PF2E Stolen Fate

Game Master andreww

As the Ankous swoop down and tear at her flesh, Sigourney reacts to blunt the impact of the fey creature's sharp claws. Her skin suddenly erupts into sharp, white draconic scales, preventing the Ankous from digging in as deeply into her skin as they would like.

⟳ Hidebound to grant Sigourney DR 5 vs physical damage until the start of my next turn.

"This...is unpleasant. Get them down from up there!" She yells out.

Billy decides that terrible TikTok (and his awful aura) should take a little inter-planar vacation. After concentrating to extend his spell range, he sings,
♫"The good guys have a plan. Evil never pays.
And for the TikTok man, let's send him to a maze."♫
Cast Maze to teleport TikTok to an extradimensional plane.
Requires two DC 37 Survival or Perception checks (max 1/turn) to escape.

Then, noticing one of the baleful bats way too close for comfort, Billy the brave bard strategically scampers away to be near Slick.

◆ Reach Spell, ◆◆ Maze, ◆ Stride (hasted)

I have accounted for Sigourneys resist

Billy dispatches Tiktok to the endless wastes of the Astral plane.

Meanwhile Green swoops down at Sigourney, leaving a ragged wound with its wickedly sharp claws, before flying off back into the air.

Slick is at a loss as to what to do next. He'd hoped that Sigourney would grace him with some air walking, but she'd instead decided to help the suicidal Pinebrush with his wounds. He could activate his Baldric and fly up to meet the remaining bad guys, but that would merely leave him as a sitting (well, flying) duck with no time to launch any sort of attack.

He decides to give Sigourney another chance to put him into the air before deciding what to do next.

Action (◇): Delay: Until the end of Sigourney's turn..

Ugh, why are they so far away?

He could use his extending rune, but they'd see it coming so it wouldn't be as effective. He remembered when his bow was his favored weapon, but it was so much less powerful... he might have to resort to it, but not before this slowing spell wore off.

Pine vanishes from sight and takes to the air, moving closer to the bats.

◆◆ Cast 4th-rank invisibility
◆ Fly. Now 10 feet up.
◆ Slowed
Bleed damage: 4d6 ⇒ (4, 6, 3, 4) = 17 Persists?: 1d20 ⇒ 4

Pine vanishes from sight and flies off.

I am inclined to say no to Heatvision pinpointing an invisible enemy, if only because I dont want to turn it into the uber sense spell given its duration. I am in fact inclined to remove it, its banned in PFS for what that's worth.

Inside the Maze Tiktok searches for a way out....

Sigourney sees Slick waiting for her expectantly and sighs. As she exhales, she effortlessly concentrates on the Phantom Orchestra, which flies over and hits the red and blue Ankou, continuing to shred their eardrums.

DC 37 Fort, Sonic, CA: 8d6 + 1 ⇒ (1, 1, 6, 3, 2, 1, 6, 4) + 1 = 25

"I'm on my way, one second." She says as she hastily runs over to Slick. She lays a hand on his breastplate and Slick finds air gathering around his feet.

Casting Air Walk on Slick.

"Go Slick, kill them all please." Sigourney says as her own blood runs down her face.

With her last action, she implores her Patron to heal her.

Casting Life Boost on Sigourney.

Blood continues to drip from Sigourney's many wounds...A small trickle comes out, but its flow continues unabated.

Bleed damage: 2d6 ⇒ (6, 1) = 7

DC 15 bleed: 1d20 ⇒ 9

◇ Sustain Phantom Orchestra, ◆ Stride (hasted), ◆◆ Air Walk, ◆ Life Boost

Slick nods his gratitude to Sigourney, then turns and heads up to meet the enemy. Once he reaches the more wounded of the Ankou, he leaps and cuts into it mercilessly with his sword before turning and screaming blue (or is it Red :) murder at the other one.

Action 1 (◆): Stride with Haste (55 feet)

Slick can ascend at a 45 degree angle, so one square up diagonally for every square forward, meaning that with his 55 speed, he can easily reach the Ankous' height. He will end up 9 squares up and adjacent to Blue. He will avoid Sig's Phantom Orchestra along the way.

Actions 2 & 3 (◆◆): Needle in the Gods’ Eyes
- Action: Leap with Greater Boots of Bounding - Up to 6 feet vertically.
- Action: Strike (+3 Greater Striking Shock Thundering Greater Flaming Greatsword) with Courageous Anthem vs Frightened 1 Blue.
- Action: Strike (+3 Greater Striking Shock Thundering Greater Flaming Greatsword) with Courageous Anthem vs Frightened 1 Blue.

