|
Olegaro winces "Oooh that's gotta hurt" as the chair splinters against B
and will follow up with a swing at B
◇ Activate the purple potency crystal (from Hanu)
◆ Strike with his flail for bludgeoning damage
◆ Exacting strike with his flail for bludgeoning damage
◆ Patch up Rybar w/Battle medicine for healing
Moist keeps his illusion and hits Enforcer B with a chair.
Zepth inspires allies but misses to poke needles to target.
Olegaro takes down Enforcer B with the blunt end of his flail! He then patches wounds of Rybar.
Hanu raises shield before missing to hitting anyone with a piece of wood.
Otani electrocutes Enforcers A and C.
Enforcer A: vs EA
Enforcer C: vs EA
Both enforcers are somewhat singed. He then creates a gash at Enforcer C.
Party Condition(s): +1 status bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls, and saves against fear effects
Terrain Feature(s): Anywhere within 10 feet of the open doorway is in bright light and anywhere from 10–20 feet is in dim light, but the rest of the building’s interior lies in darkness. The ceiling is 15 feet high, rising a few feet to accommodate the extra elevation of the rooms to the north. Most of the building is made of wood, with the exception of the brick fireplaces and chimneys.
Map Link: ENCOUNTER MAP
Note(s):
CHARACTER IN ➤ BOLD TYPEFACE CAN ACT! STRIKETHROUGH NAMES ARE ELIMINATED.
Enforcer A |
Enforcer B |
Enforcer C |
Olegaro | |
Zepth | |
Scout A |
Moist Definitely | Hidden to Enforcers | |
Otani | |
Hanu, Friend of the Wood | |
➤ Rybar Ganon | |
Rybar knows these fetchlings have no weakness that he can exploit. His attacks are miss as well.
Enforcer A attacks Hanu then Rybar!
vs Hanu AC 18+1 Shield
vs Rybar AC 18
vs Rybar AC 18
All miss to hit.
Enforcer C attack Otani and the Olegaro with hatchet as well.
vs Otani AC 19
vs Olegaro AC 19
vs Olegaro AC 19
It looks like this is their end.
Party Condition(s): +1 status bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls, and saves against fear effects
Terrain Feature(s): Anywhere within 10 feet of the open doorway is in bright light and anywhere from 10–20 feet is in dim light, but the rest of the building’s interior lies in darkness. The ceiling is 15 feet high, rising a few feet to accommodate the extra elevation of the rooms to the north. Most of the building is made of wood, with the exception of the brick fireplaces and chimneys.
Map Link: ENCOUNTER MAP
Note(s):
CHARACTER IN ➤ BOLD TYPEFACE CAN ACT! STRIKETHROUGH NAMES ARE ELIMINATED.
Enforcer A |
Enforcer B |
Enforcer C |
➤ Olegaro | |
➤ Zepth | |
Scout A |
➤ Moist Definitely | Hidden to Enforcers | |
➤ Otani | |
➤ Hanu, Friend of the Wood | |
➤ Rybar Ganon | |
|
The Oracle casts Weapon Surge
The Battle Oracle then casts Sure Strike!
The Tengu then Strikes!
So long, Emberkin. And thanks for all the fish!
|
|
Olegaro calls out to enforcer A "Its over, your friends are defeated. Surrender and we'll go easy on you."
and will sudden charge over to flank A and strike him nonlethally
◆◆ Sudden charge striking flanked enforcer A with his flail for nonlethal damage
with his flail for nonlethal damage
◆ Exacting strike flanked enforcer A with his flail for nonlethal damage
Moist continues to remain hidden to the enforcers and raises shield.
Zepth shoots needles but miss to hit his target.
Hanu plants another protective tree and slaps Enforcer A with its branch.
Otani empowers his attack before cutting Enforcer C into half with just a single strike of the katana.
Olegaro makes sure to bring down the last Enforcer nonlethally but only his first strike hits.
Party Condition(s): +1 status bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls, and saves against fear effects
Terrain Feature(s): Anywhere within 10 feet of the open doorway is in bright light and anywhere from 10–20 feet is in dim light, but the rest of the building’s interior lies in darkness. The ceiling is 15 feet high, rising a few feet to accommodate the extra elevation of the rooms to the north. Most of the building is made of wood, with the exception of the brick fireplaces and chimneys.
