[ACO] PF2e Q11 - A Parchment Tree (P1) (Inactive)

Game Master UncleFroggy

Please dot (add a post) in here and then delete your post to add yourself to this campaign.

1) I am based in Southeast Asia (UTC +8) so my posting hours may be unusual (especially for those in North America). I usually update at least one or twice per day. Just to keep the game moving, please post at least once every day and at least once during the weekend.

2) Please label all three of your actions. Even if you think what you are doing is obvious.

3) If I am unavailable for longer than 24 hours, I will let you know in the Discussion Tab. Out of respect for your fellow players and myself, I ask that you do the same. Real life happens, and real life will always take priority over the game, but out of fairness for your fellow players, please let us know if you will be unavailable for an extended period of time.

4) Please note that on the following days, my posting can get unpredictable:
Tuesday/Thursdays - all day, as they are the 2 busiest days of my work week

4) Please complete the Macros and the Slides linked at the top of the page.

5) Questions, concerns? Feel free to share them in the Discussion tab.

6) Let's have some fun and tell a great story together! After all, that's what we are here for.

A small figure, dressed in oversized robes and furs, with a hood over its head enters into the lodge. In one one is a quarterstaff that it leans on as a walking stick. On its shoulder is a lump that the figure seems to be talking with. A white, scaly hand holds the staff and a white reptilian looking snout pokes out from beneath the hood.

Your adventure begins at the personal estate of Venture-Captain Esmayl ibn Qaradi in Qadira’s capital of Katheer where he has personally requested you for this mission. Signs of wealth abound; fine cloth awnings hang over an impressive spread of food and drink, with fruits, meats, and grains from across the Inner Sea. Esmayl’s attire is expensive, finely pressed, and immaculate. When you arrive, the venture-captain clasps the arm of each of you at the elbow one by one (waiting a moment to watch for any social cues that might indicate the physical contact is unwelcome) and invites you to enjoy the refreshments.

Please introduce yourselves here

A tiny fey, a grig, flutters up to the table and begins eating fruit and drinking wine from a cup that is way too big for it. Strapped to its hide armor is a blade, somewhat shorter than a medium shortsword, that, nonetheless is much taller than the grig.

"Hi. I'm Folmyr," it says between mouthfulls.

A green-cloaked figure arrives. He draws his hood backward to reveal an elf, obviously more mature than most have seen. He's dressed in hide armor and is heavily armed. His long white hair is tied back except for a few war braids that stick from his left temple.

He carries not one, but two shields. He holds in his hand a shortbow, fitted with a pair of squirrel tail silencers.

He sees the Kobold and is taken aback. He eyes him from head to toe. His hand absent-mindedly strokes his necklace made of a few small teeth and a small central dragon's tooth. He shakes his head a bit as if a memory had quickly come and gone.

He removes the straps on his steel shield, puts it down with the inside facing everyone. There are a few markings, written in draconic.

He strongly clasps arms with his host and says "Well-met Venture-Captain Esmayl ibn Qaradi. It is an honor to have been called by you. What can I do for you?"

He then faces his companions and bows to them as a group. "Well-met! I am Rodthalas, son of Thalas Kirath. We are the Wildrunners of Kyonin."

He then sits down, and takes his drink - eager to hear what everyone else has to say.

A slender old elf in black leather and wearing a black hat moves silently towards the group of Pathfinders. In his back a strange looking crossbow is visible as well as numerous vials secured in his belts.
His smirking face is marked by numerous scars, some old, some fresh.

Hi, name's Dolmandir.

Would she recognize the items on Rodathal's necklace?

A half-orc wearing vestments of Erathis, with a longbow slung over his shoulder, nods in greeting.

"Josef," he says, "I'm afraid I'm not much of an adventurer. I was a village priest before joining up with the Society. I wanted to track down some records of my brother and my sister who are Pathfinders.

"I can help, though! I'm a pretty good healer."

A Very Large man enters the room. A greatsword is strapped across his back, and muscles bulge under his rather fashionable shirt.

"Ulvard has Arrived!" he announces.

"You have likely already heard of Ulvard." he adds, looking around at the expected doting audience and nodding to himself.

He is obviously ulfen, and returns the warriors grasp of Venture-Captain Esmayl ibn Qaradi, testing the other mans strength for a moment as he does so.

