☠ Season of Ghosts w/ DM rainzax ☠

Game Master rainzax

"Come on, folks! We've got company!" Auntie Wu shouts as she begins dashing for the door. Upon arriving at the gate, she hoists Midori's bulk to one hip and pushes one door open. Turning to check the progress of escaping prisoners and incoming foes, she urges the townspeople to hustle: "Hurry! This way!"

Bulk with Midori: 3 (Encumbered at 4), Speed 25

◆ Stride, ◆ Stride, ◆ Interact

Lan follows Auntie Wu and casts glass shield.

I am on my phone, can someone move my icon next to Auntie Wu?

I am on my phone, can someone move my icon next to Auntie Wu?

Done! and also removed the trickster (BLACK) from the map after decapitation.

Auntie Wu and Lan break for the exit…

Crimson Occultist reaches out to touch Vekka... And takes his face!...

Vekka - please roll a DC 18 Fortitude save with the Curse, Incapacitation and Polymorph traits!

It then bonks the magus with it's staff!

Crimson Occultist
◆◆) Steal Face
◆) Strike

Crimson Occultist staff (B) vs Vekka (AC 19 / 17 OG): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 121d8 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

➤➤➤➤➤

BATTLING MUGIROU TO FREE MIDORI

Midori's current allegiance: Auntie Wu
Terrain: Wooden Cage is an Obstacle, Mugirou’s Throne is Difficult Terrain
Special Placements: Sigurd's entry door (currently open), Kazuki is on the roof (+15ft up) of adjacent building
Wooden Cage: Open!
Emergency Exit: Open! (Left door only); Interact (◆) w/ free hand to open one, or two-free hands to open two (must be adjacent to door or doors)
Picking up Midori (after Cage is compromised): Interact (◆) to lift (need free hand), and she is 2 Bulk (if willing) or 4 Bulk (if unwilling)

GM Note: Initiative
Reminder: This encounter ends when Midori is off the Map!
Reminder: For each additional round the party lingers, one additional prisoner escapes!!

Vekka w/ runic katana @ -5 backstab, -10 frontstab @ SS charged @ Fortitude save pending!
Lan w/ key ring ("solved")
Ugly Cute (AC ??, HP ??)
Kazuki @ Hunting Grey (Dead) @ -17 hunted shot
Auntie Wu w/ Midori[/b] @ Bulk ??/?? and Speed ???
Crimson Occultist (AC 17, HP 30) w/ staff (2h) @ -12 shot, -12 slice
Sigurd w/ katana and shield
Yellow Grunt (AC 15, HP 18) w/ longspear @ -17
Lair

➤➤➤➤➤

Sigurd is Up!

Katana: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

Katana: 1d20 + 8 - 5 ⇒ (18) + 8 - 5 = 21
Slashing: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

◆◆ Strike x2

Hopefully, this is enough to finish off the last fighter. Sigurd calls out to the caged folk. "We must be quick! Everyone, to the emergency exit!"

Sigurd dispatches the last Grunt...

...all watch with baited breath for the fate of Vekka's face!...

No... NO!

Even as it happens, Vekka is unsure if he can stop it.

DC 18 Fortitude: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

He pours his will and arcane knowledge into his efforts to resist it.

Vekka feels the keratin of his beak shrivel into a flat, soft, featureless morass of flesh!

His nostrils close, and he finds himself unable to breath!!

His eyes are swallowed into his skull - he goes blind!!!

Even the feathers of his face disappear leaving a blank, expressionless empty slate!!!!

All this lasts a moment - for just as suddenly as it left, his beak, nostrils, eyes, and feathers slowly reform!!!!!

You are Dazzled but no other ill effect!

Kazuki's arrows prevented the fourth, but three new combatants enter the field!

➤➤➤➤➤

BATTLING MUGIROU TO FREE MIDORI

Midori's current allegiance: Auntie Wu
Terrain: Wooden Cage is an Obstacle, Mugirou’s Throne is Difficult Terrain
Special Placements: Sigurd's entry door (currently open), Kazuki is on the roof (+15ft up) of adjacent building
Wooden Cage: Open!
Emergency Exit: Open! (Left door only); Interact (◆) w/ free hand to open one, or two-free hands to open two (must be adjacent to door or doors)
Picking up Midori (after Cage is compromised): Interact (◆) to lift (need free hand), and she is 2 Bulk (if willing) or 4 Bulk (if unwilling)

GM Note: Initiative
Reminder: This encounter ends when Midori is off the Map!
Reminder: For each additional round the party lingers, one additional prisoner escapes!!