Greatsword Attack: 1d20 + 29 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 29 + 3 + 1 = 36 vs Frightened 1
Greatsword Damage: 3d12 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (6, 10, 6) + 13 + 1 = 36 slashing damage
Greatsword Shock Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 1 electricity damage
Greatsword Thundering Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 2 sonic damage
Greatsword Flaming Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6 fire damage - no resistance

Greatsword Attack: 1d20 + 29 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 29 + 3 + 1 = 46 vs Frightened 1
Greatsword Damage: 3d12 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (9, 10, 12) + 13 + 1 = 45 slashing damage
Greatsword Shock Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 5 electricity damage
Greatsword Thundering Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 5 sonic damage
Greatsword Flaming Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 4 fire damage - no resistance

I'm going to assume that along with Sig's damage, this will take Blue out of the fight.

Action 4 (◆): Scare to Death with Mask of the Banshee vs Red

Intimidation (Scare to Death): 1d20 + 28 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 28 + 2 = 49 vs Red Will DC

Should be a crit. Cross fingers for a crit-fail on its save.

Sigourney gets busy, blasting two of the ankous, getting Slick into the air and providing some much needed healing for herself.

Slick leaps into the air, engaging Blue. Two quick blows send it reeling and it crashes to the ground to move no more.

Red shrieks in anger and dive bombs Sigourney, seeking to end her, before flying off.

With barely a thought (Effortless Concentration), Billy sustains the Maze holding TikTok.

Noticing the injured witch beside him, he says, "Hold still..." and slaps two battle dressings on her.
(Note: Medic Dedication => 1/day can Battle Med immune)

Battle Medicine DC 20: 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (20) + 25 = 45
Damage Healed +Medic: 2d8 + 10 + 5 ⇒ (5, 3) + 10 + 5 = 23
Crit Damage Healed: 2d8 ⇒ (2, 2) = 4

Battle Medicine DC 20: 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (14) + 25 = 39
Damage Healed +Medic: 2d8 + 10 + 5 ⇒ (2, 4) + 10 + 5 = 21
Crit Damage Healed: 2d8 ⇒ (6, 5) = 11

Billy then slaps Sigourney on the back, laying on his healing hands, and says, "Good as new, Sig. Well, maybe not. But I find it best to look on the bright side."
Lay on Hands heals 48 hp. Cost: 1 Focus Point

Total Healing for Sigourney: 107 hp

Realizing he has a little extra time on his hands, he meanders near Slick.

◇ Sustain (effortless), ◆◆ Battle Med x2, ◆ Lay on Hands, ◆ Stride (hasted)

Billy undoes all the good work the creatures have done taking down Sigourney.

Green tries to place more pressure, swooping down on her to tear and rend! It manages to rake her with one of its wings.

It's lower now. Pine darts straight forward, leading with his stinging rapier.
"Glad to see you're more on my level," he says quietly as he slashes at the bat's wing with his other sword.

And the bleeding seems to have stopped.

◆ Fly
◆ Fly
◆ Strike Green Minty Toothpick: 1d20 + 30 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 30 + 1 = 40 for piercing: 3d6 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (3, 2, 2) + 6 + 1 = 14, precision: 3d6 ⇒ (2, 6, 6) = 14, cold (ignores resistance): 1d6 ⇒ 2, and spirit damage: 1d6 ⇒ 2; on crit add deadly damage: 2d8 ⇒ (5, 4) = 9, Off-Guard one round, and DC 34 Fort vs Slowed 1 (total 32)
◆ Strike Green shortsword: 1d20 + 30 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (15) + 30 + 1 - 4 = 42 for slashing: 3d6 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (3, 2, 5) + 6 + 2 = 18, precision: 3d6 ⇒ (5, 3, 4) = 12, cold (ignores resistance): 1d6 ⇒ 4, and spirit damage: 1d6 ⇒ 3; on crit, Off-Guard one round, and DC 34 Fort vs Slowed 1 (total 36)
(On the off-chance it can see invisibility or otherwise turns out not to be Off-Guard against my first attack, replace the second with Overextending Feint--15+29=44 with the same die roll; instead of the usual effects of Feint, Green takes a -2 circumstance penalty to its next attack vs Pine, or all attacks on its next turn on critical success.)
◇ If an attack hit an Off-Guard target, Debilitating Strike: -10-foot penalty to speeds and 3d6 Bleed
Bleed: 4d6 ⇒ (4, 3, 3, 4) = 14 Persists?: 1d20 ⇒ 18

Pine darts in and stabs Green with two quick jabs.

Two normal hits

Meanwhile, in the Astral Plane, Tiktok continues to search for an escape....and he finds one! Reappearing, he quickly advances on Billy and jabs at him with his weird finger keys. they leave jagged, bleeding wounds.

Sigourney has seen enough of how these creatures fight - all they do is hit things really hard with their sharp claws. But how to stop them from hitting the party? She thinks really hard before coming up with a plan to use her new magical wand.