Eyeing up the food he sits down and carefully checks for appropriate cutlery before descending on the food with an unusual mix of ulfen appetite and appropriate dinner-time decorum.

"How can Ulvard help you?"

The kobold walks with hesitation up to Josef and pokes him in the belly, not in a mean way but to capture his attention.

Mees likes yours teefs. Deyse pokes out like Lizzy's. a little white lizard poke its head out from Meepette's cloak and gives the half orc a smile, its little sharp teeth protruding from her moutb.

Would she recognize the items on Rodathal's necklace?

I'm not sure. Some are rat and kobold teeth, and a singular Green Dragon Wyrmling's tooth (central) from the 'Menace Under Otari' module. Rodthalas collects them from foes he's slain.

"Welcome all of you to my home, and thank you very much for coming. I have invited you here so you can help me settle an important matter on behalf of the Pathfinder Society as a whole. As you know, our lodge here in Katheer is the only location we have in the whole of Qadira. This is something I plan to rectify personally, so I have contributed a small fortune to purchasing a plot of land for another lodge, close to the slave port of Sedeq in the south."

"We're having this conversation here due to my personal stake in the matter. As it happens, I've come across a problem that's brought the sale to a complete halt. Two different merchant families, the Agarja and the Patari, have approached me with papers claiming they are the proper owners of this land. Both attest they are descendants of the original landowner, Prince Agar ibn Karatari. I was under the impression I was to deal only with the owner of his estate until these two families stepped forward. The process to complete the sale alone will take months, but thankfully, this is a problem that can be rectified."

"With your assistance, we can determine which family is the legitimate heir to the property. There are four documents we can use to authenticate the prince's lineage, which I have tracked to the bazaars of Katheer. Here is a list of the four merchants you'll need to speak with. I would recover them myself, but I have another appointment I'm afraid I must keep. While you are in the bazaar, I will be discussing another matter with a fellow Pathfinder agent. I intend to use the new lodge as a safe house for the Society and our allies released from slavery, and I have intelligence which indicates some of our own could be moving through Sedeq from across the Inner Sea."

"If you're able to recover these documents on my behalf, not only can we move ahead with saving our compatriots in chains, but we can establish further relations with the nation of Qadira and hopefully within Casmaron itself."

The venture-captain hands you a list of places in the Bazaar that might have the locations of the documents:

"Because the bazaar is quite expansive, I would suggest you visit the shops in the order of the list."

The Opulent Bazaar of Katheer is magnificent. Qadira's satrap, Xerbystes II, certainly spared no expense in the upkeep of the capital and is paying an even greater fortune in its expansion. In between merchants from nearby Casmaron and from all over Golarion attempting to hawk their wares.

DC 15 Diplomacy to get directions (Gather Info)

We'll get lost if I roll. No bonuses here.

Ulvard looks left, looks right and then looks to his companions.

"Ulvard has never been to Opulent Bazaar. But Ulvard has keen Sense of Direction." he rumbles.

And Ulvard is always happy to roll if nobody else is going to. He never gets lost. Just... sometimes doesn't end up where he initially thought he wanted to go.

Mees likes yours teefs. Deyse pokes out like Lizzy's.

"Oh, uh.. thank you. My mother was an orc, like my brother. Well, he is because she was. And, uh, so was his father. My family is a little complicated, but that's exactly why I'm interested in lineage... I'm a priest of Erathis and it might not be my church's specialty, but I think have a pretty good handle on this research!"

While looking over the list of locations, Josef says absently, "I've heard of the Pataris. They're well-liked, and they do trace their lineage to the prince. I suppose that doesn't mean the other family doesn't as well, though.

"There are a lot of merchants at the bazaar... let's see about finding one of these places."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

The kobold smiles at Josef Youse talks a lot with big words. Youse too pretty to use big words. she says as she laughs, sounding like Muttley the dog and then she scampers away.

She is not the most social of characters

Dolmandir stays silent. Looking for any threats while his more talkative comrades find the first place where they need to go.

Josef manages to find the various stalls on the bazaar map.

Any particular order you want to do these in or will you accept the suggestion of the V-C and do them in order?

Follow the VC suggestion

Folmyr flutters about the newcomers, and says, "Let's do them in order. C'mon. Let's go!"

"Let's go hunting then." Rodthalas picks up his shield and stows it behind him. He places his quiver on his waist. Archers may notice that he favors white-colored fluflu fletching. He leaves the lodge last, taking the rear guard.

