TOZ's The Flesh Collector (Inactive)

Game Master TriOmegaZero

Skivven starts to build a fire at the base of the pillar. Looking back at the party he adds, "Feel free to speed this up if say, you have fire magic, or something..."

"Wait. It looks like we got everything down, except that." Inga points up at the ship's prow sticking out from the tree.
"I need to take that back home with me. I know it seems silly, but, it is somewhat important."

If I understand correctly, dryads protect all trees but each has a particular tree of their own; we know this one is Jathyl’s and perhaps her attachment to it is what keeps bringing her back. If it’s gone, maybe she can rest…”

"I sure am going to feel terrible if we're wrong about burning down the tree. Before we set it ablaze, let's put the three parts of the manuscript together and see what we can glean from its contents. There might be some information about putting Jathyl to rest permanently."

Inga takes the disparate pieces of the manuscript and begins studying them while Klaus and Drusilla work at removing the figurehead from its melding with the pillar. The Osirian glyphs are archaic, making the translation difficult, but by the time the woodworking is done, Inga has a fairly clear understanding of its less technical parts. The Fleshforge Manuscript is a document of techniques for creating automatons of twisted flesh for war and completely unrelated to Jathyl. The only link appears to be that it was written on paper made from the dryad's tree.

Skivven sets to starting the fire, with the assistance of the rest of the party. It is not long before the base begins to burn steadily, the shelter of the temple having kept the wood dry away from the ocean breezes. The blaze climbs slowly up the pillar, once again filling the room with thick smoke. The pillar stands for tens of minutes, the party easily able to evacuate, before the weakening causes the roof of the temple to fall in, the pillar collapsing along with the stonework. The upper walls tumble inward, but the lower sections remain standing with the reinforcement of the other buildings and monastery wall.

Skivven inspects the base to make sure ALL the roots of the damned tree burn through... he moves sections occasionally with a fire stick to make sure the burn is somewhat controlled...

Moving up to the burning hole, Skivven can see that the pillar was cut dirctly from the pine, leaving the roots underneath the temple. The fire continues to burn through the roots, while the collapse of the pillar has revealed a small space underneath the tree. Five feet below the floor, a pinecone and a familiar wand can be seen. The flames crawling along the roots grow close to them by the second.

A feeling of melancholy falls over Daedîn as he watches the tree burn…seeing Skivven move to the base, he arches an eyebrow and queries, ”What do you see, Skivven? Is something wrong? as he moves towards him in case something has gone south…

Perception: 1d10 + 23 ⇒ (8) + 23 = 31

Daedin sees the same thing Skivven does through the smoke.

Skivven picks up the items and hands them over to the elf. "There. Found your pinecone! And her wand too."

Survival, guidance: 1d20 + 12 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 12 + 1 = 19

Aid Spellcraft, guidance: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 5 + 1 = 15

"This pinecone is dormant flora originally native to Nex, and serotinous, meaning its seeds release and germinate only after it is exposed to fire."

”Thanks, Skivven,” Daedîn says as he takes the pine cone, but passes the wand over to Inga and Grunjar before looking over the pine cone…

Survival: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22

He nods to Grunjar. ”Aye, my friend, I agree…and this cone definitely came from Jathyl’s huge pine…”

Daedîn finds some soil nearby and nestles the pine cone into the soil just a little bit, so that most of the cone is sitting above the soil, then exposes it to a little fire…

"This is fascinating. My contacts in the City of Brass would probably pay a fortune for fire-activated seeds. Esteemed elf and dwarf colleagues: would you be so kind as to assist me in finding suppliers when we're back at the Grand Lodge?"

Daedin applies the flame to the pine cone, the dry resin quickly catching light. The flames burn merrily for less than a minute, the fire releasing the bracts from their tightly closed bundles. The resin exhausted, the flame extinguishes, leaving the multitude of seeds within free.

In the smoke of the burning roots, the ghostly figure of Jathyl appears. The quills and nails fall from her body, the many words inked on her skin fading away. A smile, free of malice and anger, appears on her lips before she fades away completely.

Awed, Daedîn genuflects, then bows to the fading apparition…

Looking to his companions, he sighs deeply in relief. ”Well, that’s done…is there anything else we need to do here before reporting back?”

Inga is beyond flabbergasted after the tree is burned down and the secret compartment underneath is revealed.
"What? How?... How did you all know?"

Inga casts guidance on herself, then detect magic, and attempts to identify the wand...
Spellcraft & guidance: 1d20 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 10 + 1 = 13
Ugh.

Junia steps forward to get a good look.
"It is a cute pinecone," she remarks.

-------------------

"Wonderful. Jathyl has finally been put to rest. I hope she has a speedy journey to the afterlife." Inga says with an expression of relief and a bit of sadness.