With but a thought, she continues to pressure the Green Ankou by causing the Phantom Orchestra to hit it again. The air near Pine warbles with dangerously powerful waves of sound, nearly missing him but not impacting him.

DC 37 Fort Save, Sonic, CA: 8d6 + 1 ⇒ (5, 1, 6, 2, 1, 3, 5, 2) + 1 = 26

With a quick Stride, she moves out of earshot of Tiktok's annoying (yet oddly addicting) emanation of ticking noise.

With a grand gesture, she puts her hand in the air and yells "Give me that which I want now!" As she does so, her Gloves of Storage activates and conjures her Wand of Choking Mist (2nd level) instantly appears in her free hand.

She begins the long incantation necessary to summon a Cloud of Choking Mist in the vicinity.

"Something wicked this way smells,
Mist straight from the nine hells.
With this magic, I conceal us from sight,
And you're going to get such a fright!"

As the long incantation continues, Sigourney draws a Gravemist Taper catalyst as part of the casting and holds it to the wand. The taper ignites, burning the taper away, coloring the mist gray, and filling the mist with ghastly, shadowy shapes.

A lot has happened in one spell but basically:
- All targets in the mist must hold their breath or start suffocating.
- All creatures within the mist become concealed, and all creatures outside the mist become concealed to creatures within it.
- The flat check to overcome the concealed state from the mist rises to 7, and a creature who fails such a check becomes frightened 1.

As Sigourney casts this spell, she reacts quickly and creates an Air Bubble over her head. She takes a deep, long breath and steadies herself. From within the mist and her bubble, she mocks the Ankous, saying "Ha ha! Try getting through this now!"

◇ Sustain (Effortless Concentration), ◆ Hasted Stride, ◇ Interact (Gloves of Storage), ◆◆◆ Mist from Wand of Choking Mist w/ ◇ Interact (Gravemist Taper), ⟳ Air Bubble

Slick looks down in time to see TikTok reappear and start unlocking his way into Billy. He only sees this for a moment before a mist cloud appears between him and the ground.

Slick is 45' up and the highest the cloud reaches is some 20' up, so he's not in it despite how it might look on the map.

Due to his training, he can still see TikTok relatively clearly at the edge of the mist, so he drops to the un-misted patch of ground on the other side of the ticking monster from Billy. After roaring bloody murder at the creature to get its attention, Slicks starts hacking away at it.

Action 1 (◆): Stride with Haste (55 feet)

Action 2 (◆): Scare to Death with Guise of the Smirking Devil vs TikTok

Intimidation (Scare to Death): 1d20 + 28 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 28 + 2 = 50 vs TikTok Will DC

It's an Incapacitation effect and I'm guessing TikTok is the boss here, so despite the crit, he may not die of fright from it. I'll happily settle for a little Frightened 2 though.

Actions 3 & 4 (◆◆): Needle in the Gods’ Eyes
- Action: Leap with Greater Boots of Bounding - Up to 6 feet vertically.
- Action: Strike (+3 Greater Striking Shock Thundering Greater Flaming Greatsword) with Courageous Anthem, Blind-Fight and Flanking vs Off-Guard and Frightened 2 TikTok.
- Action: Strike (+3 Greater Striking Shock Thundering Greater Flaming Greatsword) with Courageous Anthem, Blind-Fight and Flanking vs Off-Guard and Frightened 2 TikTok.

Greatsword Attack: 1d20 + 29 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 29 + 3 + 1 = 50 vs Off-Guard and Frightened 2
Greatsword Damage: 3d12 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (4, 1, 4) + 13 + 1 = 23 slashing damage
Greatsword Shock Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 3 electricity damage
Greatsword Thundering Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 5 sonic damage
Greatsword Flaming Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 1 fire damage - no resistance

Greatsword Attack: 1d20 + 29 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 29 + 3 + 1 = 50 vs Off-Guard and Frightened 2
Greatsword Damage: 3d12 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (3, 5, 8) + 13 + 1 = 30 slashing damage
Greatsword Shock Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 4 electricity damage
Greatsword Thundering Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 1 sonic damage
Greatsword Flaming Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6 fire damage - no resistance

Now that Slick is near TikTok, the ticking sound starts worming its way into his skull...

Will Save vs DC ??: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (14) + 24 = 38, Bravery, +1 vs Fear effects

...but he (probably) doesn't let it get to him.

Green shudders under the assault of the orchestra. Sigourney then conjures a cloud of terrifying mist.

Slick swoops down and screams at Tiktok. The little creature sems very startled which lets Slick land two massive blows.

A crit on the Scare, he doesnt benefit from the incapacitation, sadly he is only level 16. He only just avoids a crit fail on the save. Both attacks crit for a total of 146 damage. You save against the aura.

