[Gameday XII] Zero's #1-03: Escaping the Grave (Inactive)

Game Master Super Zero

Ah, no. That's the one Quad killed that I should have removed from the Initiative list. Anyway, that first hit is a crit which finishes it.

With a crunch, Barak's mace crushes the skull of the remaining zombie.

Aztryx (13/13)
Quadennillia (46/46)
Good-News Bee (20/20)
Barak Blue (27/30)
Heather Brightflower (32/32)
>- Scout (10/18)
Macondi (17/17)

On the horizon, the hills seem to shift. Not hills. Gargantuan amalgam zombies--a long way off, but headed this way. The Pathfinder team should have a few hours before they're forced to retreat from the arrival of the giants.

The metal glinting from the horse's throat is odd. Someone might be able to extract it easily (Thievery check), and if that doesn't work it could always be cut free. That process looks... slippery, and might take some time.

The buildings nearby look to be a chapel, an armory, a guardhouse, an apothecary, an inn or tavern with a sign showing a flaming wheel, and a general store.

As the Pathfinders are taking in their surroundings in the relative calm, they hear a horse whinny. Another horse, this one very much alive, cautiously pokes its head out from behind the chapel.

"Ha!" Barak watches the horse crumble with deep satisfaction. "Macondi, I love it when you're badass!"

"Yeah, that was more effective than I was even hoping for."

Macondi watches the group take out the last of the zombies. "I still feel like I am forgetting something." He notices the enormous undead lumbering slowly towards them. "Not them. I remember them. Something else." He takes a look around the area, noting the various shops. "We should probably stick together if there are still any undead hanging around."

As the Pathfinders are taking in their surroundings in the relative calm, they hear a horse whinny. Another horse, this one very much alive, cautiously pokes its head out from behind the chapel.

"Yeah, like tha- wait. That one doesn't look undead. Maybe there is hope for our missing people too."

Macondi looks around at the rest of the group hoping that someone has a better plan than what he can come up with.

No thievery skill, no knife, no skill with animals, don't really want to split up and go check out shops on my own...

Qen does have both a knife and some manual dexterity.

Thievery: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

Not enough to avoid an impromptu autopsy, if no one else can help.

Quadennillia manages to extract the metal object, which is revealed to be the wayfinder of the Pathfinder Clement Marten. Clement was in Goldenflame when the Whispering Way cells began to emerge across Lastwall. Perhsps, pledging himself to assist the Knights of Ozem, he stayed in Goldenflame even as it was overrun, whereupon he was killed by the zombie horse.

"Ah. There you go." said Aztryx after seeing Clement Marten's wayfinder and understanding what its' presence implies. "How sad. Its best we move on to the Church. I don't like the way those hills are moving."

"To the church, then. Heather, can you capture that horse?" Barak asks. "I don't have your skill with animals."

That Nature skill of yours should come in handy!

"The church sounds good to me." Macondi tags along with Barak and Aztryx.

"Oh, right. The shield." Macondi pulls his shield from his back and gets it adjusted. "If I am going to carry this around, I might as well use it."

Guiltily, Barak remembers his Shield cantrip. He flickers it in and out of existence. "You're not the only one who needs to remember to use something, bro."

"The church is as good a place as any to start," Bee nods, looking around warily. "Heather, is Scout okay? Does he need my potion?"

The buildings in the square are close enough together that the Pathfinders could investigate different locations (or the horse) and remain within shouting distance if they wished.

Dust-covered pews stand in silent rows in this small chapel, and shelves line the walls. Remnants of candles occupy the candelabras here—mounds of congealed wax and burned wicks.

It would appear that this chapel served not only as a place of worship but also as the town’s city hall, supporting gatherings of people for both faith and government. In the past it must have been pristine and gleaming, but now it is grimy and dank, the walls scorched and the floors scored by battle.