Inga is beyond flabbergasted after the tree is burned down and the secret compartment underneath is revealed.

"What? How?... How did you all know?"

Daedîn shrugs. ”I had no clue; and it was Skivven who found the compartment. When I couldn’t find a pine cone, just thought it best to burn the thing down, hoping that would cut her tie to the tree. Turned out much better though; we got lucky…”

Inga casts guidance on herself, then detect magic, and attempts to identify the wand...

[dice=Spellcraft & guidance]1d20+10+1
Ugh.

Grunjar definitely grants you a bit of luck on that task. ;-)

Ah! Never used my reroll!
Spellcraft, guidance, GM Stars: 1d20 + 10 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 10 + 1 + 4 = 20
How much for Bit of Luck from Grunjar?

How much for Bit of Luck from Grunjar?

Bit of Luck: for one round roll each d20 twice and take the better result.

Bit of Luck rerolls:
Spellcraft & guidance: 1d20 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 10 + 1 = 18
Spellcraft, guidance, GM Stars: 1d20 + 10 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 10 + 1 + 4 = 18
Wow. Just... wow.

"I sense the spirits don't want us to know what magic this wand contains. We'll just need to find someone back at the Lodge to identify this wand for us."

------------------------

"Well, now that that's all finished, I'd like to check out that little garden with the stone path in the southeast corner of the complex."

I moved Inga & Klaus' icons to the entrance of the area I'd like to check. That area has been on my mind since we entered the complex.

Oh. And I'm sure Inga's fly spell has worn off by now. I removed her wings.

Inga and Klaus follow the stone laid path to the final corner of the monastery that remains unexplored. The tucked away structure seems mysterious...until the breeze carries an unmistakable scent, explaining why it is tucked so far away from the rest of the grounds.

Inga casts detect undead from the center of the small garden. She scans the area for several moments (3 rounds).

Thankfully, Inga detects no undead hiding in the outhouse.

Thankfully, Inga detects no undead hiding in the outhouse.

Inga's entourage peeks around the corner into the little garden.

Suddenly, Smörboll, Jeeves, and Junia make a mad dash to the privy, all shouting, "Me first!!! Me first!!!"

Grunjar follows Inga and Klaus to the final corner of the monastery.
While the countess looks for undead, Grunjar tries to detect magic.

"Ah, an outhouse. I was wondering where the place to do your private business might be."

He then addresses Inga's desperate entourage.

"See, this is exactly why you always go before you explore a new dungeon or building. You never know when you'll find the next opportunity to go..." ;-)

Wanting to help, but having no particular skill to heal the wounded, Dru starts cleaning the rubble from the fallen building, using her basic knowledge of engineering.

Daedîn wrinkles his nose at the smell coming from the hovel. ”Never understood why anyone would use an outhouse; never saw one that was built with proper ventilation…”

Skivven follows the hidden tunnel to its end, seeing and detecting nothing but the rough earth, before coming up through another trapdoor into a storeroom full of foodstuffs. The loud complaints of the chef can be heard through the only normal door in the room.

"Ah... hmm... sorry madame... took a wrong turn back there I guess," stammers Skivven before ducking back down below.

"Interesting," Inga muses about the underground tunnel.

"It leads from the barracks to the food storage? A great way for the monks to sneak a midnight snack, I suppose."

So, is there anything more for us to do? We have all the parts of the manuscript and Inga has the proof she needs of the ship's demise for her faction mission. I think that's it, right?"

Does anyone else have anything they want to do?

Nothing left for Skivven here.

If we are sure that Jathyl stole the manuscript then Grunjar is done here.

Work seems to be done here. Time to party!

@TOZ: I just realized I still have another faction mission to complete...

Inga finds Pradnyara and approaches the paladin.
"Excuse me, Pradnyara." she says with a polite curtsy.
"Is there a priestess by the name of Isa here? I must speak with her, if possible."

We can just quick time it, if you want. Is it just a diplomacy (gather info) check?

Pradnyara would be happy to introduce Inga, but the priestess still suffers from Jathyl's draining touch and will not recover without assistance. The faction missions aren't critical to success, so we'll handwave this point.

After entrusting the pine seeds to the monastery, the Pathfinders are able to return to the waiting ship. The captain is clearly amused at the sight of the recovered prow being loaded, but says nothing.

The return journey is peaceful, or perhaps boring depending on your point of view. Telfyr is so overjoyed at the results of the mission that he almost forgets to include offhand insults in his exclamations. The discussion on where to store the manuscript is contentious among Society leadership, until the decision to permanently relocate it to the vaults in Skyreach is settled.

Word reaches you weeks later that the monastery has returned to documenting Golarion's history, while taking on the task of tending and growing a new forest to replace what was lost.

Scenario complete!