Red gets back into the flight, rushing over to Sigourney to rend and tear at her.

Through absolutely no fault of his own (well, okay maybe sending Tiktok on his astral vacation counts), Billy has found himself the object of TikTok's affections. In any event, Billy is way too close to the action. And surrounded by a choking mist. He moves out of the cloud.
(Provokes reactive strike from TikTok if he has it.)

From a more comfortable distance, he concentrates to extend the range of his next spell and sings,
♫"TikTok just caused me to bleed. But frightened, he hasn't a chance.
A party is what we all need. Let's start with a song and a dance."♫
Conceal Flat Check, DC 3: 1d20 ⇒ 7
Note: Halfling Keen Eyes: "reduce the DC of the flat check to 3 for a concealed target"

Using Reach, Billy casts Uncontrollable Dance on the frightened TikTok.
Will Save DC 37 (vs frightened. also, incapacitation, which hopefully won't matter based on info above)

Will Save, TikTok Aura: 1d20 + 28 ⇒ (17) + 28 = 45 (+1 vs magic) (succ => crit succ)

Pers Bleed: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 3) = 4
Pers Bleed Flat Check, DC 10: 1d20 ⇒ 17
(Greater Stanching Rune provides DC 10 flat check for bleed.)

◆ Stride (hasted), ◆ Reach Spell, ◆◆ Uncontrollable Dance

Billy scurries away, taking a jab from Tiktok in the process. He then invades the strange little creatures mind, overwhelming it utterly.

I am going to call it here. Tiktok cannot do anything for the next minute and the Ankou's are not much of a threat on their own.

COMBAT OVER

The group easily pull themselves together, restraining Reginald as he wails and shrieks in confusion.

Searching the chamber you find another Harrow card on Tiktok, it is The Forge (on roll20).

What next? How do you plan to restore Reginald?

Slick puts the frenetically dancing TikTok out of his misery and then mops up any remaining ankou the others hadn't yet finished off. A search of the bodies uncovers the Harrow card they'd come for. "Nice! This might come in handy."

Updated the Loot Sheet. Slick will hold onto The Forge unless someone else has a better use for it.

Pine looks with concern at the squealing Reginald.

"He's not getting better! But.. is that a result of how the spell hurt him, or... if it's ongoing magic, maybe--yeah! I may be Wingless, but I'm still fey. I have a connection to magic. Maybe I can cut the 'thread.'"

Pine stows his rapier and whip, but keeps his shortsword out. "I don't think I can do it without hurting him, though. At least he probably won't be able to remember this, if he already doesn't recognize me right now."

Dispelling Slice, as discussed on Discord.
Using shortsword because it makes more sense to me even if fist is technically better (I do not expect the one point of average difference in damage to matter).

◆◆ Dispelling Slice vs Reginald Shortsword: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (8) + 27 = 35 hits for slashing: 1d6 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10 and precision damage: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 2, 6) = 12. Then Counteract Check: 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (12) + 25 = 37. That's probably a success, counteracting the effect if it's level 9 or lower. If it's a failure it still counteracts it if it's level 7 or lower, so probably enough either way?

"I think I got it! Um, sorry." Pinebrush attempts to hide the bloodied sword behind his back. "You got cut up a little. I can fix that."

When TikTok breaks into dance, Billy quickly retrieves his lute, and begins strumming to give it more of a party atmosphere. Billy whispers, "He's not very good, is he? You'd think with a name like TickTock, he'd be able to find the beat." Billy cheers him on nonetheless, at least until Slick cuts him down, mid-dance.

After the enemies are a thing of the past, Billy watches Pinebrush tend to Reginald. By stabbing him. "Interesting bedside manner, Pine. If you need an assist using more ... traditional methods, let me know." Billy stands ready to cast Dispel Magic if necessary.

As Slick discusses The Forge, Billy asks, "Are you the best one to have it? You can carry nearly anything already." Billy jokingly flexes his flabby arms. "I, on the other hand, might be able to actually use it."

Studying the card, "If we epitomize, I think we'll get rare minerals to sell."

Billy collects his belongings, and spends 20mins strumming a song to Desman to help him Refocus.

When Tiktok breaks into dance, Sigourney takes the momentary distraction to take out her cold iron chunk. With copious amounts of Needle Darts, she kills all of the Ankou.

Noticing that Reginald's ill state still has not improved, Sigourney considers her options. She is just about to suggest euthanasia when she sees Pine start to cut into him. She turns away. She doesn't want to watch Reginald die - even though this isn't the first time this has happened.

"Just let me know when you've put poor Reginald out of his misery, Pine." She says sadly.

When Billy suggests that he could make better use of The Forge, Slick shrugs and hands over the card. "It's all yours Billy."

