PF2E Stolen Fate

Game Master andreww

Reginald looks into the three golden eyes of the morlock priestess baring down into him. He quails in fear, like prey facing down a magical apex predator.

"Don't-don't eat me!" He squeaks in fear. "I don't taste good, I'm raised on an unnatural diet of paper, ink and magic!"

"No one's going to eat you, Reginald." Sigourney soothingly tries to reassure her familiar. Nudging her familiar gently, she moves Reginald to the palm of her hand and holds him behind her back.

"We are adventurers." she says in heavily accented Undercommon, the unfamiliar language forming strangely on her tongue. "But who are you?" She asks back. "And how did you take on that form?"

Sigourney will use her Biographical Eye to roll a secret Society check vs DC 30 on the morlock priestess. If appropriate, I'd like a +1 circumstance bonus to my check because I engaged the priestess in conversation.

Society + 28

Xuili glares at Billy, You think I would accept libations from a stranger, do you think I am a fool.

Her initial hostility however calms as Billy speaks to her. Cards, you say. Yes, I have one such card, the Lost. I may be convinced to trade it to you but these cards are clearly powerful magical items. What do you have to trade?

Sigourney recognises that Xiuli is clearly a powerful priestess of Lamashtu and the leader of the morlock tribes who live in Kho.

Slick is entirely convinced that the priestess is concealing many different things. Then again, she is a powerful priestess of Lamashtu so probably has a great many secrets.

"Trade?" Sigourney muses. "My magical knowledge is the most valuable thing I can trade. I can teach you how to travel between planes. Maybe you can teleport to your deity's realm. Or view heat as if it was colour for the rest of your life. Sounds good, doesn't it?" She exclaims, her passion for casting shining through.

"Or...if you are crude enough to disregard the fruit of magical knowledge, I can bargain with other things, I suppose."

When Xuili admonishes him, Billy looks hurt and quickly explains, "Oh, great queen, I would never offer you anything I'm not willing to imbibe myself." He brightens and continues, "Either way, we look forward to a mutually beneficial relationship." He sips his honey mead as Sigourney makes her offer.

After nodding in support, Billy unfurls his cloak (activating his Cloak of Repute to turn a Request success into a crit success) and asks, "Wise queen, don't you agree that access to our witch's magic combined with us helping save your people from your demon infestation is enough to warrant your harrow card?" Billy stands respectfully, awaiting her response.

Diplomacy to Request +Marriage +jug: 1d20 + 26 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 26 + 2 + 1 = 48
The Marriage provides +2 on checks to Request.
Success => Crit Success with Cloak of Repute and crit success says "The target agrees to your request without qualifications."

Just a quick point, Diplomacy is only viable for creatures who are susceptible to being diplomacised. It is not mind control.

Xiuli looks down to you and sneers at Sigourney, <y Mistress provides me with all the magic I require. I do not require any of your outlander magics. However, I am willing to be reasonable. You have aided my people against a great enemy and for that you have my thanks. I am willing to accept a gift, perhaps to the value of 5000 of your gold coins, in exchange for this card which, as you know, is worth far more than such a small sum.

At that point you do notice that there are actually still quite a lot of morlocks here, filling the shadowy niches of the cave. Many of them are inured and none of the present a threat individually, but if the lot of them were riled up they could pose a challenge. Especially as, at this point, your various flight magics have expired.

Billy, is a little surprised that Xuili wasn't more inclined to consider his request, but he recovers quickly.

When asked for the equivalent of 5000 gold, Billy coughs lightly and explains. "Surely great queen, you must understand that the only things in our possession are the weapons and armor required for adventuring." He considers, "Perhaps our gift can be performing another task that you need handled ..." and adds, "... in addition to destroying the demons for you, of course." He smiles.

As the negotiation progresses and Billy's diplomatic skills seem not to be budging Xiuli from her (in Slick's view, totally unacceptable) position of demanding some sort of payment for the card, he initially stops smiling, then starts frowning, before finally settling on a dangerous scowl. He steps toward Xiuli somewhat menacingly.

"Your majesty, I want you to imagine for a moment where you and your people..." he sweeps his arm to indicate the morlocks filling the shadowy niches of the cave around them, "...would be right now if we had not dropped in and destroyed all the demons attacking you. The large fellow that showed up at the end, would have finished you off all on his own, likely without even breaking a sweat. Not only would he have ended up with your precious card without paying you one red copper piece, but you would all be wending your way to the Boneyard right now wondering where your lives had taken a wrong turn."