A small corpse—charred, broken, and its features mostly burned away—rests against the pew. The corpse is covered in a layer of fine ash and scraps of charred fabric that seem to be all that remains of the clothing it once wore. Around its neck is a soot-covered chain bearing an ankh.
It is surrounded by the charred remains of several larger bodies.

Most things you can do to investigate will take 10 minutes, which includes the time spent traveling, deciding what to do, and other, faster things done between (like combat encounters). You don't all have to do the same thing. In this case someone could...
...try to determine if the scorch marks are magical (Arcana).
...examine the body to see if it can be identified (Medicine or Perception).
...examine the ankh to see if it can be identified (Religion).
...rummage through the shelves and drawers to see if the town hall part of the building has any intact records--the Venture-Captain did ask them to find "fragments of history and culture that yet survive" (no check required).
...Seek for other useful clues (Perception).

Seeing the charred body on the pew, Macondi hurries over. "Nope. Way beyond my ability to help." He takes the ankh and checks it over.

Religion +4, Dubious Knowledge if that applies

Macondi Religion: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

Macondi quickly realizes that the piece of metal was never really an ankh at all. It's been partially melted and twisted into a new shape. After a few minutes of trying to assess what it originally looked like, he realizes it was a statuette. But it seems familiar somehow... and soon enough it hits him: This was a holy symbol of Sarenrae.

Aztryx moves around the burned area to see if these scorch marks were caused by spells.

Arcanca: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Indeed, the flames that burned this body, destroyed the others, and scorched the floors were caused by magic. Somebody fought hard with fire spells in here.

"I've had a chance to study First Aid since our last mission. I'll examine the body." Barak kneels down, and sees if there are any clues to ancestry that he can gain from the charred corpse. "There were four small folk on that mission, right? One of them was Gibb Potsmasher who was raised by the Church of Sarenrae. If you think that Ankh is a melted Sarenrae symbol, Macondi, this is likely her."

GM, can finding and calming the horse be one of those checks? Heather might have a chance at it.

Macondi quickly realizes that the piece of metal was never really an ankh at all. It's been partially melted and twisted into a new shape. After a few minutes of trying to assess what it originally looked like, he realizes it was a statuette. But it seems familiar somehow... and soon enough it hits him: This was a holy symbol of Sarenrae.

Macondi looks at the twisted bit of metal. He turns it one way. Then another. "It's like a puzzle. But in reverse." After sitting there for a few minutes, he realizes: "Ah. Sarenrae."

"There were four small folk on that mission, right? One of them was Gibb Potsmasher who was raised by the Church of Sarenrae. If you think that Ankh is a melted Sarenrae symbol, Macondi, this is likely her."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Macondi thinks for a bit. "Didn't we have bags or something like that for carrying out those who couldn't carry themselves?"

Heather heads over to where she saw the horse look out. She attempts to entice it to come to her. She also makes sure to have Scout behave...

Nature +6 if needed

Qen looks over the body.

Medicine: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

"These scorch marks were caused by spells. I do not understand tho, why that Holy Symbol would melt. And I'm wondering if there's more to it than mere coincidence? Or am I just overthinking it? Hmm... '

Heather Nature: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

This body has been left in the open for some time, which makes determining even broad strokes like ancestry a challenge. Qen is able to confirm, however, that this was a goblin. And Barak finds, under one of the pews, a dropped wayfinder. It is engraved, and did indeed belong to Gibb Potsmasher.

One advantage of the desiccated body is that they seem much smaller than it was in life...
Bodies are 1 Bulk, if you'd like to transport them.

Heather is able to get the horse to come to her, though he seems a little skittish and doesn't quite seem to trust her.. His barding features a large engraving of the Glyph of the Open Road and gold-and-green caparisons.

The saddle bears two engraved names: "Desert Wind" and "Larraz Virtanne." Clinking glass in his saddlebag draws her attention--two vials of lesser healing potion.
This doesn't take the full 10 minutes, if Heather would like to do something else.

Society: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

Aztryx takes a look at the barding to see if it is recognizable to him.

