[Outpost VI] PFS1e Special: Bonekeep, Level 1: The Silent Grave (Inactive)

Game Master roll4initiative

Dot & Delete to be added to campaign. Feel free to post introductions and roleplay to your heart's content until we start on March 6th.

The crumbling columns made from jagged pieces of bone-white stone rise out of the hillside like broken teeth. Most believe that this ruined edifice is all that remains of the ruins of Bonekeep, a siege castle just twelve miles from the walls of Absalom, but the intrepid agents of the Pathfinder Society know better.

Two days ago, Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin sent word from the Grand Lodge of a private meeting of he and his best agents. The missive explained little, other than strongly suggesting all recipients come urgently and to speak to no one of their errand. As Valsin entered his office, cramped as it was with eager Pathfinders, he unfurled a map of the area around Absalom and laid it out on his desk, marking the location of all of the ruined siege castles around the metropolis. Built by would-be conquerors and petty tyrants, these ruined castles are a testament to the strength of Absalom, a reminder to the next invader of the fate of those that lay siege to the City at the Center of the World.

“This is the ruin of Bonekeep”, Valsin began, pointing at a newly marked spot on the map.
“All too recently we learned of Tancred Desimire’s plan to use these ruins as a base for his nefarious plans. Fortunately, those plans have been ruined, but the greater question remains. Why would he select Bonekeep? The place is a total ruin, with little left standing aside from a few crumbling walls, or at least, that is what we thought. One week ago, I sent a pair of scouts, Wenton and Theodana, to investigate the ruins. Only poor Theodana returned. She says that they found a hidden staircase in the bottom of the ruins, the door to which looked like it had been opened only recently. Venturing into the darkness, they found some sort of vault deep beneath the ground, left untouched since the keep’s destruction over two centuries ago. That is unfortunately where things went terribly wrong. In just the first chamber, they sprung some sort of trap that took off Wenton’s head. Theodana fled before anything else could happen, returning to me to tell her tale.”
Pausing to look over the assembled Pathfinders, the venture-captain continues.
“This is where you come in. The Decemvirate is very concerned about this matter. Siege castles are dangerous places and this one is no different. Built by a necromancer named Volzaras, there could be some terrible things lurking down there, things waiting to get loose. We want you to go to the ruins of Bonekeep, have a look around to determine what sort of threat it poses, and to report back. Anything you find is yours to keep, as long as we get a look at it first. Good luck!”

That was two days ago. It took nearly an hour of scrambling through the ruins to find the staircase leading down into the silent grave.

The dungeon awaits.

During the briefing:

A tall and muscular nagaji woman stands off to the side, holding a bardiche like a staff. Around her neck hangs a melted, mangled iron pendant, which may have been a holy symbol at one point. When she turns to set down her heavy pack, one can see three piercings going down the center of the back of her neck. Around them is a grouping of dark scales that shift around at random, as if they have a mind of their own. She straightens, rolling her shoulders as much as her armor will allow, and greets each of the Pathfinders in turn with a very firm handshake. "I am Eka. It iss an honor to sserve with you."

After hearing VC Valsin's account, Eka narrows her eyes thoughtfully. "Hm. A necromansser." I hope Wenton remains at peace. After a moment of silence in honor of the dead, Eka asks: "If we can, are we to retrieve Wenton'ss body? And can we talk to Theodana? It would be usseful to know what they encountered before the trap. And to know where the trap wass, in casse it hass been resset ssinsse then. Unlesss you have her full report here. I undersstand if re-living that exssperiensse would be disstresssing for her."

During the briefing

Jilla scratched her noggin and squinted as she listened to Valsin. Was she in the right place? It was either "down the hall, third door on the left" or "turn left, down one level, through the door". Well, chances are it didn't matter. Every Pathfinder field agent is trained for anything that could come up, right?

Suddenly, the sound of a baby crying came from her backpack. She dug through it quickly, took out a rolling pin, and rocked it gently in her arms until it quieted down.