He lets that sink in for a moment. "Now, for just a moment, I want you to imagine that we're not the reasonable people politely chatting with you right now, and instead imagine what a small group of people, similar to us, who effortlessly destroyed and entire army of demons and their powerful leader before your very eyes, might do if sufficiently offended by, say, a lack of appropriate gratitude from the person those very demons were intent on utterly destroying."

Another ominous pause. "I don't know about you, but if I were a such a person, I might not only be extremely grateful to those demon killers who had just saved my life, but I would also be willing to do just about anything to send them cheerfully on their way out of my life without irritating them unduly and possibly making them think twice about their goodwill towards me."

He raises an eyebrow. "It seems to me that making a gift of an object that had only recently come into my possession and that not only brought down an army of demons onto my head, but also attracted the attentions of an even more dangerous group of adventurers, would absolutely be the smartest thing I could do."

Slick then tilts his head questioningly. "Am I making myself clear... or do I have to be more specific?"

Activity: Coerce with Mask of the Banshee and Intimidating Prowess vs Xiuli

Intimidation (Coerce): 1d20 + 27 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 27 + 2 + 2 = 44 vs Xiuli Will DC

Probably good enough, but if not, then here is a backup Hero Point reroll. Let me know if I needed to use it.

"Why would more adventurers need to come?" Pine asks innocently, "The cards attract demons. The Prince will send more, and more dangerous ones next time."

Deception to Aid (L): 1d20 + 28 ⇒ (7) + 28 = 35
Looks like a critical success for a +4 circumstance bonus. Unless you don't buy that as Deception--my Intimidation bonus is lower, but that would still be over 25. But as it's only Trained, the bonus would be +2 (which would be redundant anyway).

Xuili scowls at Slick, So, you are nothing more than common thieves and murderers. So be it, take the Lost and be on your way quickly. Do not return.

With that she draws out the harrow card and tosses it at your feet.

What do you do?

"I wouldn't call myself a Common thief and murderer. I'd say people like me are at least Rare - maybe even Unique." Sigourney drily quips.

With a quick motion, she picks up the Harrow card and puts it up her sleeve. Just before she leaves, she sasses Xiuli one more time for being an unpleasant person and insulting her magic.
"You could have left this trade with something gained. A shame you chose to spurn my offer given in good faith."

Slick is only somewhat mollified by Xiuli's capitulation. He calmly responds, but with a touch of bite in his words. "Common thieves and murderers, you say? Let me assure you madam that if we were the thieves and murderers that you claim us to be, we would be thieves and murderers of the highest quality." He chuckles at his little joke. "Just be thankful that we are not such thieves and murderers or you would now be lying in a pool of your own blood as we plucked The Lost, and whatever else you might have of value, from your cold dead hands."

Slick shrugs to himself. Unless Xiuli acted against them with violence, cutting her down now just to collect whatever other valuables she might possess, would indeed make them thieves and murderers. He didn't like Xiuli, nor what she stood for, but if he were to kill every such person he crossed paths with in cold blood, Golarion would end up severely depopulated. Also, he saw no need to piss off Lamashtu any more than necessary; better to stay below the gods' notice for as long as possible.

Turning to his colleagues, he says, "I think our work here is done, shall we take our leave?"

I've assigned The Lost to Sigourney since she snapped it up. It provides resistance to mental damage equal to your level, as well as a 1/day bump in the success level of a failed saving throw vs mental effects. Pretty sure all of us could use such a thing, especially those of us with low Will scores (ie. everyone but Billy).

Billy glares at Xiuli. She wasn't very reasonable. At all. Fortunately, she responded to Slick's method of persuasion. "Yes, let's leave this place as soon as possible." He finishes his drink, collects the mugs, and stows his jug.

Gripping his staff, he follows the group out.

Pine stows his weapons and waves. "I'm glad we were able to help you. If we take this dangerous artifact, you shouldn't have any more trouble with those demons--but please call on us if you do!"

Not that he was going to make any effort to give her a method to do so. He was going to ignore her jabs, but that only went so far. "Bye, and thank you!"

"How come everyone keeps expecting us to grovel?" he mutters once they're mostly out of earshot.

Collecting the card you make your way out of the Pit and back to your safe house. Usilket is overjoyed to see that you have returned safely and that you have now recovered all of the cards from Kho. They are also pleased that you have established several alliances inside the city.

Arranging your transport back to Katapesh, when you arrive the Pactmasters have arranged for a number of gifts for you, in appreciation of your excellent work.

