[PFS2] 1-13 Devil At The Crossroads (GM Watery Soup, Table 2) (Inactive)

Game Master Watery Soup

Sounds good Fingo answers the Carnelian Signet.

Out of earshot of Annavinia, Fingo will add to the Pathfinders:
If you find an object that has been in clear contact with the killer... maybe the dagger used to kill Kellvan, or something similar... let me know. I have another scroll that could be useful.
He flashes a Scroll of Object Reading.

Just the one though, and there are a lot of weird things around here... we'll have to choose.

"Mmph."

Hancock is ready to lead the group into the next room. which room he is not all that interested in, just that he goes first and gets first crack and anything that might attack.

In Hancock's opinion, an old haunted evil building like this MUST have a secret passage somewhere. While others are leafing through books and searching dressers, Hancock is typically busy thumping walls and stomping floors, determined to be the one to find it.

He is fine going where the group wants to go

"Dehliana's room sounds good, New Friends," Corona agrees, still thinking on what she pointed out earlier.

"Go ahead, search my room," Dehliana insists. "Unlike Annavinia, I have nothing to hide."

But she does have something to hide. Cal discovers a loose floorboard near the foot of the bed that conceals a cramped crawl space. Inside, there are multiple stashed items: a bloody dagger (yes, the bloody dagger used to murder Kellvan, you can make low DC Medicine or Crafting check or roleplay browbeating a confession from Dehliana), a white mask (unidentified - I rolled Recall checks for everyone already), and a bag of holding (Type I) plus baubles and coins worth 2 Treasure Bundles.

However you want to roleplay it - Diplomacy or Intimidation or straight up threatening her, Dehliana admits that the baubles and coins were payment collected from the villagers she defrauded. She confesses that Kellvan was searching for her, that she's been faking seances and other supernatural occurences for coin. However, she equally tearfully admits that the hot poker thrown at her and the ghosts that attacked in the corridor were not of her doing. She will pass a Sense Motive check on both statements.

Dehliana murdered Kellvan because she knew he was onto her. She was the fraud referenced in his notes.

"I knew it! I knew there wasn't anything supernatural about that seance at all," Corona exclaims. She gives Dehliana a cold stare. "You know, your punishment would've been a lot less if you'd just stuck to fraud and not added murder to the list."

Then, her expression shifts to one of worry. "But that doesn't explain the ghosts. And they're just as dangerous, or even more so! I wish that imp would come out and talk to us; he's probably key to the whole thing..."

Shaking his head, Hancock takes the dagger in possession and stashes it in a bag. Killing and murder are two very distinct things in his head, though that can be a fine line and he knows he is not qualified to judge. for a moment he considers tying the murderer up, but considering the fact that they are in a prison of sorts it really seems pointless.

"Tsk tsk tsk. Fraud is fun, and entertainment is worth payment." The Carnelian Signet keeps her eyes fixated on the mask, to hide Issil's rage. "But murder is a line you should never cross. Right now it doesn't matter, we're all stuck in here anyway." She stands back up. "But we will talk later."

She sighs. "Kellvan's death is important, but it seems unrelated to the bigger issue at hand."

She shrugs. "We may as well ask Selik if we can search through his quarters."

All the NPCs are currently following you around. They offer no mechanical benefit or penalty in combat, but at some point, for story purposes, you'll need to decide what to do with them: have them stay close so you can watch them, lock them in their rooms, tie them up in a common room, etc. No hurry yet, but it's something to think about.

Selik's room is nearly identical to Annavinia's and Dehliana's, with a sturdy wooden chest for personal belongings, a porcelain wash basin and mirror, and a feather bed piled high with threadbare quilts.

Searching Selik's room reveals his dirty little secret - he sleeps with a teddy bear, dabbled with dye to resemble the god of his people, Dolok Darkfur.

Bruce is staying close, though he is a bit out of sorts after the encounter with the ghost and now haunted hours.

Leaving Dehliana's room, Fingo finds himself a little shocked by the casual use of violence employed by the fake seer to cover her tracks. With the more mundane part of the mystery apparently solved, he decides to pay a bit more attention to the magical.

Switch exploration activity as he leaves Dehliana's room and moves to Selik's: Repeated Cast of Detect Magic

He briefly considers a magical exploration of the history of the teddy bear, then decides that this would be a waste of resources and instead chooses not the comment on Selik's endearing secret.

The Carnelian Signet makes no comment on Selik's dirty secret.

"Not much here. One more room to search on this level, yes? Nordvick, may we search your room?"

"Aw..." Corona smiles but manages to pick up on the cues of her allies and doesn't say any more about the teddy bear. At least not where the others can hear. Sidling up to Selik she whispers, "Don't worry, sometimes Settie likes to rest next to my head when I sleep."