He then snaps his fingers as a thought comes to him. "I better get myself a trophy to give to the Mountain Man." He wanders back to TikTok's body and unceremoniously hacks off one of his hands at the wrist. The strange amalgam of tools and keys that are its fingers should prove a suitable enough prize.

With Tiktok defeated and Reginald restored to sanity the group explore the rest of the place, finding little of interest. The skull is that of some sort of giant and Sigoruney recalls that the Harrowed Realm did have a giant Smith who may well have been another of the plotters. It seems that he did not go off as lightly as some of the others.

What now? There are more locations to check out through the cards or you could head off to find the Walking Fortress in the Dearth where Sonnorae is supposed to be. You may also want to rest, you are not aware of any particular time pressure (which of course doesnt mean that there isnt one).

Billy thanks Slick for The Forge card, and says cheerily, "I think it makes sense for me to make use of it now. But if anyone needs to carry a lot of stuff, it's yours!"

After helping make sure the rest of the area is cleared, Billy suggests, "How about a rest for us casters?" He continues, "Not sure we should head after Sonnorae until after we explore the other locations. We may get more clues about her."

As you can see in Billy's header, he's used nearly all his high-ranking spells. Notably, no more group hastes til after a rest.

Noticing that Reginald has been restored back to sanity with only minor wounds, Sigourney uncharstically runs up to Reginald and cradles him in her arms, laughing all the way. She moves up to Pine and (with his consent) gives him a big hug too.

"Reginald, you're back! I thought you'd be crazy forever! And thank you Pine for saving Reginald! I - and my employer - will be very pleased." She says while hugging the two.

After helping make sure the rest of the area is cleared, Billy suggests, "How about a rest for us casters?" He continues, "Not sure we should head after Sonnorae until after we explore the other locations. We may get more clues about her."

As you can see in Billy's header, he's used nearly all his high-ranking spells. Notably, no more group hastes til after a rest.

Sigourney has like, a rank 7 chain lightning, a rank 6 slow and 3 rank 5 heals. Not ideal. Also, you didn't need to make that flat check since you had heatvision on. What a shame that they had alternate senses.

"Oh! Uhm..." Sigourney, embarrassed by her sudden display of affection and gratitude, gently drops the two tiny creatures. "I could do with a rest too. It's been a long day. I'd like to go back to Harrowheart and have a nice dinner and very long shower. I need to wash my own coagulated blood off myself." Her purple dress is stained with red liquid from all the bleeding going on around her.

Slick is feeling fit as a fiddle having taken nary a scratch during the recent conflict, but he understands that the spellcasters need their naps to be in top form. "If you guys need to rest up, then we can hang in Harrowheart for a night before heading out again. We can epitomize The Forge and I could go show my new trophy to the Mountain Man while we're there."

When Billy states his preferences, Slick nods in agreement. "I agree with Billy, let's leave the Sonnorae meeting for later. How about we check out the Tangled Briar next?"

Assuming TikTok was at least 16th level, the Mountain Man should reward Slick with two consumable magic items, each of a level equal to or lower than the PC’s level (the PC can request specific items, but the GM has final say in what items are offered). Given my druthers, I'd pick Ghost Dust and Alloy Orb (High-Grade) talismans for Slick, with Potency Crystal (Major) and Flame Navette as secondary choices, but the final selection is up to the GM.

When Pine heals Reginald, Billy strums his lute and sings,
♫"Reg, a shining light. He's active, never lazy.
Healed by our sprite. No longer is he crazy."♫
Bill casts Translate (heightened to 4th) so the group can all speak to Reginald (in Jotun, just in case) for 1 hour.

In Jotun, Billy asks Reginald, "So were you scared? You didn't look scared."

When Slick takes a trophy from TikTok, Billy makes a mental note to take one after their next battle.
(Interesting finds with those high-level consumables, Slick.)

[The next morning, back at Harrowheart]
When the group decides to visit the The Tangled Briar, Billy activates The Carnival to learn about someone we might meet that day and whether they can be trusted.

He also shuffles his harrow deck and draws his daily Harrow Omen card.
Harrower Dedication to choose his Harrow Omen and Reading the Signs allows drawing 2 cards to choose from.
Harrow Omen Suit - 1:Hammers (Strikes), 2:Keys (Reflex), 3:Shields (Fort), 4:Books (Skill), 5:Stars (Will), 6:Crowns (Other): 1d6 ⇒ 2
Harrow Omen Suit - 1:Hammers (Strikes), 2:Keys (Reflex), 3:Shields (Fort), 4:Books (Skill), 5:Stars (Will), 6:Crowns (Other): 1d6 ⇒ 5
Billy choose Keys (Reflex).

Finally, he brings up his Musical Accompaniment before passing through the portal.