He then looks at the body. He says "If we're going to be bringing bodies with us back home, its best we build a Litter. We'll need need long pieces of wood. I've rope in my backpack to tie it all together. But, I also prefer that we physically bind whatever bodies we carry so that should they animate... they will be restrained, and give us time to ah... either dispose of the body, or run."

"Do you agree to this? IF not, I won't bother building."

Macondi looks around. "Well, if there is nothing else here in the church, we should probably check one of the other places. General Store maybe?"

"If we're going to be bringing bodies with us back home, its best we build a Litter."

"It's a good idea. We were told to return with the fallen if possible."

He looks over at the horse that Heather caught. "Maybe we could find a cart and haul them all that way."

"A cart would do well, if we were sticking to roads. But I recall being told to avoid the roads due to the roving Graveknights. So a Litter would serve us better. It's easier to take on a trail, since its thinner and doesn't get stuck in the mud. But, I've not built one so I'm not sure how long it will take... we do not have a lot of spare time available to us."

"By the light of the Sun, you fought well Gibb Potsmasher," Bee quietly murmurs as she kneels down next to the fallen goblin's body. "Rest well in the warmth of Her incandescence."

She glances up Aztryx and Macondi, already discussing the best way to get any bodies they find back to civilization. "I've heard stories about magical bags that make their contents weightless. Maybe that's what our bags are for; we should check them before we build litters."

Bee gets to her feet again and looks around. "I'm going to check some of the shelves and drawers here, to see if there are any papers or other things we should take back with us."
______________

Bee will start rummaging through the shelves and such to see what she can find.

"There's a thought. While I hope that they are bags of holding, I find it odd that we were not informed that they were?"

Aztryx casts detect magic on the bags they were given.

Bee finds census records and historical documents kept by the Goldenflame town council--fortunately far away from the flames of Gibb's last stand against the zombies invading the town. These records detail the history of the town's inhabitants and notable events in the town's history, including festivals, feasts, and the like.

The bundle of documents is Light Bulk, and counts as one Relic towards the primary success condition.

The bags, unfortunately, are not magical.

"I sense no magic here. It's a pity. Those things are very useful indeed."

Aztryx builds a Litter from old wood, and rope. He uses his climbing rope to bind the pieces together.

Crafting: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

Aztryx is able to put together a functional litter.

There doesn't seem to be anything else to find in the chapel, but the other Pathfinders still have other options while remaining nearby in the town square. There are still the armory, guardhouse, apothecary, tavern, and general store near the fountain. And while they've found Clement Marten's wayfinder, they've yet to locate his remains.

'Apothecary' is right up Qen's alley, so she tries there next.

Grime-caked and smashed glass cases occupy much of this
apothecary, and dusty shelves line many of the walls. A door
to the northwest leads to an emptied storage closet.

It seems most of the wares were cleared out, but the undead don't seem to have bothered what was left. It would just rage a little time to gather and sort out what's valuable.

Macondi pokes his head into the general store. Shield at the ready, and one hand free he calls out, "Hello? Anyone living in here?"

If nothing living or undead responds, he carefully steps into the store and starts looking around.

Goldenflame General may have once sold goods brought across the plains from Vellumis, but it looks like the town's inhabitants took most of the merchandise with them when they fled. The rest has decayed.

Badly, Macondi realizes before stepping foot in the store. The foodstuff left behind has been abandoned and exposed to the elements and water for a long time, and the mold here smells foul. Toxic.

It could probably be cleared, if one was careful enough.
Hazard detected! It can be disabled with Survival.

Macondi Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

As the smell of the rotting food hits him, Macondi backs away. "Whoo. That looks bad. Anyone with a stronger stomach than me?"

"Well, that's a good start," Bee remarks as she carefully tucks the papers away in her pack. "Maybe the guardhouse has more records or...or something."

The leshy starts to head that way, only to table that thought for a moment as Macondi comes backing out of the general store with a funny look on his face. Once the situation is explained, Bee pokes her head in to get a good look at the store.