Vekka w/ runic katana @ -5 backstab, -10 frontstab @ SS charged @ Dazzled
Lan w/ key ring ("solved")
Ugly Cute (AC ??, HP ??)
Kazuki @ Hunting New Prey (Also Dead) @ -17 hunted shot
Auntie Wu w/ Midori[/b] @ Bulk ??/?? and Speed ???
New Trickster
New Occultist
Crimson Occultist (AC 17, HP 30) w/ staff (2h) @ -12 shot, -12 slice
Sigurd w/ katana and shield
New Grunt
Lair

➤➤➤➤➤

Vekka is Up!

1d3 ⇒ 2 prisoners make a break for the opened gate and disappear into the woods...

...the others remain paralyzed in fear!

Arg, I've been leaving out the arcane cascade bonus

Vekka can just make out the crimson mystic in front of him. He feels fortunate, desperately so, that the affliction from the face-stealing wasn't worse.

◆◆ Spellstrike
Cast a spell (somatic, verbal) Ignition
DC5 Concealed flat check: 1d20 ⇒ 14
Strike CRIMSON: +1 katana attack, slashing damage (one-handed, runic weapon, arcane cascade), deadly damage IFF crit, F damage: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 242d6 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (2, 5) + 4 + 1 = 121d8 ⇒ 82d6 ⇒ (6, 3) = 9
On Critical Success The target takes double damage and 1d6 persistent fire damage.

If it's not yet down

With his swing still fully extended, Vekka attempts to rake the blade back across CRIMSOM.

DC5 Concealed flat check: 1d20 ⇒ 1
◆ Strike CRIMSON: +1 katana attack, slashing damage (one-handed, runic weapon, arcane cascade), deadly damage IFF crit: 1d20 + 10 - 5 ⇒ (4) + 10 - 5 = 92d6 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (1, 5) + 4 + 1 = 111d8 ⇒ 4

Oh, you gave the AC and HP so it looks like Vekka in fact defeated CRIMSON. In that case, replace his last action with...

Watching the crimson body fall to the ground Vekka carefully backs away next to Ugly Cute. He points his katana at the next trio, hoping that they'll soon be trampled.

◆ Stride

Backing Up, Vekka vanguishes "himself" - his own face returns to normal.

Dazzle ended

➤➤➤➤➤

Kazuki - you can Seek and shoot off-screen again (as we have been doing) if you like...

Lan, Kazuki, and Auntie Wu are Up!

Lan will Delay until after Auntie Wu.

Perception to Seek (crimson mist): 1d20 + 9 - 1 ⇒ (15) + 9 - 1 = 23

Kazuki continues to pick off approaching faceless...
Potent Longbow (P, 100-ft, ignore 1st increment, deadly d10) vs Target: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (13) + 10 = 231d8 ⇒ 51d10 ⇒ 9
Potent Longbow (P, 100-ft, ignore 1st increment, deadly d10) w/ MAP (-3) vs Target: 1d20 + 10 - 3 ⇒ (6) + 10 - 3 = 131d8 ⇒ 71d10 ⇒ 4

◆ seek.
◆ hunt prey.
◆ hunted shot.

Kazuki spies 1d16 ⇒ 6 more Noppera-Bo arriving at the end of the round!

He shoots the 1d6 ⇒ 4th one to arrive.

Auntie Wu and Lan!

Seeing a wave of foes dashing toward them, Auntie Wu hoists Midori higher and dashes away with everything she's got. "Ruuuuun!!!"

Two strides gets her off the map, but of course she'll keep going. I have marked her shield off on her inventory, since Lan didn't have time to pick it up. (No worries.)

◆ Stride, ◆ Stride, ◆ Stride

Just hanging out until I see if that ends the encounter. If not, Lan will Delay until he can see three targets for a final Scorching Ray.

Seeing another wave of Noppera-Bo coming, Auntie Wu and the Willowshore Warriors (?) flee the Lumber Camp with Midori, and begin making tracks east back home...

Encounter over - Auntie Wu - a Survival check gets us home!

How much time does the party spend resting / healing?

As the party escapes, Kazuki manages to look back one last time before fully fleeing.