The kobold will hiss at the elf as he walks by her.

You head to the Satrap Esoterica, where it is rumored to have everything you want under the Qadiran sun—and everything you need under the satrap's starry skies. Anebu, a Garundi woman of very eclectic tastes, owns the Satrap Esoterica and greets you as you enter the establishment.

"Well met. I am Anebu, the proprietor of the Satrap Esoterica. How may I help you today?"

Ulvard follows along. His eyes grow large as he takes in the sights and sounds of the massive city. "Ulvard thinks this is almost as big as Absalom!"

As the group enters the Satrap Esoterica, he eyes up Anebu appreciatively.

"Ulvard greets you. He is looking for a document!" says the big man, trying not to drool.

"Well-met Anebu! I understand that you are in possession of Prince Agar's memoirs. We'd like to ask for your permission to peruse these" he says as politely as he can.

And if you refuse, I would like to offer you this hissing kobold as a sacrifice... thinks Rodthalas to himself. He stifles a chuckle.

"Ah! I was wondering when he'd come asking for that! I have them right here!"

She produces several tomes for you to peruse.

Society to Decipher Writing
Crafting to Find Hidden Text

Crafting: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19

Rodthalas inspects each tome before deciding to pass them on to whoever wishes to take them.

Society: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

"Thank you." He says to Anebu.

Getting out of the shadows, the silent elf moves toward the book, at last, something he is good at, books.

He takes a look at the tomes.

Society: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16
Crafting: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

Dolmandir finds the correct volume, but Rodthalas finds some hidden writing in another volume. Both pieces of information correspond to what the Venture-Captain is looking for.

Success; That took 1 hour to complete.

You proceed to the next venue, The Morning Sands.

The sun seems to shine more brightly upon the sign of the Morning Sands. Perhaps divinely so, as this quaint shop serves as an antechamber to one of the many churches of Sarenrae in Katheer. The Vudrani priestess Zarida informed the venture-captain that she recalled something she read about Prince Agar in the church's library. She's willing to part with it on Esmayl's behalf to you, if only she can remember whether she found it among the sacred texts or within the forbidden archives.

Religion or Saranrae Lore gives Zarida enough info that she can collect the scroll from the sacred texts (takes less time)

Occultism gives Zarida the same information, but she will need to collect the scroll from the Forbidden texts. She would need to retrieve the key from the senior priestess (takes more time)

Religion: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

Dolmandir has some knowledge about religion and tries to help the Priestess remember where to find the right text.

Ulfar eyes up the beautiful windows of the church.

"Ulvard never saw such sights in frozen north. Ulvard thinks civilisation has many good things."

Ulvard also has few helpful skills for this situation.

"Sarenae wasn't the focus of my education, but as I'm sure you know priests do learn some things about other gods. You're the expert, but I may be able to assist."

Religion: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

Occult 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13

Zarida beams like the shining sun at Ulvard's praise. "You should see some of the others. They put our little establishment to shame. The church in Galt also a beautiful place. If you can get past the salons the so-called art-snobs put on..."

Turning to Josef and Dolmandir, her eyes light up as they recall the passage they need.

"Ah! Yes, of course. I know the scroll." Zarida disappears for an instant and returns with the scroll.

Success. 1 hour elapsed.

The Four Dunes is a cartographer's shop run by a pair of halfling twins who go by the names Fali and Farul Dunes.

"Ah! Welcome my good sirs! Are you looking for a map? Then look no further! We serve merchants and navies alike and we own more maps than anyone else. Where shall we take you today?"

"Well-met Fali and Farul! Please show us maps that will confirm the Prince's holdings."

"Aaah! Yes! Of course. Here, have a look at these!"

You are handed a large bundle of maps and begin perusing them.

Farming Lore to confirm where the richest soil would be for an ancient prince to plant their crops.
Mercantile Lore to determine where inlets of Qadira's southern river would provide easy transport of goods to his property.
Nature to locate the most suitable ground to build upon on the path between Katheer to Sedeq to avoid natural disasters, like sinkholes and landslides.

The big man shudders at the thought.

"Ulvard has been subject to salons." he winces.

"Ulvard would prefer orc torture. At least for little bit. Ulvard wanted to hit civilised man very much. But civilised man proved uncivlised and tried to hit Ulvard first. This pleased Ulvard very much. " A savage grin crosses his face.