Map Link: ENCOUNTER MAP
Note(s):
CHARACTER IN ➤ BOLD TYPEFACE CAN ACT! STRIKETHROUGH NAMES ARE ELIMINATED.
Enforcer A |
Enforcer B |
Enforcer C |
Olegaro | |
Zepth | |
Scout A |
Moist Definitely | Hidden to Enforcers | |
➤ Otani | One action left | |
Hanu, Friend of the Wood | |
➤ Rybar Ganon | |
"No surren..." Rybar easily takes down the last enemy before it can even talk back to Olegaro.
Zepth (24/24 HP) [2☘️]
Moist Definitely (18/18 HP) [2☘️]
Otani (24/24 HP) [2☘️]
Hanu, Friend of the Wood (22/30 HP) [2☘️]
Rybar Ganon (25/26 HP) [2☘️]
With threats eliminated, the Pathfinders can search the area for what they are looking for. Numerous valuable objects and assorted documents lie in heaps on top of two large tables in this elevated room. The items include assorted art objects such as statuettes, ceremonial weapons, and jewelry, as well as a few precious stones.
|
|
Lacking any specific skills, Olegaro will start leafing through the documents.
"Oooh this is bad, very bad - these are all tactical details of our lodges. Looks like someone is casing them out for something and doing a damn good job of it too. Looks like it covers the Grand L...huh, I didn't know I was scheduled for guard duty next Wealday! I think we'd better warn the Grand Lodge quickly."
and Olegaro will quaff his minor healing potion for healing
|
With the chaos subsided, Moist hops into the room and observes the heaps of treasure atop the tables.
Good find Olegaro!
Stepping closer to the piles, he inspects them, picking up an object or two.
He concludes
Most of the items are mundane, and some of them are fake objects crafted to resemble items from ancient Iobaria.
|
|
Otani sheaths his katana after cleaning the blade. The Samurai bows to his companions.
Well done. Our tactical experience is paying off.
The Oracle then turns his Blue eyes on the treasure....
A few of the items possess some sort of latent curse, though it is unclear what the curse might do or why it is not currently active.
With these items and information in hand, the Pathfinders can report to the Blakros Museum and the Grand Lodge.
At the Blakros Museum, Seshuun is glad the Pathfinders uncovered what they did, but is upset the Onyx Alliance were able to get the drop on the Sixwing Drake’s crew of Pathfinders in the first place. She expresses concern for the apparently missing crew, and hopes the Society is able to learn what happened to them—and discover how the Onyx Alliance managed to pull of their heist. She offers to help the PCs with any information she acquires in the future, but states that she’ll be quite busy setting up a different exhibit for the foreseeable future. In the meantime, she also intends to speak with her superiors at the museum about the Onyx Alliance, as she knows that group has a complex history with the Blakros family.
At the Grand Lodge, Ambrus Valsin listens to the Pathfinders’ report. He believes that the Onyx Alliance learned of the shipment, stole it with the help of powerful enchantment magic to manipulate the crew and dockworkers, and then prepared to replace the goods with their cursed items in hopes of setting off some kind of disaster at the Blakros Museum. He ponders why the Onyx Alliance is suddenly lashing out at the Blakros Museum and the Society.
Whatever the cause, he suspects their attack ties in with the similar disruptive events occurring at lodges across the Inner Sea, and the presence of detailed information on the lodges is only further proof that the Onyx Alliance is coordinating these attacks. Valsin asks the PCs to steel themselves for the missions ahead, as he hopes to send them to the lodges under threat in short order!
The Pathfinders' next adventure begins in the Vaults of the Grand Lodge in Absalom. A fungus leshy with a bright green body and a purple mushroom 'cap' atop his head, wearing a white scarf and a brown vest emblazoned with the Glyph of the Open Road, lights up when he sees them.
"Whoa! Do you still remember me? It's me, Rain in Cloudy Day! I remember you for helping me pass my Confirmation!" he gushes to them. "The ruins we uncovered attracted the attention of all kinds of important faction leaders, and I heard you even helped them with that!" His excitement can’t be contained. "How is everyone? I didn’t recognize you at first when we worked together on the correspondences Valsin tasked me with to summarize and report. But when I saw your name in the chronicle, it finally clicked! My mistake." On the other hand, a female human that has long dark hair and black nail polish and is wearing a vibrant blue dress watches the conversation with amusement behind them.
|
|
*Croooak* Yup! We remember you Rain. How've you been? We're good. With every mission, I become more and more frightened by how we need to use our powers and skills to survive! It's been a while since I've just... set a restaurant menu in peace, but this is more exciting for sure. How are you finding it? Surviving? Thriving?