Ugly Cute remains behind, squaring off against the three remaining Noppera-Bo, who quickly triple as six more arrive, with yet another wave (and maybe another?) scrambling to join the fray, where meanwhile a total of 2 more prisoners manage to escape (4 total) before the grunts and tricksters and occultists reseal the Wooden Cage...

...Ugly Cute, town guardian come to life, disappears beneath a dogpile melee, it's fate uncertain...

...the Ritual Stakes left unscathed by the party's intervention...

Exhausted and still reeling from the terror, the freed prisoners, still with their faces covered, seem reticent to engage with the party, but yet eager to follow them home...

Getting them to talk right now will be a hard Diplomacy check (DC 17)

Sigurd's heart sinks as he sees Ugly Cute overwhelmed. And he only counts 4 villagers with him. Will he ever see them again? The spider's bravery will never be forgotten.

"Come with us." Sigurd waves the villagers to approach. "Are you all able to walk? If not I will assist."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

Their lips are sealed. The trauma is too great for them. Sigurd will talk to them, later. Maybe there's another way into the fort.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14

Lan also tries to probe, but is rebuffed as well. He then remembers that he still has his disguise on - he pulls down his hood, but the damage has been done. He walks back in silence, his hands still pulsing warmly.

Survival, DC 20: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12
Hero Point re-roll: Survival, DC 20: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28

At first, Auntie Wu is so focused on getting *away* that she's heedless of the direction. After several minutes, however, she notices that there is no notable pursuit and is able to clear her head of her panic. From there, it's the work of a moment to determine the correct way to go. As she walks, she hums the lullaby that Midori's dads sang to her at bedtime when she was younger in the hopes that it will help ground her granddaughter's mind in something positive. Noting Sigurd's and Lan's failure to start up conversations with the freed captives, she chooses to wait until the end of the journey to talk to them. "Look! Here's the edge of Southside. We're almost to Matsuki Estate. That's where everyone's holed up for safety. Your families will be so happy to see you!"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13

Well, they've been through a lot. It'll take some time.

Without further incident, the party arrives at the Matsuki Estate with a few hours travel, and deposit Midori to safety. She curls up into a sleeping sack, and passes out in a matter of moments. The other freed prisoners depart too, to their respective homes and families.

They recall that having spotted Midori's Sandal had caused them to leave behind their Search Mission!

And debate as to whether it was worth it to continue trying (at increased DC due to time passage), go to sleep, or, to pursue other tasks.

Quorum of Three here!

Nighttime looms on the horizon, as the sun begins it's decent from the heavens across the earth's threshold...

"We were able to get four villagers. Two remain. Ugly Cute stayed behind to secure our escape. There may be a dozen gh... Noppera-Bo. They have some kind of ritual stakes, we weren't able to get a good look." Sigurd's report is terse but informative.

Sheela is asleep already, and Sigurd can smell the sake from the hallway. Darius is organizing the children to check for small passages and structural weakpoints that would compromise the estate. He's always so perceptive.

"We have done much today." Sigurd addresses his teammates. "We rescued some, we know where more are, and there are more to find. We will have to search for them in the morning. A night search is too dangerous." He glances at Kazuki. "Unless you have another idea?"

"It was challenging enough when it was day, we can search in the morning."

"We have done much today." Sigurd addresses his teammates. "We rescued some, we know where more are, and there are more to find. We will have to search for them in the morning. A night search is too dangerous." He glances at Kazuki. "Unless you have another idea?"

"No. No other ideas." Kazuki says as he rubs the scrape on his arm from scrambling down from the rooftop earlier. "You are right. It's too dangerous at night. Let us get some more much needed rest."

"I am worried about Ugly Cute. Will we ever see our companion again? It fought bravely and saved our hides."

The party gets a full nights rest at the Matsuki Estate.

Please declare Daily Preparations!

And awaking the next day, decide what they are going to do!

The Story of the South (Anchor Post)

Quorum of three!

I fear we can't wait beyond morning to get the remaining prisoners. They could be punished, or worse, for what happened at their camp. Ugly Cute too! That said, I suppose we should be thankful for what we've accomplished. Some is better than none.

Daily preparations: replacing snowball for a 2nd preparation of runic weapon.

Lan wakes up in the morning, a little earlier than usual. Despite only sleeping an hour later than everyone else, he's oddly refreshed, and his skin feels unusually warm.

"We should finish what we started. People are still missing."