"Um. Yeah. Hey, now I've figured out how to do that, though. That'll be useful against bad guys who use magic on themselves!"

Pinebrush is ready to return to Harrowheart if the others want to. "It makes sense to epitomize the card. My healer's gloves need to recharge, too."

He's pretty enthusiastic about heading to The Tangled Briar.

I am OK with any of those consumables.

Billy peers into the future. He meets with a burly strongman seated on a tall chair but he cannot gain a sense of whether or not he can be trusted.

Activating the gate you find yourselves outside of the burned shell of an old theater. Its stone walls are scorched and no higher than a few feet, with briars adorned with scarlet-tipped thorns covering them. Blackened timber piles, intermixed with scorched seats and old theatrical props, litter the area.

Caught up in the briars is the corpse of a humanoid rabbit whose ears have been cut off. Sigourney recognises this as the Rabbit Prince, one of the eponymous cards and, presumably, another conspirator of the Harrowed Realm.

What do you do?

I am OK with any of those consumables.

Great. I'll take Ghost Dust and Alloy Orb (High-Grade). I assume that someone at Harrowheart (possibly even Sigourney) applied the talismans to Slick's sword and armor.

Once returned to Harrowheart, Slick leaves the others to their rest and first epitomizes their recently obtained Harrow cards.

First he epitomizes The Midwife, and as if out of nowhere, a pleasant and very skilled healer appears at the gates and makes a place for herself in Harrowheart. She seems to really know her stuff and under her ministrations, they'll be able to quickly shrug off the worst of injuries and remove almost any lingering conditions they'd picked up on their adventures.

Next he epitomizes The Forge and magically, one of Harrowheart’s workshops transforms into a forge and 10,000 gp of raw materials appears out of nowhere. He adds it to the pile of loot they'd picked up recently and which will be sold off once they finish their current set of adventures.

Lastly, he walks down to the village and epitomizes The Lost. Certain areas in Harrowheart’s village (which he isn't entirely sure were there before) become strangely quiet and deserted looking. He gets the feeling that he could quickly learn new tricks in this calm environment; much faster than in the more hustle bustle of the castle.

Once all the epitomizing is done, Slick takes his newly acquired trophy and goes into the mountains to meet the self-sufficient but very intimidating simulacrum who appears as a towering giant of a man. After the usual pleasantries, Slick gets down to describing their recent battles against the giants, the ankous and, most importantly, TikTok. He hands over (ha, ha) TikTok's appendage to the towering man. After examining the strange amalgam of tools and keys that were TikTok's fingers, the mountain man nods approval and hands over two valuable consumables. And with a "now don’t you be going off to sell that thing for gold, and don’t even think of coming back for more rewards until you’ve used these all up!" echoing in his head, Slick returns to Harrowheart for some well-deserved rest.

The next morning, he collects his sword and armor with their newly applied talismans and prepares himself for another adventure.

When they return to the Harrowed Realm and run into another creature with certain body parts removed, Slick sighs. "Seems we've run into another of victim of Sonnorae's wrath." He examines the body closely. "Unlike Bernaditi, this one hasn't survived the ordeal. Unless you guys can raise the dead or speak with them, I'm not sure we're going to get much out of this Rabbit Prince."

Just to make sure, Slick searches the body and the surrounding briars as best he can while carefully avoiding their scarlet-tipped thorns.

Activity: Search (Perception +24) - SECRET

After telling the group about the burly strongman from the carnival, Billy enters the portal. At first, he's loving the idea of a theater -- even one that's been burned.

But when they see the Rabbit Prince caught in the Briar, Billy is horrified. "We should cut him free and give him a proper burial." He thinks for a minute and adds, "Or maybe if we can find his missing ears, he'll come back to life like Bernaditi."

If he hadn't already, Slick cuts the local Rabbit Prince from the briars and lays him out on the ground for a closer look. "He looks pretty dead to me. I don't think finding his ears will help improve that. Bernaditi had the advantage of still being alive when we found him and returned his teeth and tongue to him."

You carefully remove the body from the brambles. It is small and very sad. Examining the corpse you note his boots still look new and shiny. They are clearly magical.

Tucked into one of the boots is also another Harrow card!

Its the Hidden Truth, details on roll20. That is all that there is here, where next?

As Slick pulls the dead Rabbit Prince's boots off, the Harrow card slips out. "Oh, ho! What's this? Looks like one of our missing Harrow cards." He hands it over to Sigourney. "Looks like this one was made with you in mind."

He then examines the boots...

Activity: Identify Magic (Arcana +19)

Arcana (Identify Magic) vs DC 32: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (9) + 19 = 28

"Hmm... Can't tell what these are, but they do look a lot like the ones I'm already wearing."