His tong lashes out and smoothes over the liquid membrane of his right eye.
She clears her throat to remind Rain of his current mission when the leshy is about to tell something to them. “Oh, yes! The mission. The Archives get more exciting every day,” Rain states then adds, “And who better to manage the excitement than Zarta! Oh, have you all met Grand Archivist Zarta Dralneen?” Rain prompts them to introduce themselves. Zarta smiles and thanks them for coming. Rain and Zarta then lead the group to a table covered in interesting objects.
Rain in Cloudy Day waves exuberantly to indicate the piles of treasure in the vaulted chamber. “Wow! Just look at all these magic items! And enchanted weapons! And a skull that always looks at me funny! Big magic books about even bigger magic books! Well, I’m not sure about that last one. I haven’t read them. Cataloging all this treasure is bound to be exciting! It sure beats sorting the mail.”
Zarta runs her fingertips along the table, lifts a strange hourglass, and inspects it with dubious curiosity. “Exciting, yes, and possibly quite dangerous.”
Rain frowns. “Well, yes, but… at least we’re in the safety of the Lodge? Can’t be that bad! You said these items are harmless.” He picks up a skull from the table. Its eyes glow with pink fire, and it speaks, “Unhand me, you hideous rotten mushroom! Harmless?! How dare you!” Rain replaces the skull and covers it with a cloth, muffling the voice. “Well… mostly harmless?”
Zarta fails to stifle a grin. She tilts the hourglass this way and that, shrugs, and sets it back on the table. “Yes, mostly harmless. We believe these items present no major threat to us, and we’ve secured those we believe to be cursed. The true danger comes from an old enemy of the Pathfinder Society, the night hag Aslynn. She nearly claimed these treasures for herself before they were entrusted to us. We don’t know why she needs the items, or which ones are most central to her wicked plans.
“I’m off to a meeting to discuss the situation with Eliza, Ambrus, and the faction leaders. You’ll stay here with Rain and continue cataloging these objects. We need to learn where the items come from and understand what they do. Then we can decide what to do with them. Any questions?”
|
|
Olegaro ducks through the doorway just as Zarta starts her briefing. He waves cheerily to the party and mugs a grin at Rain but keeps quiet as Rain and Zarta talk.
At the end of the briefing, Olegaro will exclaim "Oh I thought we might be getting posted elsewhere. If I had known it was a desk task I'd have probably worn something more comfortable" and gestures at his chain mail and backpack.
"Umm, anyway, could you tell us a bit about Aslynn please? I've not heard of her before" he then asks Zarta
Zarta says, “She just caused trouble for the Society a few years back, even tried to capture and sell the soul of our former Master of Spells. We thought we’d seen the last of her after we helped stop her from raiding a magical demiplane known as the Hao Jin Tapestry. Apparently, she’s still hunting for treasures, and she has something horrible planned for the Pathfinder Society.”
When Zarta mentions 'treasures', Rain says, “Oh! It’s such a cool story! There’s this place called Shadow Absalom, where a mercantile group called the Onyx Alliance had a massive vault of treasure! Aslynn wanted it all, and she almost got it, but some Society agents learned about her plot just in time! There’s more to it… but you’ll have to read the chronicle yourselves. I don’t want to spoil the story!”
|
|
Anything customers in Abalom want, really. Pasta. Stew. A flavorful risotto is my specialty. Obviously that's not quite how I eat on missions. But you never know when you'll have access to a kitchen. You pick your spots when spending from your ingredient cache. he shrugs.
"Quite normal stuff then. I like trying exotic stuff too. Maybe it's the Thaumaturge in me - always looking for what's esoteric and strange."
After listening to Zarta and Rain, he then says "Cataloging. I can't say I've had a mission like that before. Where do you we start?"
Rybar approaches the talking skull.
How do we know she can't get in here?!
"Well, she just can't." Zarta smiles at Moist with assurance.
After listening to Zarta and Rain, he then says "Cataloging. I can't say I've had a mission like that before. Where do we start?"
"You can start cataloging the items now. Once you are done, we’ll return some to wherever they belong. Some might be dangerous, some should be destroyed, and some might hold valuable knowledge. Some might be all those things. That’s why your work, and my meeting with the Society’s leaders, are so important. We need to make a plan!”