"It seems places like this draw those with problems and produce odd phenomena." the quiet Cal says.

I am here not too much to contribute

I am here not too much to contribute

Well, someone seconding where to go next would be helpful to me, so I don't have to bot 5 of you.

---

Everyone, if you haven't noticed, this scenario is not a conveyor belt where you're shuffled through four combat encounters and then call it a day. There's a major mystery to solve here (how to escape, or at least survive), and I believe 2 minor mysteries (Kellvan's murder and one other), so you'll need to be a little proactive about investigating. The 3 surviving NPCs are detailed to the PC level, each has their own motivations and feelings about the other two (!), and there are clues scattered throughout the house.

I'll move y'all into Nordick's room, just because it seems like nobody objects.

This closet-like chamber contains a cot and a wooden writing desk stacked with papers and a leather-bound book. The stone chimney column built into the eastern wall provides pleasant, radiant warmth.

Hancock points at a bloodied axe near the door and starts his obsessive thumping as he looks for the secret door or passage, particularly in the chimney.

"What's wrong? Why are you all acting strangely?" Cal casually walks to the book to take a look.

The Carnelian Signet calmly puts her hand on Cal's shoulder. "Callistos. The blood. The axe. And also, the book..." She smiles. "Can anyone tell me how recent this carnage is? And where is the body? You can't make all of this blood without a donor." She keeps her whip uncoiled and ready to check.

Investigate Religion +5, just in case this is haunted or the axe or book have a spiritual significance.

Not sure if this skill still works the way it did in 1E in this regard but he has medicine at +10 if that helps to determine how long ago this was

Good idea.

medicine: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18 to see if there is anything he should be aware of about the body. Just looking, though, because he is far too busy hunting for a secret door.

After going around the room in search of magic (Detect Magic), Fingo turns to Nordvick.
What... what kind of madness is this?

Hancock casts an eye in Nordvick's direction as he is challenged, in case he erupts into violence.

Seeing the look in Hancock's eyes, Bruce exercises his strong sent of self preservation and backs away a bit.

Medicine 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28

"What's wrong? Why are you all acting strangely?" Cal casually walks to the book to take a look.

The Carnelian Signet calmly puts her hand on Cal's shoulder. "Callistos. The blood. The axe. And also, the book..." She smiles. "Can anyone tell me how recent this carnage is? And where is the body? You can't make all of this blood without a donor."

Cal looks puzzled, and asks, "What blood? What axe? What book?"

As the Carnelian Signet reaches over to hand him the axe, it all disappears - the blood and the axe, at least. The book remains. Nordvick rushes forward to grab the axe, but is just as surprised as anyone else when it all vanishes.

The book on the desk is an ancient ledger, and contains written records of the trading post’s guests and employees. Some of the names are crossed out.

Another piece of damning evidence is quickly located under Nordvick's bed: a burlap sack tied with twine and garlands of dried herbs. The sack contains the skeletal remains of a human.

Kidron investigates the skeleton. Will use your Medicine check for this. Though the remains are spoiled by many years of decay, he notices the lack of damage to the bones from violent trauma and determines that the deceased likely died of natural causes.

Nordvick confesses that the remains belong to the former groundskeeper, who died 12 years ago. He originally buried the former groundskeeper in the garden, but he has always been plagued by dreams of animals unearthing the man’s corpse for years. When he heard rumors that an inspector planned to visit Devil’s Rest several days ago, Nordvick relocated the remains to a spot where he could better guard them from discovery.

You can investigate Nordvick further, if you'd like, with an appropriate roleplay and a Deception, Diplomacy, or Intimidation check. But just so you know, the scenario author clearly anticipated the people searching this room first - it's 90% red herring for Kellvan's murder - so I'd also like a consensus on where to move next.

"The groundskeeper... doesn't sound like the wizard we're looking for." The Carnelian Signet shakes her head.

"So, Nordvick... killed the groundskeeper?"
"Dehliana killed Kellvan."
"Annavinia has her ancestors remains, but unrelated to our wizard."
The Carnelian Signet counts off on her fingers.

"That leaves Selik."

She looks at Nordvick. "So, what happened to the groundskeeper? A bloody axe appeared in your room and you're worried sick about someone finding him? Anything you'd like to confess?"

Intimidate: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19

She gives him a quick glare. Is everyone here a killer?

We certainly are, though a bit high-minded about it.

Hancock joins in on the glaring, hoping to lend some muscle to Cal's threats.

intimidate: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

Not sure how aiding works in 2e vs. 1e.