As a group, you receive five level 15 or lower common items. You have also finished part two and level to 16.

As you are looking through your gifts each of you receives an urgent telepathic message from All-Seeing Hajeck.

Return to Harrowheart as soon as possible, I have worked out how the Prince pf Wolves invaded the realm!

After completing his buying/selling in town with the group, Billy is happy to return to Harrowheart to see what all the fuss is about.

After breakfast one morning, Billy calls out, "Who's excited for new harrow readings?" He waits for the cheering to die down before continuing. "I know you're excited, but we'll do this one-at-a-time, in the usual order." Billy retrieves his fine harrow deck and asks Slick to join him in the library.

The DC for rituals is based on the very hard DC of a task level twice that of the rituals level. The Experienced Harrower feat removes the very hard adjustment.
At 6th rank, the reading for 6 cards (DC 30) will never crit fail. Reading the Signs allows a choice of 2 cards.

"Well Pine, I think it's because besides Slick, none of us are that intimidating. People think they can get us to bow...and sometimes they succeed, just like that one Demon." Sigourney remarks to Pine.

As Billy conducts his monthly Harrow reading, Sigourney can't help but praise him for his accurate readings. ""You know, I said I was sceptical about the Harrow when we first met. But after your reading let me dodge a storm of scimitars as if they had stopped in thin air...Consider me a believer."

The Brass Dwarf forge is awash with activity and the fires within burn with renewed intensity. The brass dwarf inhabiting the place frantically runs around, carrying glowing runic brands from table to table. Behind him, a humanoid Reginald carries an equally large sack of magical reagents in one hand, while in the other he carefully handles the expensive and rare bottles of potions and oils Sigourney has collected over the past few days. Both of them carry their cargo towards a flat white table at the forge's centre, where the master of the forge labours away.

Sigourney stares at the spread of magical livery laid out before her. Slick's armour and massive sword, which he unceremoniously left on her person along with an assortment of elemental runestones. An assortment of magical reagents are arranged around a large magical cauldron, which is already threatening to boil over. Pine's tiny explorers clothing and size-changing runestone are stashed away at the very corner of the table. She makes a mental note not to misplace those tiny items. She doesn't want to loose the clothing in the horde - especially after Pine asked her nicely to help him out. Surveying the hoard of magical items demanding a crafters attention, she cracks her knuckles and gets to work.

With a practiced patience, she starts the slow process of transferring runes. She does her best to guide the magical energy within the existing runes into a spare runestone. Once she is certain that the resulting proto-rune is not about to blow up in her face, she takes a heated brand and applies it to the stone, sealing the magical energy behind an imprinted runic ward. Applying the runes required her to do that same process but in reverse, branding the weapon and armour first before guiding the magic from runestone to equipment. Pine's clothes gave her the most trouble due to their size. It was quite tricky to brand such a diminutive item without accidentally scorching the entire thing up. In the end, Sigourney was still able to deliver the finished items to her party.

She then turns her attention to the exciting work - reverse engineering rare potions and oils. She marvelled at her good fortune in being able to access such wondrous items - she had no idea how the Pactmasters and the Mountain man were able to get hold of them. Uncorking her precious samples, she extracts a few drops of each and transfers them to a dish. Slowly, she embarks on a trial and error style of experimentation as she tries to break each item down into its base components...

Let me know how my crafting checks in Discussion worked out and whether I was able to reverse engineer everything.

You are a Master at Crafting, lets just assume you pass.

With various activities complete the group returns to Harrowheart. Baines is, as ever, waiting. He directs you to the courtyard outside of the castle.

Heading outside you find All Seeing Hajeck waiting for you at the spot where you defeated the shadow version of the Prince of Wolves. A large, dark, stain mars the cobblestones and, much to the annoyance of Baines, nothing has been able to remove it.

Welcome friends, says Hajeck. I think I have discovered how the Prince of Wolves was able to enter Harrowheart. She gestures to the stain, This mark gave me a starting point. Using my knowledge of the Harrow I was able to trace a link back towards the Prince. I could not reach him but I have worked out how he reached here. I believe this Prince holds an older Harrow Deck, the Deck of Harrowed Tales. That Deck also created its own Realm, the Harrowed Realm. I believe the Prince used that Realm as a bridge to this one.