...and for which he paid full price, dang it! :)

After further searching for clues, Slick gives up. "Looks like that's all there is to see around here. Not much of an adventure really. How about we go to the Demon's Bog next? The name suggests we might see more action there."

"Dead enough, but these folks don't stay dead. Maybe stealing a body part keeps the from reconstituting?"

Arcana/Occultism: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (2) + 21 = 23

"Shiny boots!"

In Jotun, Billy asks Reginald, "So were you scared? You didn't look scared."

Reginald squeaks back in Jotun, the unfamiliar language sounding strange coming from his high-pitched voice.

"To be honest with you...After going through all this nonsense we've been through these past few months, no actually, I wasn't scared. The big demon that turned you both away was scarier! Remember that one? Oh and ever since you got the ability to make our enemies dance, I've been less scared...It really takes the tension out of the fight to see a lich do a jig!"

Reginald continues to reminisce with Billy about all the fights they've been through since the Storval Stairs.

Sigourney goes back to Harrow Heart and has a very, very long hot shower. Looking around Harrow Heart for something to do, she finds a really nice mystery novel in her collection and starts reading.

She casts her daily wands on herself and follows the party into the Tangled Briar. She's so absorbed in her reading that upon taking a momentary, cursory glance at the corpse, she mumbles "That's the Rabbit Prince." in a disinterested tone before going back to her novel.

When the rest of the party starts looting the corpse, Sigourney is still reading the book. As the magically untrained members of the party fail to identify a simple pair of boots, Sigourney sighs and takes a momentary glance.

Arcana, Quick Identification: 1d20 + 31 ⇒ (17) + 31 = 48

"These are Greater Boots of Bounding. They make you go very fast." She states.

She takes the Hidden Truth from Slick. Her eyes go wide. "Finally, something that can boost her ability to understand the lore of the Loremasters!" She thinks to herself.

Smiling sweetly at Slick, she gladly pockets the card. "For that gift, I will support your idea to go to the Demon's Bog. However, I will be riding on my disc the entire time. You have no idea how difficult it is to wash these robes."

"Also, can you pass me one of your Silversheens? In the heat of combat, we can have Reginald deliver it for you."

Back in the giant's cave, Billy enjoys his Jotun chat with Reginald.

While Sigourney gushes over the new harrow card, Billy turns to Slick, "Care to help me give The Rabbit Prince a proper burial?" He grins and says, "By 'help', I mean you actually do all the digging, because ..." He once again flexes his flabby arms. "Then we can go to this Demon's Bog." Rolling his eyes, he adds, "Sounds like a fun place." His musical accompaniment seamlessly switches to a dirge as background music during the burial.

The group buries the Rabbit Prince and spends a little time back in Harrowheart.

The following day you activate the gate to the "Demon Bog". Emerging from the portal you find yourselves on a small hillock in a cold lake bed choked with sediment and overgrown with rushes. The hillock is covered in weathered gravestones. Most of the markers are tumbled or askew. On the top of the hillock sits a stone sarcophagus, its broken lid cast aside. Biting fireflies flit about, their lights the colour of blood. Parts of a fallen suspension bridge cross a bog between the hillock and drier land.

What do you do?

When Sigourney asks for one of Slick's Silver Salves, he shrugs and tosses one of his jars of the stuff to her. "Not sure it's worth me spending a lot of time slapping this on my weapon in mid combat, but if Reginald is willing to do it for me, then all the better."

Slick then helps dig a hole for the Rabbit Prince before heading back to Harrowheart. Before he goes to bed, he heads down to the village and epitomizes the The Hidden Truth. All of a sudden, a group of mysterious scholars show up and move into a bunch of libraries and study halls that Slick could have sworn weren't there just a few moments ago.

Once they get to the Demon's Bog, Slick is a little disappointed not to be immediately attacked by a small army of demons. "I feel that the name of this place is a little deceptive." He heads over to the sarcophagus and looks inside. He then wanders about the hillock looking for anything of interest, taking his time examining the fallen suspension bridge to see if it can be repaired.

Activity: Search (Perception +24) - SECRET

Searching around the hillock finds only one thing of interest.

In what looks like a freshly dug, open grave, lies the skeletal remains of a humanoid. The body wears a gleaming, brass scaled breastplate and a great sword pierces it through the throat. There is no blood or signs of a struggle. Otherwise the hillock is bare of anything of interest.

The bridge itself, despite having partially collapsed, seems otherwise in tact and serviceable.

As you remove the blade (which I assume you do), the body dissolves into muck and sludge. Why is anyones guess. Otherwise, once again, this area seems rather barren of interest.

Slick's search uncovers the skeleton in a freshly dug grave. "Looks like we're not the only ones that've been digging graves for the dead recently. Looks like this one's been dead for a little longer than the Rabbit Prince though."

