The roast is bound by the vine.
The large stock pot with the yellow accents on the stove to the north starts shaking. It leans forward and belches some of the smaller pieces of cookware out towards Dennis and Sunshine!
A smaller saucepan hurtles towards Sunshine, but not so quickly that she can't evade it. Another saucepan flies in Dennis's directly, but it's not really close. And then a ladle clatters harmlessly to the floor. It... might have been aimed at Sunshine?
The roast goat struggles and strains against its bindings. It doe so in an expressionless and strangely quiet way, but then it isn't really a goat any more and probably hasn't been equipped to vocalize for some time.
Achurius, Pennypockets, and Mimi's turn.
Initiative:
Dennis (56/56)
Sunshine of Happiness (38/38)
> Upuan (32/32)
Animated Cookware (Yellow)
Rampaging Roast (-17, immobilized 1 round Escape DC 19)
Achurius (28/28)
Pennypockets (28/28)
Mimi (56/56)
Animated Cookware (Blue)
for
for
for
The pan slams into the pot with a loud CRACK. Its dented and bent, and the way it moves and shakes almost gives an impression that its wheezing. It's not just that Pennypockets's spell badly damaged it (though that much is true), it looks like it'll be easier to damage going forward as well.
On the downside, it might not be very useful for cooking any more.
Achurius and Mimi's turn.
Initiative:
Dennis (56/56)
Sunshine of Happiness (38/38)
> Upuan (32/32)
Animated Cookware (Yellow, -20, bloodied, construct armor broken)
Rampaging Roast (-17, immobilized 1 round Escape DC 19)
Achurius (28/28)
Pennypockets (28/28)
Mimi (56/56)
Animated Cookware (Blue)
Mimi punctures the pot, completely ruining it and probably several of the other pieces stacked inside. It tips over and should some of its contents with a cacophonous, but harmless, deluge of assorted cookware.
Achurius isn't quite sure what to make of the roast, but the pots are definitely animated objects. While cookware is an unusual choice of object to animate, as a rounded, sturdy metal object it's essentially similar to animated armor. As a mindless construct, it's immune to mental attacks and doesn't have thought-out tactics. It has pretty slow reaction times.
The stockpot with the blue handle leans forwards and starts churning out smaller pots and pans.
A heavy spoon bounces off of Dennis's armor, a kettle bounces off of the floor as Achurius dodges, and a frying pan bounces off of the top of Mimi's head. How does all of that fit in there?
Dennis and Sunshine of Happiness's turns.
Initiative:
Dennis (56/56)
Sunshine of Happiness (38/38)
> Upuan (32/32)
Animated Cookware (Yellow, -20, bloodied, construct armor broken)
Rampaging Roast (-17, -10 speed 1 round Escape DC 19)
Achurius (28/28)
Pennypockets (28/28)
Mimi (49/56, Parrying)
Animated Cookware (Blue)
for
for
for
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Dennis cheers as Sunshine binds the roast in place. "Hooray! I don't know much about magic, but that was awesome!" He cheers again when Mimi silences a set of cookware -- just as a spoon from the other set clanks off his plate mail.
With the roast tied up, Dennis still tries to feint before stabbing twice.
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Sunshine stares daggers at what has been already eliminated by Mimi. She continues her focus on the Roast now that she is able to hold it for a while. She commands Upuan to move and surround the Roast so it will not escape. She then sends forth a ball of flame to maybe cook it more. "Maybe you are just undercooked a bit." she tells the Roast.
fire damage
◆ Command an Animal (◆ Stride, ◆ Support)
◆◆ Cast a Spell, Produce Flame
Dennis drives his weapon through the roast goat. Which works well enough, though probably a little less since it's already been impaled on a spit. Perhaps slicing it up would be better?
His weapon sticks a little, and it throws off his next attempt.
Undercooked? Perhaps. It's probably a medium rare right now. Though as it bucks against her vines, it coincidentally avoids Sunshine's flames.
It continues bucking and tearing at the sticky vine. Eventually it manages to escape! Or the spell binding it ended on its own. Hard to say.
Achurius, Pennypockets, and Mimi's turns.