Eka does a double take. What the...? "Um, that'ss..." Why does that seem familiar? She wracks her brain, comes up with nothing, and settles on completing her sentence with: "...not going to happen when we need to be sstealthy, iss it?"

"Oh, of course not!" says Jilla, as if the answer is commonsense. "Once I get it down for a good nap, it can sleep through crashing cymbals! I'm Jilla, by the way. Nice to meetcha Ekka. Didja know my first mission was to an old siege castle? Trogs, traps, and even an albino crocodile! Or was it an alligator? Well, same difference. Should be a fun mission!"

Jilla's first Chronicle is from Master of the Fallen Fortress.

I have sso many quesstionss. Eka gives Jilla an inscrutable look. It takes a moment for her mind to let go of the crying rolling pin to keep up with the new direction this conversation is taking. "My firsst misssion...was in Casssomir, at the Imperial Navy Shipyardss. Pathfinder and Apssiss agentss were being kidnapped, and we had to work with the Apssiss Conssortium to find them. The mosst fun I had wass in Inahiyi, in the Wayang homeland. We partissipated in a shadow ssealing ritual. I got thesse pierssingss there." She angles herself to show the back of her neck to Jilla.

"Sso...iss there an interessting sstory about how you and the rolling pin met?"

"You bet your scales there is! Ya see, it all started when this fellow Falbin found a patch of summertime in the middle of winter!" Jilla begins to recount an epic tale.
" . . . and that's when we realised we were in the First World! . . ."
" . . .we had to bring color back to Azure, whose name might've been a clue if we were smart . . ."
" . . .but the bag started growling . . ."
" . . .they never counted on my elixir of fire breathing . . .
" . . .walking backwards! That was the trick, ya see . . ."
She finishes off the somewhat disjointed tale with a smile. "And that's how my rolling pin came to cry like a baby, and I learnt how to talk to trees! I tell you one thing--every day is something new in the Pathfinder Society!"

Jilla's confusing account is of Down the Verdant Path.

A tall Taldan man in wearing the symbol of Sarenrae drop his bag in the corner ahead of the briefing.

I am Therin, servant of the Dawnflower...nice to meet you all...

During the briefing, Therin takes notes. His eyebrows perk up a few times when Valsin mentions some new facts.
Traps...necromantic creations...possible undead...sounds like a typical mission... he says with a sarcastic smile.

He chats with the other agents assembled as they recount their past missions.

My first mission was to determine why a senios Pathfinder agent was having issues with sleepwalking...and after we "cured" his condition, I was gifted Gamin here...

Hello, all... the sword says.

And more recently, Gamin was reforged to fix his previous condition...again as repayment for a completed job...

All the while a rather sturdy looking half-elf has been examining this part of the ruin. He is speaking in a rather odd language with an animated rock creature with very sparkly eyes. Finally the man puts his a measuring device back in his leather apron and turns to the party.

"Yes, introductions. I am Igor and this is my friend Tiny Pebble."

"The ruins here are fascinating and really are holding up quite well. It is clear that they were copying Azlanti construction methods although exactly why I cannot be sure."

The wizard stops for a moment.

"I hope I am not boring you with all these details. I do tend to ramble at times."

A humanoid shaped rock creature with blue gemstone eyes waves at the party. He greets the party in Terran but does not really expect an answer back in his own language.

"So we've got a crying rolling pin, a talking sword, and a smart rock-man. We'll beat any bad guys by befuddlin' the heck out of them!"

"Heheh. I look forward to telling that sstory at a tavern later." Eka chuckles. "For exsstra fun, I could chuck you at them. No one exsspectss a gnome'ss attack to come from above." She gives Jilla a half-smile that sort of scrunches the left side of her face. It's like she's trying to wink, which of course doesn't work when one doesn't have eyelids.

Therin mumbles something that sounds roughly similar to what Tiny said.

i hope i didn't butcher his language too much...I spent a lot of time around elementals on a lengthy roundabout mission a while back...picked up a few words along the way. Not enough to be conversational..just 'hello', 'thank you' and the sort...

Tyranny of the winds trilogy...i recommend playing them...