She pauses, and turns a circuit around the stain. This mark provides a thinning of the barriers between Realms. I believe that you could use your cards to enter the Harrowed Realm through it. Within the Harrowed Realm there is a powerful magical telescope, called the Outreaching Eye. It allows those within the Realm to peer out of it and locate the Deck of Harrowed Tales. Finding the Deck should also find the Prince. However, I should warn you, my research has detected a growing malevolence within the Harrowed Realm. I do not know the cause but I would advise caution.

Hajeck continues, I know a little about the Harrowed Realm. It is a demiplane, much like this one, about eighty miles across. The centre is filled with an overgrown forest and it is surrounded by a barren wasteland called the Dearth. A single volcano rises from the forest, I believe it provided power to various parts of the Realm. The forest contained a number of locations of interest, a circus at the centre, a theatre at its northwester edge, a large swamp to the southeast and a rather difficult to find garden t the south. The Realms ruler dwelled in a mobile fortress that walks the length of the wasteland.

As you approach the stain you sense a connection between a number of your cards and locations in the Harrowed Realm. The Big Sky can take you to the volcano, The Carnival to the circus, the Demon Lantern to the swamp, the Empty Throne to the garden, the Tangled Briar to the forest and the Vision to the theatre. None of the cards lead to the Dearth.

What are you going to do?

Billy nods as All Seeing Hajeck tells of the new realm. He is excited to see the creators of the bizarro realm had the good sense to build a theater. "Oh, I can't wait to take in a performance. Who's in? I'm sure The Theater harrow card will grant acce..." But he stops mid-sentence, when he realizes it's The Vision that gets us there. "Well, that's oddly disappointing. Seems like the creators missed an opportunity..." He shrugs.

He looks around to see what interests the group. To no one's surprise, he chimes in, "My first choice is the Theater ... then, the Circus." He adds, "But I'm sure we'll be visiting all of them, so the order almost certainly doesn't matter."

Once the group chooses a destination, Billy asks, "Can we leave tomorrow morning? I'd like to spend a day at The Carnival. Our carnival."
Perception, DC 28: 1d20 + 28 ⇒ (16) + 28 = 44
Crit Success for the epitomized 8-hr visit to the carnival to learn about a specific named enemy.

On the morning the group leaves, as part of his daily prep, he activates The Carnival (2-action version) to learn about someone the group will meet that day. He also activates The Marriage to create a protective bond with Slick.

"Oh! Oh! I wanna go to the circus! ...wait. It's an evil circus, isn't it?"

"It's an evil circus, isn't it?"

Billy laughs and responds, "Aren't they all? It's what gives them their charm!" He pauses and explains, "For instance, does anyone really like clowns? Of course not! They're creepy and eerie. Yet we seek them out when the circus comes to town." Billy's clearly excited about the evil circus.

Billy's clearly excited about the evil circus.

"The circus is not my first choice, but clearly you two are excited to go there. Who am I to say no? Let's have some evil Firefoot popcorn to go with those evil clowns."

She turns to the All seeing Lamia.

"Miss Hajeck, your information on the Harrowed Realm may match up with what I've read before. May I have a moment of your time to compare notes?"

With or without Hajeck's help, Sigourney spends the rest of the day boning up on whatever she can learn about the Harrowed Realm.

I get Lore:Harrowed Realm at Trained Proficiency for the next day (+23).

The next day, Sigourney joins the others at the stain with an excited grin on her face. Going over to Billy, she waves her Knifewand over herself and Billy and Casts 6th rank Heatvision on them both.

"This might sting a bit, but there are no long term side effects to being able to see heat in colour...probably. It also helps us see through smoke!" She rapidly explains to Billy.

Wand overcharge DC 10: 1d20 ⇒ 14

The knife shudders and shakes as magical energy is poured through it. A large crack splits the knife from hilt to tip...but the knife remains whole for now.

Sigourney smiles, satisfied with her efforts and puts the knife up her sleeves.

"Are you feeling all right, Billy? No side effects?" She asks. "If Heatvision persists for more than 8 hours you should see a doctor. Or let me Regenerate your eyes. Also, there's one more thing I need to do."

She corks open a glass vial filled with a navy blue liquid and chugs it down. As she drains the glass, her skin quickly changes its tinge from a healthy pale white to a striking blueberry blue.

"Ok, now I'm ready. If anyone else wants their skin blue or to see heat in colour, let me know tomorrow."

I intend to give Billy and I Heatvision every day as part of my Daily Preparations. Daily potion/prepared spell post coming in a few hours. Slick, I'd appreciate it if you kept Blind Fight on for the foreseeable future.