Initiative:
Dennis (56/56)
Sunshine of Happiness (38/38)
> Upuan (32/32)
Rampaging Roast (-59, bloodied)
Achurius (28/28)
Pennypockets (28/28)
Mimi (49/56, Parrying)
Animated Cookware (Blue)
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The accuracy of the frying pan is uncanny. Despite being fully prepared for such an eventuality, the pan manages to hit her on the head and knock off her precious cavalier hat. She barely catches it before it hits the dirty floor and slams it indignantly back onto her somewhat bruised head. "Oh là là. Dat ees too much. You 'ave now mede me angree, and un angree Mimi ees your vorst nightmare." In her fury, she quickly crosses the room to teach the wayward kitchenware a lesson it will not soon forget.
Mimi's first hit scratches along the pot, but it's difficult to damage the hard metal surface. So instead she punches right through!
Achurius and Pennypockets's turns. Oh... and with the cookware down, also Dennis and Sunshine of Happiness.
Initiative:
Dennis (56/56)
Sunshine of Happiness (38/38)
> Upuan (32/32)
Rampaging Roast (1/60)
Achurius (28/28)
Pennypockets (28/28)
Mimi (49/56)
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When Mimi takes care of the second set of cookware, Dennis does a happy dance. "Yay Mimi!" Then focusing on the remaining Roast, he attempts to feint once again.
But too much dancing around and he nearly trips, becoming flat-footed himself! He tries to regain his balance and stabs twice.
Dennis impales it once more, and the roast topples over, too badly damaged to be considered a single "object" any more.
Danya, the dwarven cook, recovers from her winded state. She grumbles about the mess.
"And we'll be needin' new cookware, besides. Even if we had the ingredients, ugh, we stacked everything we'd finished usin' in there. Can't cook anything else. Well, it's just a little... cut up. So it's less impressive, but we'll serve it pre-carved!"
She and her assistants rally, carving what salvageable meat they can from the roast.
"Curses!" a voice whispers on the wind, "Foiled again! ...keep it up, Pathfinders, you can do it."
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When the dwarf comes out of hiding, Dennis looks concerned. "Are you okay, Miss?" He looks around. "Ummm ... sorry about the mess. Kinda looks like my bedroom." The youngster starts to help clean up, but does so half-heartedly, making more of a mess, until he's simply asked to leave. He finds this strategy works at home too.
Impatient to continue exploring, Dennis starts for the door when he notices Mimi is hurt. Turning to the cleric, he asks, "Achurius, can you help Mimi?"
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After skewering the last pot and watching as Dennis finishes off the roast goat, Mimi is satisfied that her honor has been restored. She wipes down her rapier and thinks about where to look next. She remembers that Casira bint Meji was likely to be found in the library, which seemed like the perfect place for another of Safa's tricks. The fastest way there was through the dining room, so she heads towards the southern doors. "Vhy don't ve make our vay tru de lodge dees vay."
This dining room offers a space for lodging Pathfinders to eat during inclement weather. Currently, its two long tables are laden with food and drink. A few visiting merchants linger here in the shade, gossiping among themselves.
The double door leading into the courtyard is open, permitting a steady flow of party guests in and out. The door to the south is propped open.
There’s more than enough food and drink on offer for everyone, but there doesn't seem to be any kind of genie trick in here.
Rows of comfortable seating and study tables fill this room, strategically arranged to take maximum advantage of the natural light provided by a wide window. The handful of guests currently occupying this space are embroiled in a lively but frivolous debate over the merits of different horse-training methods.
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As Mimi is rushing through the dining room, with tables laden with food and drink, Dennis grabs a meat pie at the first table and quickly washes it down with a mug of punch from the next. Forgetting his mother's rules about not talking with one's mouth full, and with punch sloshing and dripping in his wake, Dennis calls out, "Wait for me ... I'm coming." He hurries along.
In the next room, the fighter looks around, shrugs, and sets his dripping, sticky mug on one of the study tables. He says to the guests, "I don't know about horses. But ... have you tried the meat pies? They're in the dining room. Yummy!" He wipes his mouth with his sleeve and adds, "Pathfinders sure put on fun parties!"
As Mimi approaches the door, she hears a woman's voice calling for help!
Ashwood shelves line the walls of this spacious library, some filled to capacity with Pathfinder Chronicles, Society records, and local history. Other shelves stand half-empty, awaiting future donations and volumes on order from distant lodges. In the far corner, an iron spiral staircase leads to the upper levels. However, the library's floor, which should be stone covered in fine rugs, instead glows fiery orange and bubbles with a molten that that radiates through the open double door.