Sigurd awakens in his family room, and Sheela is already preparing to sing with the other musicians to rouse everyone's spirits. She's already brewed tea to help with her hangover, to limited effect. Darius is glad to see his big brother for another day, and is working on a story of his brother's heroism at the lumber yard. Sigurd is no braggart, and reminds him of the teamwork and sacrifice involved.

"I agree. We're not done." Sigurd, dressed in his armor approaches Lan. "Until we can account for all the missing folk, we need to keep looking. Time is of the essence."

People are Still Missing

Brief
Shou "Old" Matsuki verbally provides a list of several homes / homesteads that have yet to be accounted for, and enlists the party (some of whom have a very personal stake) to make those missing accounts... broadly speaking they span the entire width and depth of Southbank, east to west, south to north... stories of what happened are mixed accounts even when they do exist, which is sparse... some of the farms are actively burning, some with people forming bucket brigades to douse the flames... there are folks laying on the ground tired, children crying, people calling out for the names of loved ones... if they are lucky, tracks and clues remain for those folks who have yet to be found since the Reenactment Festival began three days ago...

...having wandered off midway through to chase Midori's sandal, the party came upon a Lumber Camp wherein 7 prisoners were being held, and freeing 4 of them, left the other 3 behind. They now find the lost time (half the day, plus all of the night) makes recovering the rest exceedingly difficult!

➤ Level: Five Seven (base DC 20 23) "Severe" "Extreme"
➤ Complexity: 5 rounds
➤ Timeframe: 2-3 hours
➤ Synergies: Experienced Tracker, Hobnobber, Terrain Expertise (Forest)
➤ List of Skills: Athletics (hard), Diplomacy (moderate), Fortitude (hard), Nature (moderate), Perception (moderate), Society (moderate), Survival (easy)

1) The base level is +2 higher due to the search beginning the 3rd day into the chaos, then +1 more for losing half the day, then +1 more for letting another night pass!
2) I'l remind you here that repeated use of the same skill check raises subsequent DCs by +1 for that same character (We have actually been doing this all along for every skill challenge, if you haven't yet noticed)
3) I'll give both Auntie Wu and Kazuki Sato a +2 circumstance on two checks of their choice due to the personal stake they have (spent)

Looks as though just Sigurd has a few checks left to roll, and folks can use Hero Points to change their Round Three, Round Four, and/or Round Five rolls (as those had technically been set to occur after discovering the sandal)

Sigurd knows the tracks have gone cold at this point. But there are 3 more people to find. Was he right to abandon one quest to start another? He knows the next days will have more hard decisions ahead of him.

Unable to focus, he chooses a mixture of raw strength, witty navigation, and natural charm.

Sigurd uncovers an injured villager buried under a burnt home that had collapsed, lifting the heavy black logs to free them!

Just one person missing... Hero Points?

Auntie Wu spends the night with her son's family, curled up in a ball in a dreamless slumber only possible because she knows that her whole family is safe.

Is Kazuki's mother the last person not found? I'd rather save my last Hero Point in case I die, but if she's still missing and everyone else has used all the Hero Points they're going to, I'll use mine.

"I want to get back to that lumber camp as soon as possible. We need to rescue the other prisoners, sabotage those ritual stakes, and check up on Ugly Cute." For now, she sticks with the guys and helps with whatever they decide to do. They helped her rescue Miyuki and Midori; she owes them a debt of gratitude.

Diplomacy, Round 3, Hero Point Reroll: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15 vs DC 25

Still a CF, unfortunately.

Looking everywhere, even as more villagers turn up, Kazuki’s mother is nowhere to be found…

Waiting 24 hours for last-minute Hero Points, then pushing us along!

Kazuki wakes up a bit refreshed, especially after washing his face with some cool water. His thoughts now are finding his mother.

He sets out with the others, however, grief becomes to overwhelm him.
"My mother... We must find my mother..."
Kazuki wanders about as if in a daze. He then has a moment of clarity and turns to his companions.
"If there's a chance we could swing by my cabin, to check on brother and father, they might have some information about my mother."

Does Kazuki need to roll any checks?

Round 5… Vekka w/ Fortitude vs DC 25 @ 16

DC25 Fortitude: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16 loool

Unable to locate Kazuki's mother, afternoon falls, and with the rest of the missing people accounted for, decide what to do next.

Please declare Daily Preparations!