Sigourney gets down to some serious research about their destination. She discovers that the Harrowed Realm is, as she was told, a creation of the Deck of Harrowed Tales. The Deck was created by a legendary Harrower named Sonnorae.

Much like Harrowheart, most of the inhabitants of the realm are harrowkin, creations of the world who exist to fulfil their roles. Harrowhearts people provide a semblance of town and country castle life. The Harrowed Realm creations embody tales and stories and generally cannot act outside of them.

Some years ago rumour has it that the inhabitants overthrew Sonnorae and took over the Realm for themselves.

Stepping up to the stain you make your preparations. Billy first visits the Carnival. There he is once again drawn to the Big Top. Outside the ring master is calling people in to see the show. He smiles broadly with a mouth full of bright white teeth. Billy senses that he both can, and cannot be trusted, the figure is something of an uncertainty.

Observing the crowd, Billy spots an elderly woman knitting at the very front of the show. Remind me of this when you reach the Theatre

Drawing on the powers of your cards, you step into the stain and are whisked away in a swirl of fog. As the mist clears you find yourselves standing at the edge of a large clearing. Tent poles for what must have been an enormous central tent stand bare here, ragged pieces of gray cloth clinging to them. A towering central pole still reaches for the sky. Strewn across the area are rusted, broken cages and tumbled wagons missing wheels. It looks like a tornado has torn its way through the circus, but some time ago.

What do you do?

During his daily preparations before the trip, Billy draws his daily harrow omen suit.
Harrow Omen Suit - 1:Hammers (Strikes), 2:Keys (Reflex), 3:Shields (Fort), 4:Books (Skill), 5:Stars (Will), 6:Crowns (Other): 1d6 ⇒ 3
Harrow Omen Suit - 1:Hammers (Strikes), 2:Keys (Reflex), 3:Shields (Fort), 4:Books (Skill), 5:Stars (Will), 6:Crowns (Other): 1d6 ⇒ 3
Billy considers his options and 'chooses' Shields.

Returning from the visit to his carnival, he says, "We'll soon meet a ringmaster. With large teeth. Not sure about him." After a short pause, he adds, "What has me more concerned is an old woman. Her knitting needles gave me the chills. She'll likely be trouble."

Looking at the wreckage, Billy says, "Must have been some storm. Unfortunately, my retrocognition magic can tell us what happened over the past 10 days, not years." He continues, "If we find some stone or rocks, perhaps we can have a chat." He shrugs and continues looking around.
If appropriate, Billy will use Perception to Seek (with See Invis and Heatvision).
Halfling's Keen Eyes provides +2 to Seek hidden/undetected creatures.

"You're afraid of an old woman, are you?" Sigourney teases the bard.

Sigourney shakes her head disapprovingly when Billy brings up the idea of talking to a rock. "Surely there's someone better to talk to than a rock. The last time we spoke with stones, they threatened to eat my soul and I nearly died."

She spends some time contemplating on what this place's function would have been if the Harrowed Realm was undamaged.

Can I use my Lore:Harrowed Realm (+23) to make some kind of Recall Knowledge check on this place's intended purpose?

Not wanting to cut her feet on any sharp debris lying around, she mounts her disc and rides it around, following Billy.

When Sigourney returns Slick's newly runed armor and greatsword, the fighter is impressed. "Nice work, Sigourney. I can't wait to try them out in the field."

Slick remains quiet at the meeting with Hajeck, but listens as she describes the situation with the demiplanes and the stain. Much of what she says means little to him and he hopes that Billy and Sigourney are getting more out of it. When the others settle on the circus as a starting point, Slick shrugs. "The evil circus is as good a place to start as any."

The next morning he does his usual preparations and then joins the rest of the group at the stain. Once all the spells are cast and knowledge shared, he steps into the stain with the rest of the group.

When the dust settles and they look upon the remains of the circus before them, Slick raises an eyebrow questioningly. "Doesn't look like there's going to be show anytime soon. This place is a wreck. Let's wander around and see if we can find anyone. Maybe that ringmaster with the large teeth Billy mentioned is still around."

Slick, sword in hands, then heads off with the others to explore the ruined circus while keeping an eye our for ambushes.

Exploration Activity: Scouting (+26 Initiative).

Blind-Fight still in place.

"Oh no, it's not an evil circus. This is worse!"

Pine looks around curiously. "But then where's the dubious ringmaster?"

Evil knitting. That could be something with knives or needs, or it could be something relating to threads--nets or spiderwebs?

