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The first question was whether Khayrat was actually trapped behind an invisible barrier or if he just thought he was because of an illusion or enchantment. That was easily resolved.
Ignoring the guests watching the "show," Zibini reaches out to touch the sylph's knee--or rather, to see if his hand touched a wall, first.
Zibini reaches out to touch the sylph's knee, but one of the other guests turns to him and whispers, "Hey! Don't ruin Khayrat's awesome performance. I love how he's totally miming that terror. It's so convincing, isn't it?"
Khayrat's lip trembles, and he whimpers.
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"No, no, no! You're ruinng his performance! Don't interfere! Khayrat is a genius!" Khayrat's friends (who have not been distrracted yet) pick up the poppet and move it to the side before she can approach Khayrat.
Then one young woman approaches the poppet and goes down on one knee. "Look, even if Khayrat is truly in distress, he'd be humiliated if this crowd found out. His friends include some of the biggest gossips in Sedeq. Khayrat would rather be known as a clown then as a fool. If you want to bring him out of this... And I admit that his expression is starting to look a little creepy, maybe you should distract the other guests first?"
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"Oh, I use chewing sticks to keep my mouth clean. I saw some at the local bazaar earlier, I'll tell you the type I use. Then, I have a tincture of certain cleaning herbs that I gargle with. But, my mom always said it was my sweet nature coming out through my mouth," he replies with a chuckle.
"Oh my, Ms. Fariq, that's such a lovely scarf. Did you notice how well it matches with Mr. Sarok's head covering? Did you plan that? And Mr. Kendik, that jewel on your necklace is just amazing!" and so it goes, Lioness complementing people on what they're wearing and making comparisons to get them talking to each other instead of paying attention to Khayrat. After all, people will gladly pay more attention to themselves than anyone else if given half a chance.
"Oh, you noticed!" Ms. Fariq shows off her scarf, and Mr. Saroq laughs and says, "Twins!"
The guests are totally distracted as they try to see who matches whom. And is that the smell of honey lingering in the air?
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Alice (the little girl) will have another brief "conversation" with her ragdoll. Then, seeing how everyone is distrated, they will walk up to Khayrat, the little girl will take his hand, the ragdoll will again saying "Let's hear it for the great Khayrat!", and the Alices will attempt to lead him out.
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Looking at the scimitar, Hercule says “Although I am trained in such weapons, it really doesn’t fit my style. Would any of you want to use it?”
Walter will carefully take the scimitar and look it over in his hands. Well, I guess I could swing this about in a pinch. Could use a nice slash-er like this in case one of these 'pranks' becomes something like a crew of dead shamblers crashing the gates. He stops and thinks for a moment. Or something to do with rope, that might be more likely.
“I wonder what other surprises Safa has for us. We best keep an eye open for this master with the antlers on its head.”
Well wouldn't antlers stick out like a polar bear in sand? Ealton asks as they continue moving. I mean I've only been in Qadira the once before and I know this place's pretty wild but they still ain't exactly swimmin' in deer-people are they?
That speculation is cut off as they reach the lounge and see this forced mime act in action.
Walton gives a thankful nod towards Lioness as the gnoll keeps the crowd talking, then sidles over towards Alice to try and help the elf. Hey now, he whispers to Khayrat, trying to recall what he'd heard about the guest earlier. It's all right. You're fine and we're here. You're here too: this's just onea them genie tricks/ Probably someone's just jealous of you because of the fine cut of that suit. Looking real dapper there sir. he says with a smile. But remember, its just a touch of magic. Like this. Walton holds up his pendant and makes it glow. So let's get you standing up
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While Lioness is distracting the crowd, Hercule joins Alice and Walton in trying to coach Khayrat out of their predicament.
He adds to what Walton said, pointing out how one can often detect such illlusions.
He then tells Khayrat “If you can focus and calm yourself, you can turn this to your advantage.” He coaxes the fellow through how to calm himself and suggests that when the spectator’s attention returns to them, they perform a pratfall as if suddenly falling through a door or something like that.
[/b][/b][/b]
Alice succeeds for a moment in pulling Khayrat out of his shell, and then Walton has a critical failure and his amulet swings around and clocks one of the other guests in the ear.
"Hey, watch--" the woman breaks off, and says, "What are you doing to Khayrat!?"
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
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Seeing that Lioness is losing the crowd, Hercule decides to try and distract them long enough for Khayrat to pull himself together.
“Simply giving him some advice. Seems he is rather stuck, probably forgot where the door latch was!” He continues to banter with the spectators, drawing their attention away from Khayrat.
Lioness attempts to compliment the shoes of one of the dandies in the crowd, and then trips and falls on the person's foot. "Gah!"
Fortunately, Hercule steps in and thoroughly distracts the crowd once more.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Then Azheem and Zibini work together to pull Khayrat gently out of his prison. The elf falls to his knees, gasping, touching both your faces. "You pulled me out. Thank you!" He pulls out a ladder feather token. "I'd intended to use this to perform a stunt for my friends, but you likely might need it more. Take these too." He also gives you three minor healing potions.
