GM Chadius presents Star Crossed duology 1-09 and 1-23 (Inactive)

Game Master chadius

Yes ma'am. It's nothing more now than a pile of dust and rubble. Oh. This is Lumki. She wishes to travel with us to Ekkeshikaar.

"Yeah, she's great to have around. Pretty knowledgeable and keen to learn more."

"I hope we've made a good impression and a new ally. It's been an interesting diversion."

"Yes. We found some interesting finds (HA!). But I think I need to sharpen my skills at the shooting range."

Isaku will be back in 01-23, but I just realized that he's actually missing a skill feat... apparently I forgot to choose one when I levelled him up!

"We are all works in progress Isaku, besides your contribution was significant."

Scratch lugs the lodestone back with them if at all possible. As he leaves the observatory his eye twitches at the nagging mental image of well placed explosives and the crumbling of the building. It would be so glorious!

---

"Heck ya we're back. Ain't nothin' stopping this crew on the battle field, or from a victory party To-NIGHT!" He drops the lodestone to the ground, proud of their accomplishments but eager to celebrate properly.

Eras the Needle looks Lumki over. "Well of course she is welcome. Besides, it's the least we can do for your hospitality. We make way for Ekkeshikaar!"

Lumki grins as the village elder clasps his hands. "The tormentor is vanquished, we have reclaimed our observatory, and we have honored guests! Join me as we celebrate with feast and music!" Shouts and cheers erupt as the village begin preparing food, fire and flair for the festivities.

Eras the Needle wakes up first. He gently nudges Captain Benarry and she shoots up with a bottle of rum in each hand. "What? We under attack already?" Eras sighs and waits for her to stand up.

Once you are awake and ready, the village watches you board your ships and wave goodbye as you depart. It isn't long before the village of Kihirat seems to melt into the coastline.

A peaceful voyage awaits as you move towards your ultimate destination...

"Finally!" The gangplank slams into the dock with a definitive thud. "Welcome to Ekkeshikaar!"

You arrive in the island-city full of iruxi (sometimes called Lizardfolk), alongside Venture-Captain Eras the Needle and Calisro Benarry herself, leader of the Horizon Hunters faction. As ship hands begin moving supplies and arguing with the quartermaster, a delegation begins to lead you to the embassy suite. Mirian Raas set up the expedition but she's an explorer, not a politician. She quickly bids her goodbyes and best wishes as she points you at the embassy.

A palace of white stone reaches above the city line and gives you a beautiful view of the sun-soaked island. The conference room is just large enough to fit all of you. Eras the Needle begins preparing documentation while Captain Benarry pulls out her favorite rum. Eras waits for you to get settled and reacquaint yourselves with your teammates before speaking about the mission.

Feel free to reintroduce yourselves, maybe describe your level up/rebuild changes and purchases.

Scratch stays out late enjoying all the party has to offer and more. He's a big fan of free food and drink, consuming his fill and collecting leftovers at the end of the night for the trip ahead. With slurred words he bids his new iruxi friends adeu, passing out in a random hut neat the shore.

The following morning he's up early, both a blessing and a curse for the old Dwarf. Eyes a bit dry, blood still thin, he wanders about gathering up lost items, cleaning the sand and salt from his guns, prepping explosives, and snacking on jerkied fish in his right back pocket. "Good mornin Captains!" He waves from his seat on a log. "Hope its a better day to sail than the last time we were on them boats.." he half chuckles and half cringes.

Scratch spends most of the first day on board catching up on sleep from the night before. He spends night watches in the crow's nest keeping guard on the sleeping crew.

---

Scratch saunters down the gangplank into the docks district of Ekkeshikaar, letting a low whistle out as he does "These guys are pretty slick engineers and builders. Look at that glass and stonework!" He instantly knows how unlikely he'll be able to employ his explosives with ruffling scales.

"Lead the way, I'll keep my yap shut as best I can, but no promises!"

No changes or purchases here.

Luna hasn't changed much either but where did she get that tricorne hat she is wearing. On the trip when there was a clear night Lumki was teaching Luna basic astronomy. While she was sleeping Luna claimed she was keeping watch to keep the Nightmares at bay.

Upon arrival she too admires the architecture.

No changes here either

Somewhere on the journey, Caitlin seems to have managed to get a rune on her armour. Otherwise she looks remarkably similar to before. The necklace with her elven pantheon holy symbol has Ketephys placed prominently.

She has also been training on the journey, making sure her melee combat abilities are up to scratch.

She is not expecting the undead here, so she will have Protection memorised instead of Infuse Vitality.