Sigourney is familiar with this place, it is as it appears, a Circus where many of the various harrowkin once performed. Moving closer it appears that the destruction was more recent. Much of the damage to the fixtures and fittings is due to decay and lack of use. It seems the place had become largely unused before the storm struck.

Carefully heading into the wreckage you enter the remains of the Big Top. There you meet a most unusual figure. Woven into the elaborate wrought iron, first appearing to be a waxy model, is a crocodile-headed humanoid with cords of fine silk and leather knitted into his flayed and pinned “flesh.” His red eyes flick open as you enter, and his mouth gapes open as he tries to speak to you but it is apparent that he has neither teeth nor tongue.

Sigourney recognises his as Bernaditi, one time ringmaster and the creature Billy saw in his vision.

What do you do? There is a picture of him on roll20.

Sigourney puts her hand to her mouth in horror as she sees the way Bernaditi has been treated. Bound and woven to the Big Top and unable to speak? She wonders who Bernaditi could have angered for him to have met with such a terrible fate. She feels a little sorry for this strange crocodile creature - maybe he is an Iruxi?

Turning to Billy, she asks him: "Do you have any magic that allows us to communicate with the ringmaster telepathically? I'd prefer that approach before we take the boring approach of passing paper and quill to him and hoping his bonds are loose enough to allow him to write."

Whispering to the rest of the party, she says: "I could potentially cast Regenerate on him and see if he can Regenerate his teeth and tongue, but I'm not sure if that would work. Maybe he's under some kind of curse?"

Can I do a Recall Knowledge to understand the nature of his predicament and if Regenerate would give him back his teeth and tongue?

Billy sees the poor crocodile creature and shudders. "Oh dear. My name is Billy. These are my friends. Who could've done this to you? We'll try to help. Can you nod if you understand me?" He watches the creature carefully.

Responding to Sigourney, he says "Alas, I don't have Telepathy in my spell repertoire." He continues, "However, if we can pop back to Harrowheart, I can buy a scroll that would help."

Billy considers, "I do speak Fey (formerly Sylvan), the language of, among other things, fungus creatures. Many fungus creatures can communicate without actual teeth or a tongue. I could grant all of us, including our new friend Bernaditi, the ability to communicate using Fey."

GMAndrew, I figure it's a longshot, but any chance Fey (or another language) would allow Bernaditi to communicate without teeth/tongue?

Slick examines the poor circus master trapped in his iron jail. "Wow! Whoever did this to you must really not like you." He takes another look around to make sure Bernaditi's enemies aren't trying to sneak up on them.

He then turns to the group. "I think it might be useful to find out what the deal is with this place and how the fellow ended up in this predicament. Not sure how we're going to communicate with him without all his mouth parts though."

When Sigourney suggests writing as a form of communication, Slick checks the creature's anatomy and finding what appears to be arms, looks down them to their ends to see if there are any appendages left with which Bernaditi might be able to hold a pen.

Does Bernaditi have hands? Are they immobilized or can he hold a writing instrument of some kind?

Slick continues. "Billy's vision showed him with a lot of teeth, so his lack in this department is a little odd. Billy also mentioned that the fellow's trustworthiness is to be questioned, so before we try to free him, we should be very sure what it is that we're dealing with here. There may be a very good reason why he's been left bound up like this."

Does it look like we can extract him from the wrought iron into which he is woven?

I am going to say no to the Fey thing.

It is not entirely clear to Sigourney how his teeth and tongue have been removed but it definitely appears to have been done magically. She doesnt think regenerate will cure him. It does look like he can be removed from the bars, but it will take someone with a fair bit of strength (an Athletics check can do it).

If released he could certainly write, his body is a regular humanoid just with a crocodile shaped head.

What do you do?

Slick's examination of the bars suggest that the metal is soft enough that he could probably pull it apart with his bare hands. "I'm pretty sure I can get what's left of this guy out of those bars, but before I do that, we should find out a little more about who we're dealing with and how he got into this predicament."

Is there a way to free just one of his hands enough that he can write with it without freeing him completely from the wrought iron?

Slick carefully advances on the trapped circus master and using his crowbar, attempts to bend the bar nearest Bernaditi’s hand just enough to free the appendage so it can be used to write with.

Here are multiple rolls for multiple attempts, if that’s what it takes.