Then he takes a deep breath, gets up, and shakes himself off before rejoining his friends. "Hey!" Khayrat gives them a totally confident if slightly insincere smile. "So... How did you like the little prison act? Pretty good, huh?"
After you take your leave of Khayrat, you venture around the courtyard once again towards the entry hall of the lodge.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
ENTRY HALL
In the northwestern corner of this entry hall, an iron spiral staircase coils upward to the higher floors; it's currently roped off with a simple chain, from which dangles a sign reading, “Private Quarters—No Entry.”
Sneaking briefly upstairs, you see nothing more than unfinished quarters, cluttered hallways, and the one finished dormitory where you all have your beds set up. Nothing looks out of place here, even when you check under the beds for monsters, mimics and other mayhem.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
You make your way downstairs again, continuing clockwise.
DINING ROOM
This room offers a space for lodging Pathfinders to eat during inclement weather. Currently, its two long tables are laden with food and drink. A few visiting merchants linger here in the shade, gossiping among themselves. The double door leading into the courtyard is open, permitting a steady flow of party guests in and out. Twin doors leading into the kitchen are currently standing open.
Delicious cooking scents are emanating from the kitchen, along with muffled screams, clatters and the clanging of a pot or two.
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Walton will grab a pigs-in-a-blanket as they wander through the dining room. He nibbles at one as he hears the sound of yells from the next room over.
Hmm, that don't sound good. he whispers. Looking at the crowd, he tries to open the door to the kitchen just a crack enough to slide through while keeping the door as closed as possible to muffle any sounds.
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As the party slips upstairs and away from the eyes of the guests, Zibini slips a scroll from his pocket. He doesn't read it like words, exactly, but lets his mind drift as his eyes trace the pattern of the lines, invoking a feeling of safety.
Its magic expended, he tucks the remnants away. "I don't know if I'll need it, but no sense in not using it."
The banquet tables present the opportunity for more sausages. But screaming should probably take precedence. As long as the sausages are still there afterward. Probably.
He hurries over to Walton.
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Lioness is more than a little surprised that they're they only ones who sneak upstairs. It's not that he necessarily thinks anyone with nefarious purposes would be up there but he knows people well enough to know that some can't resist passing a 'do not enter' sign.
[b]"Good idea," he says when Zibini uses his scroll and casts his own version, a spell recently taught to him by his familiar, Bone Bearer.
He's pleased that the party seems to be proceeding despite the troubles but growls lightly when he hears new trouble brewing.
He joins the rest of the group by the doors and nods to indicate that he is ready.
The mouth-watering scent of cooking spices bursts through the opening doors, welcoming newcomers into a kitchen large enough to feed a small army. Fresh baked goods cool on the countertops, and bundles of dried herbs rustle in the breeze left by scattering sous chefs as they scramble away from the huge ovens in the far corner.
There, a whole roast goat that had been cooking steadily over a low fire has leapt from its position, thrashing about as though alive once more. The cook, a dwarf with thick silver hair, lies sprawled on the floor beside it, winded from a kick to the chest. “It’s making a break for it!” she bellows, pointing at the goat. “Don’t let it get away!” In addition to the rampaging goat roast, two menacing animated cast-iron pots turn towards you, clanging their lids.
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Seeing as everything is now bolded, I had to find another way to mark those active in the fight. Names marked with an are up!
Rampaging Roast
Animated Cookware Blue
Animated Cookware Red
Zibini
Lioness
Azheem shows that he is rather daring* and vigorous for a cloistered cleric, and runs up to attempt to grapple the Rampaging Roast. Alas, the basted roast is too slippery for poor Azheem, who attempts to grab it twice before having it slip through his arms.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Seeing as everything is now bolded, I had to find another way to mark those active in the fight. Names marked with an are up!
Azheem
Rampaging Roast
Animated Cookware Blue
Animated Cookware Red
Zibini
Lioness
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'Ah shoot! Meal's gone undead!' Walton snarls as he moves between the animate meat and one of the doors to block its clear path out and into the crowd.
Realllllly hoping the door's closed and/or the party's still kicking and loud, he then snaps off a shot at the pot moving about all suspicious-like before quickly reloading.
for
Walton hits the blue pot hard, but not hard enough to crit it. He does a blow a nice hole through the center of the pot, and readies an action to aid another player's attack should someone else attack the pot.
Meanwhile, Hercule attempts to recall if he's seen anything similar to these strange creatures. The rampaging roast is too bizarre for Hercule's analysis, but Hercule has seen enough constructs to recognize that the two pots have construct armor. This makes the pots hard to hit, and protects them from damage by giving them hardness. The construct armor can be cracked in one of two ways: just hitting them with enough damage that it eventually breaks, or by breaking it with a single critical hit.
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Names marked with an are up!