His memory jogged, Ulvard runs he hand through his hair. "Ulvard eventually got hair cut by orc axe. Lacked finesse, but job done."

He looks around for a mirror, wondering if he needs to find another orc. Or a proper salon. Or even a barber.

Rodthalas looks at the maps he's shown and has no clue how to decipher anything before him.

I've no bonuses for Nature, and have neither of the 2 lores specified.

Underworld Lore: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22 Perhaps one of these plantations or trading routes were raided and has become part of underworld mythos .

"You'd think this would be my specialty," Josef muses over the maps, "but I've never had to figure out where fans should be. That land is already settled where I'm from." Still, he tries.

Survival?
Nature (Untrained): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18

Rodthalas investigates the possible underworld connections and has a measure of success, finding a possible place to build an underground railway on one of the maps. However, Josef finds more solid proof on where the best place to build a trade route while avoiding natural obstacles.

The twins bow. "We are glad we have provided some measure of aid to you. Please come back if you need more of our wonderful maps." You take the map and head to the last stop on your list, the Royal Concessions.

As you approach, you hear voices yell out in anger.

"No! Those patents are not yours to take!"

"Be quiet, else we'll silence you forever!"

"Wait, who's that? Pathfinders! Attack!"

Coming out from the shop, and from the street behind, you see three ruffians. From the looks of the clubs they have, they're probably not here for a friendly chat...

------------------
COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1
Tactical Map
Active Conditions:
Before Your Turn:
------------------
Those with ** may go

**Josef - AC 16, 27/27
**Folmyr - AC 19, 34/34
Red
White
Blue
Meepette - AC 15, 13/13
Dolmandir - AC 18, 13/13
Rodthalas - AC 18 (20 w/shield), 16/16
Ulvard - AC 19, 38/38

Ulvard, distracted by a nearby swirly white and red pole, doesn't notice the thugs until almost too late.

Ulvard will probably be overjoyed if he's attacked by the Absalom gang calling themselves "The Bloody Barbers" :)

Josef quickly realizes they're under attack... but he's only vaguely aware of from where.

Rather than moving to find out, he tries to be ready at this position. He readies his bow and casts a blessing on his allies.

◆ Draw bow
◆◆ Cast bless; Josef and adjacent allies gain a +1 status bonus to attack rolls

◆ Draw sword
◆ Stride
◆ Strike: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27
Damage: 1d12 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

Josef pulls out his bow and casts a blessing on his allies. Folmyr pulls his sword and charges at a ruffian in a blue tunic. He swings and connects.

A Ruffian in a red vest steps up to Folmyr and attempts to smash Folmyr flat with his club.

Club vs Folmyr AC 19: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20
Club vs Folmyr AC 19, MAP: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Bludgeoning: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

Blue swings at Folmyr and tries to grab him in the same motion.

Snagging Strike vs Folmyr AC 19: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26
Bludgeoning: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

Blue then tries to swat Folmyr with his club.
Club vs Folmyr AC 19, MAP, FF: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Club vs Folmyr AC 19, MAP 2+, FF: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (11) - 1 = 10

White steps up to Ulvard and tries to strike the warrior and grab him as well.

Snagging Strike vs Ulvard AC 19: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10

White overbalances and decides to step back and re-evaluate.

------------------
COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1
Tactical Map
Active Conditions:
Bless: 5' around Josef (+1 to attack)
Before Your Turn:
------------------
Those with ** may go

-2-
**Josef - AC 16, 27/27
**Folmyr - AC 19, 14/34 (FF)
Red
White
Blue (-10)

-1-
**Meepette - AC 15, 13/13
**Dolmandir - AC 18, 13/13
**Rodthalas - AC 18 (20 w/shield), 16/16
**Ulvard - AC 19, 38/38

Rodthalas dons his shield and draws a shortsword. He strikes at the ruffian wearing white.

since he's standing next to Ulvard who was just attacked with a club, I'm assuming there's no need to stride to attack White

◆ don shield
◆ draw shortsword
◆ strike: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19

shortsword: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Rodthalas has the ↺ Reactive Shield Feat and will use it if struck

Ulvard draws his sword and steps up toward the thug who dared try and attack him from the rear.

"Civilised men do not attack from behind!" he roars.

"You must Behave Better!"

He then offers a demonstration of attacking someone from the front.

strike: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17
damage: 1d12 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

* interact (draw weapon)
* stride
* strike