Having finished one of both Granny Hu's and Old Matsuki's tasks respectively, you hve earned another opportunity to try and Influence one or both of them!

Granny Hu's War Room (Anchor Post)

The Story of the South (Anchor Post)

Quorum of three!

North? South? Where shall they go? To do what? On the 4th day since the Reenactment Festival, the monster situation seems to be getting worse!

+5% to Random Encounters - the monsters become more comfortable the longer they hold Downtown while the Eternal Lantern is Unlit!

Lan prepares for the day by fashioning a paper crane for Midori, and advocates lighting the lantern next. We already have 2 coins, right? So we just need to find a third shrine and fight our way to the lantern?

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15

Lan tells Old Matsuki the details of the compound they found, and the ritual, and tries to impress upon him the importance of it as a focal point of enemy activity. He's not sure he gets through.

Deception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (14) + 11 = 25

Lan repeats the same thing to Granny Hu, in a letter? To be delivered later? Or is there some way of connecting with her immediately? but exaggerates the importance of what they've accomplished.

No die rolls at this time please (but banking your rolls, Lan). If we get the quorum to move forward with Influencing leadership, I will set that up for you. Right now, just trying to get an idea of what next few things the party would like to accomplish.

Lan nearly dashes off to go interrupt Old Matsuki, but quickly discovers that he is holding council with several others at the moment, their faces grave... ...he also discovers, after writing a long letter, that nobody will deliver it across town for him... ...not with so many monsters out lurking!

1 vote for Lantern (☑☑□ coins set), 1 vote for Old Matsuki, 1 vote for Granny Hu

"Just hold still, I'm going to lift this. Slowly and carefully back out of the rubble, alright?" With a heave and a ho, Sigurd lifts the burned log overhead and watches the old man carefully make his way through. The man mourns his house, but Sigurd is glad he survived for so long. He was even strong enough to yell for help when Sigurd was searching.

By nightfall, Sigurd's heart is heavy. Sheela's songs and Darius's plays briefly lift his spirits, but failure lingers. 3 people left behind in the ghost camp. And one person is still missing...

He bows deeply to Kazuki. "My deepest apologies, Kazuki Sato. We were unable to find her. I would search all night if I could, but fatigue is setting in. We will find her, I promise you. But not tonight." Sigurd stays to help him grieve. And hope. Sometimes that is all you have.

Sigurd's sleep is surprisingly relaxing. Maybe Kolphanir is trying to calm him.

In the morning, Sigurd prepares for another day and offers to bring Kazuki some breakfast.

Patrols mention the enemies are getting more brazen. "The lantern. We must light it. The sooner the better. If it secures our village, we can spend our resources searching for more people and shutting down the compound."

I vote to light the Eternal Lantern.

"Yes. Lighting the lantern will weaken all their forces. Then we should head back to the compound. Destroying their ritual stakes and rescuing the people are vitally important. Plus, if Ugly Cute was overcome and imprisoned, we need to rescue him too. Then we'll have some meaningful successes to share with Old Matsuki and Granny Hu." Auntie Wu manages to keep the distaste from her voice when she speaks the older woman's name.

Priorities, in order: Lantern, Rescue prisoners/destroy ritual stakes at the compound, Influence Old Matsuki, Influence Granny Hu.

Vekka is unsure about their next move. At some point all missing persons and prisoners at the lumber camp must be recovered. But, they had recovered so many and the lantern might help bring a measure of peace and hope to town.

He contemplates these things in the morning while doing his daily training exercises, and studying his spell runes.

Yes, it is time we visted the lantern. Soon after we can get back to recovering prisoners. He states as he affixes the sandalwood circle of spell drums to his back.

Still missing these, but feel free to prepare based upon what you are doing today!

With a clear consensus for lighting the Eternal Lantern foremost, the party continues to debate whether meeting with village elders or returning to the lumber camp will be there next move…

In the morning, Kazuki prays to the gods of nature for blessings for the day ahead.
Regain focus spell (gravity bow). Alongside this, he requests the gods' assistance in locating his mother.

"Please help me find my mother," Kazuki quietly implores his companions with a troubled expression. "As we make our way to the lantern, I suggest we search any buildings that were already ransacked should we encounter any. She could be hiding out in one... I hope."

Sigurd nods and completes his daily preparations. "Of course, Kazuki. We will find everyone. Your mother, and those we could not get from the camp."

Auntie Wu gives Kazuki a hug. "We'll find her. We promise."