Walton
Azheem
Hercule
Rampaging Roast
Animated Cookware Blue (-10)
Animated Cookware Red
Zibini
Lioness
Because of the Combat Mentor boon from Walton, Walton's aid, and the flank, Alice's strike on the medium rare rampaging roast crits the roast!
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And now it is the turn of the rampaging medium rare roast!
That was a Crit on Azheem for 14 damage, as it knocks the cleric prone! Then it slams Alice the Girl, but misses!
So it tries again, just barely knocking Alice down!
The Blue Pot slams Hercule!
And it pulls another cast iron pan (that was somehow stacked inside itself) and tosses it at Walton!
Then it is Red pot's time! Clanging along the floor, the red pot double-moves towards Walton and slams him!
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Names marked with an are up!
Rampaging Roast (-9)
Animated Cookware Blue (-10)
Animated Cookware Red
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Hercule looks for an opening to attack Blue Pot. Although not an ideal opportunity, Hercule does see an opening that he thinks he can take advantage of.
Agile, concealable, finesse
He calls to Lioness and Zibini “Last of you in here, close the door! We don’t want these escaping!”
He then does some fancy footwork, getting in the way of Blue reacting.
vs Reflex DC
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Zibini dashes into the room, checking to see if Lioness is following before closing the door behind him as instructed. He looks around, feeling a surge of protectiveness for the young child. Why was there a child with them anyway? He thought the Pathfinders had a rule about that.
She feels that feeling of protectiveness manifest as a shield of force between her and the odd assailants.
*Stride
*Close the door
*Cast shield on Alice the Girl (it's one of his Psi cantrips, he can cast it on other people; it's still his own choice and Reaction to block with it)
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"Ahzeem how you lookin'?" Walton says as he slides around one set of cutlery towards the cleric "Cause I could maybe start hammering down on that goat to get it down, but not sure how well buckshot in the beef'll do for the main course."
For now, the Pathfinder unloads another shot at the dented dinnerware before reloading once more.
for
Azheem heals his colleagues with a surge of healing energy! Alice the girl gets up, while the doll sends kitchen knives towards the roast (all of which miss and stick in the kitchen walls instead.) Zibini delays until after Lioness, closing the door and casting a psionic shield on Alice the girl.
Meanwhile Hercule and Walton both attack Blue. Hercule dents the pot slightly, and then Walton's critical hit not cracks the armor, but completely shatters the pot!
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Names marked with an are up!
Walton
Alice & Alice (-4)
Azheem (-4, prone)
Hercule (-2)
Rampaging Roast (-9)
Animated Cookware Blue (DEAD)
Animated Cookware Red
Zibini
◆ Lioness hurries in the door before Zibini closes it, and then hurls kitchen knives at the Rampaging Roast.
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Lioness hurls a bunch of knives at the rampaging roast, which appears to be more effective than expected! The knives from his spell slice right through the roasted meat!
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The roast slams and misses the prone Azheem once. Then it goes on a rampage moving across the kitchen and slamming at Hercule!
It just barely hits, knocking Hercule prone!
Then the simmering Red Pot attacks Walton!
It's a critical hit!
And it pulls another cast iron pan (that was somehow stacked inside itself) and tosses it at Zibini!
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Names marked with an are up!
Rampaging Roast (-19)
Animated Cookware Blue (DEAD)
Animated Cookware Red
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Zibini blinks away the trickle of blood from getting hit in the face with a cast-iron pan.
He takes in all the feelings of danger, fear, pain--excitement. He laughs, and the feeling of joyful laughter echoes for longer than the sound does. Colors swirl around him, and while he doesn't quite levitate he does suddenly seem very light with his feet barely touching the ground.
He projects a feeling of calm, health, and safety towards Hercule, then with a flick of his wrist sends a knife spinning towards the roast.
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Ahzeem calls out...
"My great Goddess, Sarenrae, I plead for your divine healing for your humble servant's companion."
...and casts a spell at Walton...
The target regains additional Hit Points from healer’s blessing only the first time it regains HP from a given healing spell, so a spell that heals the creature repeatedly over a duration would restore additional Hit Points only once.
Heightened (+1) The additional healing increases by 2 HP.
Note: Did not add the +4 to area because it takes and action to use. Still prone.
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"Dang it!" Walton grunts as the kitchenware leaves a nasty bruise. "This is why you don't need fancy foodstuffs."
He thankfully nods towards Ahzeem as the cleric mends most of his wounds, then whispers to himself 'c'mon Walton, wrap this up before snoopers come in' Befroe firing point blank and reloading once more.
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Hercule gets up and begins expertly slicing the roast. Zibini restores Hercule's mind and body while also flinging kitchen knives at the roast, slicing more of it off. Azheem heals Walton.
Walton's shot just barely manages to dent the red pot, and leaves the pot's construct armor intact.
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Names marked with an tag are up!
Walton (-5)
Azheem (-4, prone, )
Hercule (-9, +1 status to saving throws vs mental effects)
Rampaging Roast (-42)
Animated Cookware Blue (DEAD)
Animated Cookware Red (-9)
Zibini (-6)