"Hm...mold can be cleared away, if you're carefully enough with it. Just have to go slow and not kick up any spores..."

Survival - Mold Hazard: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

Bee successfully clears away the mold, which doesn't release its dangerous spores while anyone is in close contact.

There isn't a lot left in the store, but a thorough search may reveal something...

Barak searches the Guardhouse. "Hello? If there are undead in here, I'll punch you in the face." He searches through to see if he can find anything.

Assuming Bee or Macondi searches the store:
The only thing here that isn't spoiled is a bag of rolled oats. Well, it might make Desert Wind more friendly!

Barak searches the house that's probably where rotating Knight of Ozem guards would stay. The bed and table are crusted with a thick layer of dust. After searching through the building Barak finds a cold iron buckler underneath the bed.

"Oh, it's horse food!" Bee exclaims as she and Macondi finally find something in the store that might be of use. She takes the bag back out to Heather and offers it to her. "Here, maybe you can get Desert Wind to calm down with this? He's probably hungry and feeding critters usually makes them like you more. Works on a lot of people, too!"

"Bee, do you want this cold iron buckler?" Barak asks. "I find I fight best with a free hand."

"Cold iron buckler? Where did you source that out? I'm not looking for a buckler, but do you have anything else that's cold iron?" asks Aztryx.

"Naw, just this! I found it in the guard's building!"

Qen heads over to the tavern. She's not the best talker, but at least she might get a drink out of all this. Maybe they come in half-liters.

"It can't hurt," Bee nods as Barak offers her the buckler for the time being. "And when we get back I'll try to find out if there's a next of kin for whoever it belonged to."

Bee carefully stows her own steel shield across her back and slips the buckler straps over her shield arm. Noticing Qen heading towards the tavern, she decides to head for the armory.

"Well, Macondi ponders "We checked into the chapel, the apothecary, the general store, and the armory." He notices Quadennillia headed towards the tavern and Bee looking at the armory. "I'll check out the inn with Quadennillia."

Macondi follows behind the Ysoki. He keeps his shield on hand and looks around.

Outside the building, a painted sign reading “The Flaming Wheel” and decorated with a flaming chariot wheel hangs from one chain, swaying gently in the wind.
A broken circular table and door, part of a makeshift barricade, rest near the entrance of this modest tavern. Other similar tables and accompanying chairs are scattered throughout the area. Long-dried blood smears decorate the floor and walls. The bar is haphazardly covered in tankards—signs of the final celebration of life.

There's a small body here, in blood-soaked plate armor.

Aztryx approaches but doesn't get within clawing distance. He looks to see if there's anything of importance to note about the small body.
"Dead? Alive? Undead?"

When it rains it pours. I took my laptop to work hoping I'd be able to find a minute to make up for my lack of posting... and left it there. But you're at least two days overdue for a GM post. I'll do it from my phone if I must!

This corpse has been heavily damaged by zombie teeth. A broken piece of plate armor lies nearby, bearing iconography of a flame and the hilt of a sword.

The body is inert, and nothing else moves inside.

Examine the body? Medicine or Perception
Examine the iconography? Religion and Society (Two people can do this, using different skills)
Search the inn? no check needed, just time

Aztryx is suspicious of the dead body and stays clear. He instead looks at the iconography on the broken plate armor.

Society: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

Macondi searches the inn. "Well, if I was going to hide and wanted to leave a note telling where I was, I would leave it here."

"Though maybe leaving a note telling where my hiding place is wouldn't be the best idea. Even some undead are pretty smart. Smart enough to read, at least."

Aztryx recognizes the armor as that famously worn by the Knights of Ozem, now known as the Knights of Lastwall.
And the broken piece counts as a relic.

Macondi doesn't find any notes, but he does find a purse containing 10 silver in one of the beds tables. It also occurs to him that the tavern's sign probably qualifies as a relic of local history.
And also counts a relic towards your success condition.