Athletics (Force Open) with Armbands of Athleticism vs DC ??: 1d20 + 27 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 27 + 2 = 37

Athletics (Force Open) with Armbands of Athleticism vs DC ??: 1d20 + 27 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 27 + 2 = 49

Athletics (Force Open) with Armbands of Athleticism vs DC ??: 1d20 + 27 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 27 + 2 = 30

Athletics (Force Open) with Armbands of Athleticism vs DC ??: 1d20 + 27 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 27 + 2 = 38

”Anyone have a pen on them? Maybe some paper too?”

Billy brings up some musical accompaniment as Slick starts bending the bars of the cage. The little halfling flexes his flabby arms and quips, "Need any help there, Slick?" Seeing that the fighter is doing just fine, Billy retrieves his writing pad to hand to Bernaditi.

Addressing the prisoner, he says, "We'll get you free shortly. My friends aren't as trusting as I am. They have some questions." Billy retrieves his jug and asks, "But first, would you like some water?" He retrieves his jug, "Or perhaps something stronger?" If he desires either, Billy carefully helps him drink.

Billy explains, "We're adventurers collecting magical harrow cards. We've helped many people along the way. Can you tell us what happened here?"

Diplomacy to Make an Impression +cloak +jug: 1d20 + 27 + 2 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 27 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 47

"Yes, I have a writing set." Sigourney says.
Wanting to show off, the magician doesn't deign to get it herself.
She snaps her fingers together and Commands Reginald: "Fetch this crocodilian person some paper and a pen, please."

As Reginald is about to do so, she sees that Billy has already taken the initiative. She Commands Reginald to take out the Holy Aligned Oil and put it into her tentacle instead.

Pinebrush keeps an eye on the situation and watches for anything hiding or sneaking up on them.

He also keeps an eye out for spiders or insects. He's curious whether the demiplane has such things (Does Harrowheart? Never occurred to me to ask), but it isn't just that.

If he finds any, he asks them if they know anything about the crocodile man. It's a long shot--bug monsters tend to have more to say, but ordinary insects are short-lived and not terribly observant--but it is a shot.

Using my ability to communicate with bugs for the first time ever... assuming there are any.

Slick easily pries open the bars restraining the strange harrowkins arm. Bernaditi looks at him gratefully and glances over to his other arm. When Slick doesnt move to release it as well he gives a little sight of resignation. He shakes his head at Billy's offer of a drink and reaches for the quill. He quickly scratches down a message.

My name in Bernaditi, who are you and why are you here? You are looking for Harrow cards? I cannot help you, this place was created by a Harrow Deck but it has been lost for a long time. However, if you could recover my tongue and my teeth and free from this contraption then perhaps I can tell you more of this place that might help you in your explorations. Do we have a deal?

There are indeed a variety of bug and bug like creatures here, as there are pretty much everywhere. All the can tell you about Bernaditi is that he has been there for a very long time. Of course, a bugs conception of time is likely to be influenced by their relatively short life cycles.

Did Billy's Make an Impression seem to have any effect.

Even if some of the group isn't quite ready to trust Bernaditi yet, the less-discerning Billy definitely is. "My friends may need more convincing to set you free, but I assure you that we will do whatever we can to immediately recover your tongue and teeth." After a short pause, "Um ... where might we find them?"

Slick purses his lips when Bernaditi asks to be released. "Not so fast there Bernaditi. Billy here might be willing to trust you but I'm not so sure... yet."

He pauses momentarily in thought. "Tell you what. How about we get your tongue and teeth back and then we'll have a nice conversation. You can tell us all about yourself and how you got all tied up, and then, maybe, we'll free you, assuming you've convinced us by then that you're not a danger to anyone we care about. Looks like you've been hanging about here for a while now, so an hour or two more trapped in the bars won't kill you."

Seeing the more social (and scary) members of the party have the matter of communication settled, Sigourney gets to work trying to fix her broken knife.

Repair (Crafting), Master vs Level 0 Broken Dagger: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (4) + 27 = 31

With a bit of solvent and tape from her Repair Kit, she fixes the knife such that it becomes a whole object again. She hopes that this knife can handle another daily ceremonial ritual to contain her patron's latent magic power.

Yes, your make an impression certainly made him like you more.

Bernaditi scratches a message in reply to Slick.

I understand your caution. Yes, your terms are acceptable. My teeth and tongue are held by Marzalee, you can find her at the old theatre.

As he's writing the name in his own writing pad, Billy thinks to ask, "Does this Marzalee happen to enjoy knitting? I recently had a bad vision..."

After getting a description, the bard asks, a little too excitedly, "So...off to the theater?" He stows his jug, grips his staff, and is ready to take the stage.