The rock man starts to roar hysterically at Therin's attempt at a greeting. He beams broadly at the man that has made him laugh so hard.

The wizard blushes at Therin's unintended suggestion.

"You see Terran is a tonal language and your inflection ... well suggested something completely different then what you intended."

"And as we are in mixed company I suggest that we leave it at that."

"It is the intention that counts anyways and he does, and I do appreciate the effort made."

Eka chuckles again. "Yess, you musst sspare my poor virgin earss."

Oh...apologies...so i suppose what that jinn taught me to say doesn't mean what he says it does...the common tongue from here on out... Therin says, a bit red faced at his linguistic faux pas.

Igor smiles meekly at Eka's words and he does not further elaborate on how the Cleric improperly stressed one of his syllables on his greeting with Tiny Pebble. This wizard (like most wizards) is clearly more comfortable around books then people.

Jilla turns her attention to the matter at hand. "If that Volzaras guy is still hidin' out in the siege tower, I learned a special trick for dealing with wizards! If you brain them in the noggin with a rolling pin, they can't cast spells so good!" She nods sagely.

Igor scratches his head.

"Volzaras built this castle hundreds of years ago. It does not seem very likely that he is still down there."

The wizard pauses for a moment remembering that he was a necromancer.

"Unless he is now an undead creature."

I can deal with the undead....

"Asssume the worsst: he'ss undead, violently antissocial, and we're about to throw him a ssurprisse party." Eka grins, biting back the urge to make a remark about it being 'to die for'.

Before leaving his office, Valsin hands each of you a potion of cure moderate wounds.
"You might need these. There's no telling what dangers await you at the keep."

Valsin also tells you that you can find Theodana drinking away her sorrows at the tavern down the street. He bids you farewell and good luck.

Entering the tavern, the barkeep points you to a woman sitting alone at a table in the corner and informs you that her name is Theodana.

Asking her about what happened, she tells you that Wenton died just inside the first chamber, but there were corridors leading off into darkness. Asking her about the manner of Wenton’s death, Theodana tells you that there was a trap in the first chamber that caused one of the statues to suddenly swing its sword, which took off poor Wenton’s head in one clean swipe. Theodana does not remember much else as she fled right after the trap went off, fearing there would be others. After telling this somber tale, Theodana returns to her ale, apparently in the hopes of drinking away the terror of what she witnessed.

That was 2 days ago. You now stand at that same set of crumbling stone steps leading down into darkness...

I have placed your PCs in marching order on the steps going down (Slide 3). Go ahead and do any buffs and other preparations you want to do before moving into the first chamber. The odor of death and decay permeates the air. As for light sources, Therin is human, so, no low-light or darkvision. T.P. has darkvision & tremor sense 60'. Everyone else is low light vision.

The crumbling stairs lead to a large square chamber, in the center of which stand four stone columns, carved to look like beautiful maidens. Their beauty is marred, however, by the fact that their faces are carved to resemble grinning skulls. Between them, resting in the middle of a rust-colored stain, is a rotting head (red dot), the body of which is nowhere to be seen.

Igor looks to the others to see if they need his help with any arcane preparations. He then begins to prepare both himself and Tiny Pebble for the adventure ahead.

Out of combat please assume that if Igor can assist your character with your wands or scrolls that he will do so.

"I tend to notice things. So I will be happy to check the doors and chests before you open them if you like."

"If Tiny Pebble notices anything moving in or on the ground he will let us know. He will be happy to assist you all in battle as well."

Buffs:

Igor
- Blood Boiling Pill swallowed
- Alchemical Grease applied
- Antiplague swallowed
- Scroll of Mage Armor cast
- Scroll of Heightened Awareness cast
- Scroll of Delay Poison (provided by Igor and cast by Therin)
- Light spell cast on a half-sheathed dagger
- False Life CL3 cast from a wand

False Life, CL3: 1d10 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

Tiny Pebble
- Alchemical Grease applied
- Scroll of Mage Armor cast
- Shield spell cast and recovered with a pearl of power
- Clay Skin spell cast

Tiny Pebble squirms a bit when Igor applies the grease to his rock like body but is nevertheless happy for all the protective magic provided. The earth elemental waits until everyone is ready to proceed with the adventure.

