please don't run away. We won't hurt you. What's wrong?

diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27

The creature in the vent is a squox. Volitaire asks the question immortalized in the popular song 'what does the squox say', and for once gets an answer:

Spooks! Blue! Spooks! Everywhere! Want out!!!

The creature seems to get calmed down by talking to a sentient plant, but it still quite reluctant to move.

Get it out with athletics or acrobatics (by physical means), intimidate (scary means) or life science (scientific means). Or anything else you can come up with

"Heeeeere, squoxy, squoxy, squoxy..." Vaidra croons awkwardly before reaching into the vent to retrieve the creature.

Athletics: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

The squox doesn't quite appreciate being squox-handled this way, but Vaidra gets a firm enough grip to drag out the creature and toss is out of the gate of the hospital, where it runs off into the forest.

"Good work," Talgoth tells Voltaire and Vaidra. "I'm glad I didn't have to try pulling some dominant predator nonsense to scare it into leaving." He grins slightly, subtly emphasizing his tusks. "That might have strained my working relationship with at least one of you."

Volitaire frowns slightly at Vaidra's rough handling of the squox, also since they didn't get a chance to examine the shadow taint.

It said, "Spooks! Blue! Spooks! Everywhere!

Sounds like the hospital is haunted with smurfs

"Sorry, I just wanted to get it out. I'm not good at making friends with them. Blue spooks, huh? I haven't seen anything like that yet. Anyone else?"

GM looking at phelps

I should show you the proper way to handle an animal sometime .... if you're interested that is .... um .... and ... if you don't mind me asking ... um ... what are those black specks you have ... I hope I do not offend though

Vaidra looks down at her arm puzzled for a moment before the light dawns. "Ah, those are my nanites! They help me do...stuff." She waves the rifle for a moment before the specks dissolve, then expand into a small cloud surrounding her. "They do all sorts of stuff, though talking to animals isn't one of them. I'd love to learn more, so I don't scare the poor squoxes anymore."

I saw other black specks over there Volitare says, pointing with their LFAN. I was wondering if they were ... what you said? Nan..nites? And yes, when we get back to Absalom, I can show you how to ... be nice to the sqouxes

"Black specks? Where?"

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

Jortek looks amusingly as they try to extract the squox. "Show us where are these blue spooks you are seeing let's deal with them." he tells the frightened creature. He even swings his weapon to show off to them that he can manage to handle whatever threat or something the creature is seeing.

As Phelps inspects the area, he clearly recognises the middle room as some kind of operating theater, to instruct medical students. When he glances at the operation table through the glass, the light in the room flickers, drawing long shadows over the group. The glass shows a strange reflection, as if a Lashunta, cast in a blue hue, is standing behind him. It might have just been a figment of his imagination, as the image is gone as soon as the light returns to normal.

For the sake of progress, I'm happy to transfer this experience to someone else. Let's jus say Talgoth saw this instead. Note this is just from a first glance at the operating theatre, which you haven't really looked at in detail so far.

Vaidra inspects the part of the floor pointed out by Volitare, but the dust seems to just dust. The shadows in the room... they seem to be a bit weird, as if they move independently of any light source. Though that may just be a flickering of the light.

The squox isn't of much help, and quite keen to run off once outside.

Sorry, internet outage for almost 24 hours. Not happy with my provider right now.

I thought I glimpsed a blue hued figure in the operating theater. It may be one of those "Blue Spooks." We should carefully check it out.

"Blue-hued spooks? I'm blue-hued! Maybe this is a worlanisi spook!" Then Chance reconsiders. "Though there are other blue creatures, and I don't quite think a worlanisi would be unlucky enough to be a spook. I wonder what it could be?"

Mysticism: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17

While Chance is considering what it could possibly be, she checks the all-important checklist:

🔲 Remove any animals and/or people from site.

🔲 Stop any dangerous and/or unexplained occurrences.

"Hey, this would definitely count as an unexplained occurrence, right? Let's go check it out!" Chance marches up towards the operating table to check things out. "Hello, are there any spooks here? We'd like to talk with you!"

Some Raxalites are also blue Volitare points out as they follow Chance.

Phelps looks at the operating theatre again, and clearly sees a blue-hued Lashunta staring back at him. (Picture in the slides). Nobody else can confirm the sighting. After staring for a brief moment, the Lashynta leaves the operating theatre to the left door.

It's a bit hard to know what is going on in the central theater. It's currently not set up for operation, but there is a sort of jury-rigged device, a notebook and a computer terminal behind the glass barrier.

I've moved back Chance and Volitare a bit. That white circle is a glass barrier. The entrance to the theatre is on the south (left) side - the purple squares.