If appropriate, Society +24 to recall anything about Marzalee.

Slick nods as Bernaditi agrees to his proposal. "Very good. Let's go find this Marzalee character and see if we can convince her to hand over your omitted oral organs." He grins at his own clever wordplay.

When Billy suggests that they visit the theater next, Slick agrees heartily and looks around for just such a building, then remembers that one of the Harrow cards will take them directly there. "Sigourney! I believe your Vision card is required. Maybe we'll catch a show while we're there."

Sigourney looks up from her work. Happy to see that Billy and Slick have finished negotiating terms with Bernaditi, she stows her fixed knife and draws the Vision.

"Even if there is a play running in the theatre, I doubt it will be any fun given the state of this place. Should have packed some rotten tomatoes to throw..."

She clicks her heels together three times and thinks really hard about a theatre, hoping that that teleports her and the party to their destination.

Sadly for Sigourney she is not on the yellow brick road and the group must travel back to Harrowheart and then return to the Harrowed Realm to reach the theatre.

Billy has not heard of Marzalee however Sigourney has. She recalls that Marzalee was one of the local storykin who took the form of a giant ant queen. When individuals were damaged or destroyed they would reform at the theatre where she would stich them back together.

She was generally considered to be a kindly creature but who knows how the changes which have happened here over the last few months have changed her.

Taking the portal you find yourselves standing in front of a peeling, run down, mansion, surrounded by thick trees. The air here carries the scent of blood and grease. Spiked iron reinforces the corners, the eaves, the doors, and the tall chimneys of the building. Heated air rises from these stacks. A wash of dark crimson has been painted over the peeling exterior. Black bars and boards cover the windows. Although the bars and boards have gaps, leather curtains cover the windows on the inside.

As you arrive Pine spots a figure peering out of a window of a southern room. As soon as they notice you noticing the curtain snaps back into place.

What do you do? I have moved you to a new map.

"A sewing ant queen? I think there are weaving ants, but if the people here come from stories I'd expect, I dunno, maybe a spider? But people don't like spiders, so I guess they aren't usually cast as friendly."

He points at the twitching curtain. "Somebody was there looking at us. We should check there first. But... if somebody is in there, there must be a way in that isn't blocked."

"So we're dealing with a giant ant thingy then? Possibly nice; possibly not nice? Sounds about par for the course so far."

When they arrive at the theater, Slick gives the building the once over. "Doesn't look like much of a theater to me. All those spikes and boards don't exactly create an inviting ambiance, and where is the marquee? How very disappointing." There is a certain irony to his tone that suggests he is not being serious.

"Shall we make our presence known?" Without waiting for an answer, Slick goes up the stairs and knocks on the door. "Hello? Anybody home? We're looking for Marzalee."

Assuming there is no answer...

Slick examines the door and notices the peeling paint and general bad condition of the exterior of the building. He doesn't think the lock would survive even one well placed thrust from his armored foot. Still, it wouldn't do to destroy the home of the giant ant lady whose help they were seeking. He calls over his shoulder. "Pine! Maybe you could do your thing and get this door open. Maybe we can save them having to get a new door that way."

Observing the crowd, Billy spots an elderly woman knitting at the very front of the show. Remind me of this when you reach the Theatre.

Your wish is my command.

Even though Billy doesn't recall anything about Marzalee yet, he has a hunch he'll remember more about her from his carnival visit, once he sees her. When Slick summarizes the situation, Billy corrects him, "Almost certainly not nice. When I had my vision of her, I sensed she was an enemy."
For the players: the epitomized version of The Carnival (see roll20) provides a glimpse of a future foe. At the time, Billy crit-succeeded on his Perception check, which translates into a crit-success RK check when we meet the creature.

Agreeing with Pinebrush, Billy says, "I was thinking the same thing. Spiders aren't usually cast as friendly, so maybe a Queen of Ants who enjoys weaving?" After restarting his Musical Accompaniment, Billy moves in behind Slick and waits for the door to open.

Sigourney is just about to Message the figure peering out of the window before it moved away. She tuts to herself, mentally kicking herself for missing out on the opportunity to use her new cool spell.

When Billy says that Marzalee is supposed to be an enemy, she considers if she should bring up the fact that she is supposed to be nice but thinks better of it. It's likely that, just like almost all of the encounters so far, Marzalee will turn out to be violent and unwilling to co-operate. The less time Billy spends talking, the more time the rest of the party has to act.

She hangs back with Reginald and waits for Pine or Slick to create an entrance into the manor.