A brash serpentine fellow comes rushing up, huffing and puffing. ”Whew, I ain’t missed it, has I? Why, I could never show my face to Ole Granpappy if I missed my next mission as a Batfinder, not after all the stories he’s told me. ‘Course, I dunno that I believe all his tales, sometimes I guess he might be pulling my scales, on account of I ain’t the smartest of the litter, I’ll give you that, but then when he goes on telling me that he’s met Paula Deens’ mounts what’re smarter ‘n me, well then I just up and decided, I’ll be a Batfinder too, and go find these mounts and see for myself if theys really as smart as all that. N' quite a time it's been too! Why, I bin to the plame of Yurt, 'n I earned me me own wayyfinder, for me very own, 'n I even met a dragon - I'm a dragon too, doncha know, at least part dragon that is, on account o' Granpappy always says that me Grandmaw was a real dragon”

He pauses and looks around. "So where we goin' anyways? I don' 'magine it'll be much trouble fer a tough bunch like us'n..."

Not late at all...just in time, actually. I'm Therin...nice to meet you. Book smarts aren't always the best judge of character...keep that in mind. Persoanlity makes up for a lack of schooling..

good to go...will make final tweaks on my numbers later...buying al the stuff listed in discussion. will put spells memorized for the day in discussion

"There's only one way this mission can go," says Jilla as she enthusiastically smears a vile-smelling paste all over herself, "and that's awesomely!"

"Since we don't want to lose our heads like Wenton, let's let someone else do the hard work!" She takes out a turquoise wand. "There's some little magic fellas in here, though they don't always want to come out." She shakes the wand several times, growing more and more frustrated, until finally it sparks up. Suddenly a dog is standing next to her. Jilla starts to bark, and the dog obediently trots into the room.

She'll apply vermin repellent because hey, why not.

Using my special CL3 wand of summon monster I to summon a dog and then speak with animals to tell it to go fetch the head.

UMD: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18
UMD: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14
UMD: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

Igor keeps quiet as the others drivel on about how education is really not that important. Clearly the mage does not agree!

The wizard smiles as the gnome smears vermin repellent on herself and grins at her unorthodox use of the Summon Monster spell.

"Say, Jilla. I still have half a jar left of my Alchemist Grease. It makes you nice and slippery in case someone wants to grab you."

He nods as the Nagaji joins the group.

"Welcome, we can always use another strong warrior in the group."

Spells are cast, salves are applied, and pills are swallowed.

The summoned pooch trots into the chamber and sniffs the rotting head. It reluctantly picks up the stinking thing by a clump of hair and brings it back, dropping it at Jilla's feet. The dog wags it's tail and waits to be pet for a job well done.

Eka glances up from applying her own vermin paste to nod at the dog as it returns the head. "I ssugesst we leave it here while we delve. If the sscent of thiss vermin repellent doessn't attract predatorss, the sscent of decay will. And it'ss in a ssafe plasse for retrieval later."

She checks that her morning star is easily accessible and adjusts her grip on her bardiche and steps up to the entry. Peering into the darkness, she asks: "Can anyone casst a light sspell? If not, I have one ssunrod. ... Hm. We should have assked how tall Wenton wass."

Igor responds to Eka's request. His own light spell spilling off of his partially sheathed dagger blade.

"You might ask Therin to help you with this."

The sunrod has a bigger light radius and it cannot be dispelled so there are definite advantages for using it over a cantrip.

I have a better idea... Therin says as he grabs a shiny stone from his pouch and holds it by his head. It starts to glow and then spins around his head slowly, casting light around him.

love the ioun torch...handy AF...applying the vermin repellent and popping a blood boiling pill...

"That's awful nice of you to offer the grease, Igor, but I'm usually the one to start the wrasslin'!" Jilla drops down into a wrestler's starting pose. "And I wouldn't want anyone ta slip free once I get 'em in my Deep-Fried Pretzel Lock!"