When she sees Rybar going for the skull, she says, "Maybe you can talk to it and learn more. The skull seems to be alive, in a sense, yes. So far, the skull just insults everyone. We haven’t found any other creatures in the vault—yet! It’s not our business to keep creatures captive, so we’d like to help get them home if we can, and to keep them safe from Aslynn.”
"You can make a quick trip to purchase supplies outside and return here before you begin your work. I will leave you with Rain for the meeting."
Then, she departs for her meeting.
"Okay, you can all start now exploring the Vault of Boundless Wonder!" he says happily while waving his hands. "I suggest you split up so that you can maximize your exploration. Here, take these, written there is the list of what I believe are some of the most interesting or most important items to analyze and areas to search.” He says and hands over copies of a page from his overstuffed journal.
2. Pile of treasure. We probably shouldn’t leave everything in a pile like that, but we’ve been short-staffed. See what’s in there!
3. Assorted items. There’s all kinds of stuff up in the raised storage areas on the west wall and in the northeast corner. Did we find any magic potions in the vault? Alchemical items? Talismans? You bet we did! I know a healing potion when I see one, but some of this stuff is beyond my experience. See what you can find!
4. Pile of empty chests. I already looked through these. If you find more empty chests, just pile them in the southwest corner of the vault.
5. Danger! These shelves are way up high and piled high with dangerous poisons and possibly cursed items. I think Zarta felt it would be safer if they were out of reach, but we should make sure there’s nothing too dangerous up there.
6. Weapons. There are lots of magic weapons lying around. See if you can find the most powerful ones. Our field agents sure could use them!
7. Scrolls and such. We sure did find lots of scrolls! Thought I saw some wands in there, too. Might be something useful for the Society’s spellcasters in there.
Thanks for your help!
—Rain in Cloudy Day
|
|
Rybar goes off to the Provisions Office and acquires a Scroll of Heal. He then returns to the table with the skull.
"So... how'd you end up being so beautiful?" he asks the skull.
He looks at Moist and says "We can tag team this one. I've a feeling this one's important. But I'm not sure how or why."
|
|
Otani arrives as Zarta hurriedly departs the Chamber of Boundless Wonder.
Apologies for being a bit tardy. Does anyone have any ideas how to get mustard out of feathers?
The Tengu then decides to follow Zepth.
These shelves are way up high and piled high with dangerous poisons and possibly cursed items. I think Zarta felt it would be safer if they were out of reach, but we should make sure there’s nothing too dangerous up there. (Skill Check: Acrobatics, Athletics, Medicine, Thievery, or Underworld Lore at A5)
The Oracle begins climbing up to the top shelf.
Probably best to not shake too much...
Olegaro heads over to the shelves and takes much of his time to move heavy things there that he has no time to sort.
Moist spends his time conversing with the talking skull. "What do you think? Why don't you use your head attached to your body? Make it useful!" the skull chides him.
When the talking skulls 'turns their head' to Rybar, they reply, "Seriously? That's all you've got for me? 'Beautiful'?" Rybar can sense they 'roll' their pink glowing eyes.
Zepth joins Olegaro on the dangerous shelves but he finds the contents here too complicated, well, at least in the certain shelf he is working on.
Otani goes to the shelves as well, and while sorting the books at the top shelf, he finds a demon mask.
Otani goes to the huge pile of scrolls and sorts them to his liking. As he checks one of the scrolls, a wand of comprehend language stuck inside it falls to the ground.
Meanwhile, Rain heads over to the exit and...
“They’re not real! They can’t be real!” The panicked voice of Rain in Cloudy Day precedes his rapid footsteps as he races back into the vault. “I can’t… I don’t… help! Please, help! They’re after me!” Rain collapses just inside the vault, clutching the sides of his head and whimpering in fear. A hideous snarl from just past the entryway causes Rain to go completely still.
The Pathfinders are quick to notice what is happening!
Map Link: ENCOUNTER MAP
Note(s):
CHARACTER IN ➤ BOLD TYPEFACE CAN ACT! STRIKETHROUGH NAMES ARE ELIMINATED.
➤ Moist Definitely | |
➤ Olegaro | |
➤ Zepth | |
➤ Hanu, Friend of the Wood | |
➤ Rybar Ganon | |
➤ Otani | Cursebound 1 | |
Scary |
Frightening |
Creepy |