Did Fingo's Detect Magic ping anything while the axe was visible, or does it seem to be a non-magical spectral apparition?

Medicine (for RP only): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

He could have killed him... Nordvick, why you would think that having a body under your bed is less suspicious than in a grave is beyond me. Honestly, that was not the wisest life decision. I guess that's not our most pressing issue here but, man, you do have some things to answer for here...

Fingo then nods to the Carnelian Signet.
Yes. Let's finish our first sweep of the rooms. Hopefully we do not find yet another corpse.

+1 for looking at the last room

"So, Nordvick... killed the groundskeeper?"

"Wait, no, I think Kidron said that was a natural death," Corona can't help but interject. "Still, worrying about animals digging him up out of the garden is kind of an odd thing to worry about...right?"

She gives Nordvick a gentle look. "New Friend, have you always had bad dreams like that or did they only start once you started working here? Because, um, I wonder if those dreams were maybe due to the ghost wizard or other bad energies that seem to be clinging to this place."

"Still, I agree we should finish looking in Selik's room and then we might want to sit down and try to lay out everything we know and then go from there," Corona nods to the rest of the group. "Oh! Or maybe we should sweep the first floor and *then* take stock of our situation. But we can decide after we look at Selik's room."

Can Hancock tell if the remains of the body had been killed with an axe?

Hancock give the naïve Corona a dubious look and Bruce gives Hancock a knowing look.

"Tymta go."

Not finding any secret passages, and not the type to question a potential suspect, Hancock is ready to move on to the next room to search.

Not sure how aiding works in 2e vs. 1e.

With the caveat that I do not have the remastered books, so maybe this has changed, Aiding is a straight DC 20. A Success gives a +1 circumstance bonus, Critical Success +2, and Critical Failure -1. Note two things: it's a named bonus, meaning it doesn't stack, and it's actually not that easy to Aid untrained. The rule is nat 15: if you need a nat 15 or lower to Succeed, it's worth attempting. This makes it much harder to Aid in 2E than in 1E.

Did Fingo's Detect Magic ping anything while the axe was visible, or does it seem to be a non-magical spectral apparition?

Let me first apologize for not addressing this earlier. I keep meaning to address it, and I keep forgetting. Fingo - and anyone else who attempts to Detect Magic - discovers that everything around them detects as magical, swamping out any individual signals. Before anyone complains about this being unfair because that's not the way Detect Magic works, I agree. Unfortunately, it's integral to the scenario and specifically addressed in the text, so I have to roll with it.

That being said, if Fingo were to detect anything at all, it would have been illusion magic.

She looks at Nordvick. "So, what happened to the groundskeeper? A bloody axe appeared in your room and you're worried sick about someone finding him? Anything you'd like to confess?"

He could have killed him... Nordvick, why you would think that having a body under your bed is less suspicious than in a grave is beyond me. Honestly, that was not the wisest life decision.

[b]"New Friend, have you always had bad dreams like that or did they only start once you started working here? Because, um, I wonder if those dreams were maybe due to the ghost wizard or other bad energies that seem to be clinging to this place."

Nordvick denies wrongdoing for a while, but eventually, The Carnelian Signet's withering questioning breaks him down. In a fit of tears, he confesses that although it was true he was a crusader fleeing the Worldwound when he and his companions were attacked by giant spiders, his survival had less to do with his own prowess and more to do with the imp, Zirzip, who convinced him to serve him in exchange for saving Nordvick’s life.

Though Nordvick hasn't killed anyone himself, he's lured coutless souls to Zirzip and occasionally disposed of corpses left behind. The ledger on his desk contains the names of guests who succumbed to the curse of the Covetous Flame.

Nordvick has begun to feel remorse for the victims he’s helped the imp ensnare over the years, and wishes that he had just died instead of accepting the bargain.

"That leaves Selik."

"Still, I agree we should finish looking in Selik's room ..."

Selik's room was searched earlier (link). The last room that was unopened on the map was Nordvick's room, which I forgot to open when I posted.

"... we might want to sit down and try to lay out everything we know and then go from there,"

I'll give a GM summary.

You're locked in the house by an unknown force.

Dehliana is a scammer, and the murderer of Kellvan, but her seance is not associated with the house (her story is mostly a red herring, as I think the scenario author expected most people to search the ground floor first and implicate Dehliana early on).

Annavinia was searching for an artifact called the Covetous Flame, and has vials of her family's blood, which she thought would activate the artifact, but instead, could be used to destroy the artifact. She also has some untranslated journal pages.

Nordvick murders people on behalf of Zirzip, but he did not murder Kellvan (his story is also mostly a red herring, as I think the scenario author expected his room to be searched first before Kellvan's, implicating him early on).