"Thank goodness!" calls a hijabi halfling from her perch atop a large armchair, "Give us a hand, would you? The floor is lava!"
The lava fills only this room and stops right at the frame of each door, as though held by an invisible barrier. There's also a normal patch of floor underneath the metal stairs.
A pair of sandy-haired gnomes huddle together on the nearby large table, visibly torn between childish delight and fear of real injury.
Given that the furniture in the room is unharmed and the people in it aren't... well, dead, it would seem obvious that the floor is not, literally, lava. It is uncomfortably hot all the same, and could probably cause a painful burn.
The furniture isn't an ideal landing surface, since it's liable to move if someone jumps on it and higher than the floor.
Still, the sharp cutoff means it's easy to reach from the doorway, especially with rope or tools.
Perhaps it's fortunate the endangered guests here are a halfling and gnomes. Much easier to carry than humans and dwarves.
Of course, there isn't enough room on the armchair for someone to jump over without knocking the halfling--Casira Int Meji?--off. Carrying her the entire way isn't possible--but may not be necessary. They clearly need help and guidance, but the guests aren't helpless.
And the Pathfinders may have other solutions in mind as well...
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When Mimi opens the door and it's a library, Dennis rolls his eyes and laments, "Oh how fun...a library." But when he realizes it's all lava, his eyes go wide with excitement, "Oh how FUN ... a library!" Sharing Penny's enthusiasm, the youngster slides by the goblin and tries to parkour into the room to help.
Dennis manages to land on the table near the gnomes, "Hi! I'm Dennis. I'll be your tour guide today." Sensing their excitement (and fear), he assures them, "Don't be afraid. I do this all the time. Hop on! Let's have some fun!"
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Mimi surveys the situation and examines the "lava" more closely. Given that their guests were not already charred corpses and that her clothing hadn't spontaneously burst into flames from the proximity of the molten stone, she assumes that they are dealing with one of Safa's illusionary pranks. Illusion or not, the floor looks like it could cause some painful burns if they came in contact with it.
Mimi follows Dennis by leaping onto the orange couch and then the table.
With an "Excusez moi,", she picks up the remaining gnome and hops back the way she came.
She then hops back to the table to see if she can figure out how to get the librarian back in one unsinged piece
She holds out her hand to the halfling on the armchair and tries to coax her to jump onto the table. She gives Casira bint Meji a charming smile and with a wink, says, "Madame. If you vill but attempt de small jump onto de table vith me, I vill den be ebel to 'elp you out of de room."
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Oh, bother, here we go again.
Once again a physical challenge is presented and our good cleric is pretty much useless. However, if anyone sets to throwing things and misses, such as a grappling hook, he gently lifts an places it in an advantageous location using prestidigitation. Or if they try leaping on a table or chair in danger of sliding of toppling, once again he tries his utilitarian mage hand spell to try to steady it or create a makeshift brace.
Dennis's first leap is a little wobbly, but he makes it to the sofa okay and the table with aplomb.
One of the gnomes, the brother, apprehensively takes his shoulders.
Meanwhile Mimi practically somersaults over and scoops up the sister.
When she returns to the table, Bint Meji still seems nervous but acquiesces. "If you'll catch me," she says, and jumps over. She's not nearly as agile as Mimi (or Dennis), but she makes it to the table without injury.
The gnome inforsm Achurius, Pennypockets, and Sunshine that she is Nashwadin Bousad and her brother is Naqi Bousad and that they are merchants. Actually, she informs them of a lot of things. She seems prone to babbling when excited or frightened.
Achurius effectively uses his spellwork to tip the scales.
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Mimi gives Bint Meji another confident smile. "Do not vorree. I vill catch you." And catch the librarian she does. "Dere you go. Eet vas notheeng. Now if you vill juste vrap your arms tightlee around my shoulders, I vill take you to safetee." Once the librarian is secure, Mimi hops back across and out of the room.
Putting Casira bint Meji safely down on the lava-free ground of the study room, Mimi smiles at her, and raising an eyebrow suggestively, says, "As promised, you are safe and sound. I suggest dat you reejoin de partee. Vhen ve are don dealeeng vith Safa's tricks, I vill come find you and ve can get to know each other a leetel better."