Spotting the fancy armor and sword, Slick hops down and relieves the corpse of these items. "Doesn't look like this fellow will be using them anytime soon."

He casts his trained eye over the armor...

Activity: Identify Magic (Arcana +19)

Arcana (Identify Magic) vs DC 31: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (3) + 19 = 22
Arcana vs DC 30: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (11) + 19 = 30

"Sweeet! This is made from brass dragonhide, though I can't quite make out these otherwise very familiar runes."

...and then the sword...

Arcana (Identify Magic) vs DC 35: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (17) + 19 = 36

"Ah, I thought I recognized this. Much like mine, but without all my extra runes. Should fetch a pretty price."

Loot sheet updated. I almost feel like I'm being trolled by the GM. First the Greater Boots of Bounding and now some +2 Greater Resilient Armor and a +3 Greater Striking Greatsword; all items for which I paid full price. Sigh!

Once they've deemed there is little of additional interest nearby, Slick says, "Looks like that's it for this area. Too bad we didn't find a Harrow card here, but the armor and greatsword are nice finds. I guess all we've got left to visit is the Garden of Grief, where we can pick up some pears before finally confronting Sonnorae."

Billy watches Slick with amusement, as the fighter strains to learn about the magic items. "Keep practicing, big guy. You're getting there." The bard grins. He considers aiding his friend, but knows that Sigourney will be able to sort it out in no time.

Instead, he walks over to the partially collapsed bridge. He calls back, "We're expecting to find a Harrow Card through each of these portals, right?" He looks across the bridge to see what's on the other side.
Can he try Perception +28 (w/ see invis and haunts) to check out the other side (if not too far) and the bog beneath the bridge.

Billy announces, "This bridge looks sketchy, but looks serviceable-ish. And it does cross a bog. Before leaving, maybe we should check it out?" Retrieving his toolkit, he examines the bridge closely.
Crafting +Superb Kit: 1d20 + 22 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 22 + 1 = 41

Sigourney takes a look at Slick's efforts and decides to back him up.

Arcana, Quick Identification: 1d20 + 31 ⇒ (12) + 31 = 43

"This is quite clearly...the same type of armour you are wearing, Slick. Have you taken a look at yourself in the mirror, lately?"

Looking at Billy's efforts, Sigourney adds "If nonmagical means are insufficient I do have a Wall of Stone I can use to make a bridge. Perhaps Pine can go across and scout for traps or any dangers first?"

There appears to be no Harrow Card here. Checking around the area finds nothing else of interest.

That's all there is here.

Billy is disappointed the rickety bridge doesn't lead anywhere interesting. However, he's pleasantly surprised the bog doesn't have any enemies lurking below. Still, he's confused about the lack of a Harrow card through this portal. He muses aloud, "This is the first portal that didn't have one." He considers, "Maybe someone got here first?"

He shrugs it off and follows the group back at Harrowheart, ready to visit the cheery-sounding Garden of Grief.

"Longer dead, but in a fresh grave... maybe it was und--whoa!"

Pine nods at Billy. "Somebody else is acting. It might not be bad guys, but maybe we should move faster. Let's get right to the next one!"

"I love the naming schemes for this place, they are so cheery." Sigourney says drily, her nose still in a book. "Let us hope that the next place is empty too so we can call it a day and I can finish my book in peace at Harrow Heart."

Reluctantly, she puts away her book, regrips her staff and takes out her knifewand and her silver chunk in her other arm and tentacle respectively.

Finding nothing else of interest in the "Demon Bog" you return to Harrowheart and take the final portal. Stepping through the portal you find yourselves outside an overgrown garden. Tarnished bronze statues of angels, their wings sheared off, lie toppled near pedestals to either side of an open bronze gate in a tall wall of cracked white marble. Discolored white stone forms a semicircular porch just beyond the gateway, a few steps leading down into an overgrown, weedy orchard.

Heading inside, you find overgrown grass, nettles, brambles, and sickly trees with a still, dark pool at the centre. Leaning menhirs only a few feet high mark the path. Countless bones litter the ground or hang in the weeds, from the standing stones, or amid branches. Several trees of different heights grow within, their trunks twisted and branches bare of leaves.

Following the path, the twisted trees and briar-clad thickets open to a forum of stone pillars, many broken or toppled. Amid them is a crumbling stone dais, stained with old blood. At the platform’s centre sits a spiked iron throne. An armoured figure sits on the throne, leaning on a massive sword. Behind him looms a large tree bearing blood-red fruits.

A sepulchral voice issues from within his helm, Welcome strangers, you trespass in the lands of the Lady Sonnorae. I must ask you to put down your weapons and submit to the Lady's will. I shall transport you to her where she can render judgment for your transgressions....