Kellvan was searching for Dehliana. She murdered him because she realized he was looking for her. (Kellvan died unaware of the greater haunting or any other malfeasance other than Dehliana's, so in that respect, his story is completed.)

Zirzip the imp is running around, invisible.

There are multiple rooms that need to be searched on the first floor.

No worries, mystery scenarios sometimes need some tricks like that to work :-)

Well. It certainly looks like we need to find Zirzip... They seem to have a lot to answer for. And they might be invisible, but not immaterial. I hope? There are enough of us to go through this Inn room by room, and making sure that we can eventually corner them. Right?

"Okay, um...um...let me think...to catch an imp we need to know more about what they can do, right?"

Corona tries to recall if she knows anything in particular about imps or the kinds of tricks they can pull - besides being invisible, of course.

Recall Knowledge: Religion: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

Hancock knows they are small and sneaky, and smart to stay invisible and far away from his maul. Still, knowledge is useful and he pauses long enough to see what folks know about imps.

"Alas, poor Nordvick." The Carnelian Signet frowns. "One day we may be able to save your soul, depending on the wording. I've known too many people who lost themselves to substance or character in one way or another." She sighs. "When we get this taken care of, you'll have to turn yourself in. The temples may be able to save you, or at least give you peace as you perform good works."

Once the search and interrogation ends, she turns to the rest of the team. "Now, we may check out the kitchen on the first floor? I think we need to find this imp. If I were that tiny, I would look for a good hiding place, like a pot or drawer."

Recall Knowledge on Imps, Religion +5

Corona, I'm rerolling your Knowledge check, as it needs to be secret.

Well. It certainly looks like we need to find Zirzip... They seem to have a lot to answer for. And they might be invisible, but not immaterial. I hope? There are enough of us to go through this Inn room by room, and making sure that we can eventually corner them. Right?

Mechanically, as you've been moving around, I've been making Perception checks for everyone who is Searching as an Exploration activity, so other than switching default activities to Search, there's not much you can do actively.

I was thinking there are enough of us to link arm and sweep the width of a room, one by one... which physically should work better than individuals searching independently. But there is no clear pf2 mechanics for that, for sure.

"Hmm, Zirzip wouldn't be able to beat us in a fight. But it also hasn't tried to flee..." The Carnelian Signet ponders. "It must be trapped within the inn like we are. Maybe Ziprip is in the kitchen?"

"Are there lots of underground levels to this place?"

We should certainly try the few rooms we haven't searched, indeed. I'd say that we should also keep all doors closed or, better if we can, locked. I don't fancy that imp running from room to room ahead of us.

Fingo will do back to Searching, by the way, considering the magical interferences.

"We should be careful, New Friends. Imps are usually just pawns of stronger devils that give them orders," Corona warns. "So there's probably another, stronger devil behind all of this mayhem! This whole thing has layers, just like an onion..."

After letting this train of thought trail off into silence for a moment, Corona suddenly nods. "Right! I like Friend Fingo's idea; let's do what we can to secure doors behind us. And I also like Friend Signet's idea to search the kitchen first. Even imps get hungry. Probably."

"MmmOK"

But he makes no move to secure any doors. As far as he is concerned, it is fine if trouble comes following them. In any case, he is ready to move on to the kitchen when the rest of you are.

At the mention of underground levels, Hancock redoubles his floor stomping.

I was thinking there are enough of us to link arm and sweep the width of a room, one by one... which physically should work better than individuals searching independently. But there is no clear pf2 mechanics for that, for sure.

I'd be willing to make something up, but keep in mind that the imp is sentient and moves around. You'd be able to sweep one room like this, but the imp could just go to that room after you've searched it.

"Are there lots of underground levels to this place?"

There's at least one, there's a door on the first floor that goes to the cellar.

---

I'm moving the group to the kitchen, with the stipulation that all the doors will be closed as you leave the room. This means, in combat, they would need to be opened (Interact, 1 action, must be adjacent to the door).

This small kitchen’s central focus is an ancient woodstove abutted by a granite block stacked with dirty plates and half of a carved boar. A copper washbasin in the kitchen’s northwestern corner brims with murky, tepid water.

The pantry contains a tin of rare spices and a week’s worth of rations. These valuables represent 1 Treasure Bundle.

Not finding anything interesting in the kitchen, Hancock suggests moving to the pantry by shuffling off in that direction (pausing if not followed).

Dreadful conditions. Is this what the Help goes through every day?

"I see Hancock is looking at the pantry. Let's follow him."

Helping to gather the rations, Fingo follows the group towards the pantry; taking care to close the kitchen door behind the party.