Mimi then looks over the lava at Dennis on the table with the last gnome still clinging tightly to his back. "Pleeze, Duhnee. Breeng de poor fellow over 'ere. Ve do not 'ave all day."
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Knowing Achurius is providing magical aid, Dennis turns to the gnome on his shoulders, "Hold on tight! I've been doing this kind of thing since I was a kid." It doesn't occur to Dennis that he's still, very much, a kid.
With the gnome hanging on tightly and Mimi encouraging him to hurry along, Dennis takes a mighty leap for the door.
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Sunshine watches as Dennis and Mimi do the leaping and save those on fire. "Go, Mimi and Dennis! You can do it!" she cheers them as they leap and hop from one piece of furniture to another.
After the gnomes are saved, she asked them. "Everything alright? Aren't you burned or something? You know, someone is playing tricks with us and we are trying to stop them. Good thing, our two friends here are quick to save you." she tells them with a nod.
Carrying the halfling who can only be the notable personage mentioned in the letter, Mimi hops first to the sofa and then to safety of the next room.
Not to be outdone, Dennis leaps directly for the doorway, dramatically knocking over the sofa without ever landing on it while his passenger screams in fright.
Successfully.
Once everyone is back on solid ground, a disembodied kazoo trills a celebratory refrain and the “lava” bursts into harmless sparks that quickly fade, returning the floor to normal.
"Well, that was certainly exciting," Casira says with a blush, [b]"Sorry, what's a safa?" She seems duly impressed by the Pathfinders' efforts. "Thank you for your help!" She looks back at the perfectly safe library. "I'm a little concerned someone seems to be sabotaging your event, but.." She looks at Mimi and blushes again. "For now let me reward you! And then I think.. I need cake."
She hands Mimi a pack of cards. "It's a cantrip deck. It will let you use a variety of simple spells."
Looking slightly unsteady, Casira totters toward the dining room. The gnomes have already disappeared.
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Mimi takes the deck of cards from Casira and bows her head in gratitude. "Merci for de vonderful gift Madame bint Meji. I beg you to remain a vhile longer so dat I can properlee show my appreciation after ve 'ave taken care of our saboteur's tricks."
Once Casira is heading back to the dining room safe and sound, Mimi sighs and turns back to the now lavaless room. "Another trick of Safa's taken care of. Let us continue vith our extermination." She crosses the room to the other double doors and opens them.
In addition to the door back to the reading room through which the Pathfinders entered, there are three ways out of the library.
One of them is an iron spiral staircase that coils upward to the higher floors; it’s currently roped off with a simple chain, from which dangles a sign reading, “Private Quarters—No Entry.” The upper floors aren't open to guests as part of the party, and the Pathfinders know they'd find only half-furnished rooms and cluttered hallways up there.
One of the two doors leads to the gallery. This modest exhibition room will someday display trophies and tributes to the Pathfinder Society’s success in the region, but as this occasion marks the Sedeq Lodge’s grand opening, there isn’t much to show off yet.
The other door leads to a narrow hallway behind the gallery, and the prayer hall beyond.
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Dennis peeks into the gallery. He's unimpressed with the few paintings there. The young budding artist, with a dual-specialization in finger-painting and paint-by-numbers, rolls his eyes, and says, "These works are proof that a child could literally close his eyes, throw paint on a canvas, and call it art." As he says this, a kernel of an idea forms in his mind. He thinks to himself, "I'd need a fake name of course: Leonardo da Menace ... yes, that could work...."
While he daydreams about painting under a pseudonym, Dennis heads towards the prayer hall with Mimi.
The only item currently on display is a statue depicting a marid named Perizia, whose defeat by Pathfinder agents secured the permission to build this lodge. Esmayl commissioned this piece in memorial of the battle, though he also hopes the public display reminds Sedeq’s genie binders how easily their cruelty can be repaid.
On the base of the statue are three flasks of beer left behind by some careless guest. Is it beer? Something is off about them. A little small for a serving of beer for one thing.
But there's certainly no trick in here.
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"You wish. I doubt you are even a kid." Sunshine contradicts Dennis, thinking that the fighter might be referring a child to himself when they get past the empty gallery room. But she makes a quick scan for possible tricks that Safa might have for them. She also finds the flasks containing whatever liquid it might be. "So is it safe to drink? Or even touch the flask?" asks both Pennypockets and Achurius.