"Gross!" she says when the head is dropped at her feet. "Good doggy though!" Jilla pats the mutt until it fades a way a few seconds later.

"Arf!”
*Poof!*

Two passages lead out of the room, one on each of the eastern and western walls. The west is blocked by an iron portcullis.

What would you like to do now, Pathfinders?

Well, I have a crowbar to pry this thing open...don't know if it has alarms or such things... Therin muses as he scans for magic auras then breaks out his anytool, which then morphs into a shiny prybar.

detect magic, then guidance on anyone checking for traps...

Igor gives the place a quick once over from his current position. He is curious about the circles (with stars in the room).

32 Perception on a take 10.

"Well, I suggest that we explore the eastern passageway first. However when we do explore the western passage I suggest that we send Tiny Pebble to open the porticullis. Clearly there must be chains or ropes on the opposite side to raise or lower the porticullis and my friend can easily glide through the stone floor to facilitate this process."

Igor casts Detect Magic looking for any traces of magic in the room.

Igor gives the place a quick once over from his current position. He is curious about the circles (with stars in the room).

Those circled stars represent the statues from the description of the room. (Those symbols used to represent statues actually date back to when I started playing D&D in 1979.)

From where you stand on the steps, nothing in the room, not even the statues, radiates a magical aura.

Right I had forgotten completely about the statues. I like the throw back to first edition symbols. It brings back memories of simpler times. :)

"Alright. Assuming our informant was not completely mistaken about the statues then at least one of them is trapped or might possibly animate. Otherwise how could it swing a sword?"

The wizard carefully examines the statues and tries to remember if they resemble anything that he has studied in the past. He also takes a moment to notice the style and stone used in its construction as he is trained as a stone mason.

27 Knowledge Arcana on a take 10 to identify the statues

32 Perception to notice anything odd about the statues

20 Craft-Stone Masonry on a take 10

@Igor: Are you moving closer to a statue? You're kinda up there in the back on a steep flight of steps.

Alright. Good point. :)

Igor asks Therin if they can swap places temporarily. He would like to take a good look but getting any closer to the statues now does not seem to be very wise considering what happened to poor Wenton.

@GM Roll4initiative - How high are the ceilings in here? I am assuming that the entire structure is made out of stone (more or less)?

Of course...here..warmed up the spot for you... the priest jests as they swap spots.

Ceilings are 10 ft. high. The floor, walls, and ceiling are worked stone. The wall behind the northeastern statue has crumbled a bit, leaving a small pile of rubble.

Igor confirms his suspicions about the statues. He thinks for a moment attempting to recall the best way to pierce the Caryatid Columns rock like structure and also about any peculiar abilities they may have. He takes his position again at the back of the party. He whispers a warning.

"Yes, they are definitely alive in a fashion. Hold up a bit while I mull it over."

@GM Roll4initiative - DR or Hardness (they must have at least one as they are statue like) and how to bypass it and any Special Abilities they may have which typically includes some sort of Immunity to most forms of magic if they are anything like golems.

The wizard puzzles out these strange animated creatures.

"Do not use your primary weapons against them as they are likely to break against them. Yes, they are that well constructed."

"There does not seem anyway through their defences except for raw power."

@GM Roll4initiative - Does my character have any idea on the effect striking their rock hard body would have with a natural attack (say a slam or claws)?

These are nasty creatures to have as the first encounter to debuff the party!

Except for possibly bruised knuckles or a broken nail/claw, you would just need to get past the DR. There's nothing about their weapon breaking ability affecting natural attacks.

"I suspect that they will animate when we approach. Constructs are not intelligent but are programmed with certain commands."

"I suggest that our strongest warriors charge it all at once and try to get the drop on it. We might as well use our knowledge to our advantage."

"The one closest to the porticullis, in the north west corner shifted. The others may be statues or not. I cannot say for sure."

Switched Therin & Igor back to original positions. No surprise round since you're expecting trouble. Let me know what everyone wants to do & I'll roll initiative.