"This place is impressive. I'm glad I got to come. Now let's see how we go with making allies."

Caitlin has been remastered and has had some significant mechanical changes. Whilst she is still a Precision Ranger with Hunted Shot and Gravity Weapon, her Undead Slayer dedication has gone, replaced by a Cleric (of Ketephys) dedication. She was always portrayed as quite devout and the elven god of hunting who doesn't like undead is a good fit. I've also changed her ancestry feats. Instead of a human with adopted ancestry (Elf), she is now an Aiuvarin (half elf) but with the Round Ears feat - she was not aware of her elven blood until she was adopted by the tribe. She now has basic cleric spellcasting and trick magic item too. In short, the character herself is the same, her mechanics are different.

Seoni looks exactly the same as before, with no visible changes.

"This palace is wonderful! Is that white stone Marble?"

Salaish's eyes aren't half as wide as her ears, taking in all the sounds of the new city. She strains to hear any local music so she can compose pieces in these new styles--her own version of souvenirs.

No purchases or changes.

"Greetings, everyone. I hope the trip here was much better than the trip to Khiriat." Eras the Needle clears his throat. "Tomorrow is a very important day. The Pathfinder Society hopes to negotiate trading routes with the Ekkeshikaar council. While some of the Iruxi here are willing to listen to us, others are more reluctant-" Calisro burps and takes another swig from her bottle.

Eras continues. "First and foremost, we need you to recover some documents from the city’s Hall of Records. We’ve already identified the documents we need, which outline some of the finer points of local law, as well as the details of the original trade agreement with the people of Vidrian. We put in a request for the documents days ago, but we have continued to be met with red tape and bureaucratic delays. Without these documents, we’re essentially going into the negotiations blind."

"We do have an in, so to speak." He tilts his head towards Calisro, who raises her bottle in appreciation. "By happenstance, we’ve already agreed to send a stack of Pathfinder Chronicles to the Hall of Records to be transcribed. These particular chronicles come with a rather complex index written in Hallit, which is not a language known here. Someone will be spending a fair deal of time assisting the clerks in translating, organizing, and otherwise sorting through the chronicles. If it’s you, you’ll have plenty of time to get to know these bureaucrats—and perhaps learn a bit about the iruxi yourselves.”

Calisro kicks her feet off the table and produces a wooden box. "I have a faster way. See this stamp on the box? Taldan coat of arms, labeled ‘Voinarum Glade Winery: 4700 ar’. She grins. “I’ve never known a bureaucrat who would say no to a good bottle of wine. Just offer it as a thank you gift for ‘expediting our request,’ and try not to wink or nudge them with your elbow as you do it. That way, you don’t have to spend the whole afternoon sorting papers.”

Eras sighs. "Again with the bribery... I won't ask about your methods, as long as it is accomplished quickly. We have other tasks for you to accomplish, and the less time it takes the better."

Are there any questions you'd like to ask them?

You can make a Society or Iruxi Lore (Recall Knowledge) to recall knowledge about iruxi culture and society.

You can make a Iruxi or Mercantile Lore (Recall Knowledge) to recall knowledge about the Vidrian's trade history and the iruxi nations to the south.

You all have 1 Hero Point. Feel free to make your purchases now before heading off to the Hall of Records.

Society +8: iruxi culture and society

"Oh! I speak Hallit. Who knew that'd come in handy in this corner of the world?" Salaish chuckles. "We'll bring the wine, but I think getting to know them and asking questions about their culture and society will be useful enough for the negotiations to justify a few hours of our time. What do you guys think?" She turns to her team for input.

"Uhhh I'll carry the wine.." Scratch claims the bottle from Calisro with a grin "We'll be sure to bring it back if its not needed of course!" Empty. 100% Empty.

"You speak Hallit? I'm not sure I've even heard of it before today... I guess its better you speak it than me." He points out the obvious. Imagine, Scratch translating some hidden words that NO ONE ELSE KNOWS.. it would be funny.. too funny.

No purchases, Scratch needs to bank some cash for that cloak of elvenkind at lvl 7.

Three glyphs here. Society +12,

Hallit huh? That's a language that's spoken way up north, in the land of the ice and snow in the midnight sun where the hot springs flow ...

She stops herself before bursting into song.

... erm ... Linnorm Kings area. Comprehend Languages can help with that too.

"Ya, I'm more from down south where the undead roam.."

Ustalav? ... the skeletons shake and the zombies groan?

"Alkenstar. Plenty of Geb's deadies wander our way through the Mana Wastes, among other weirdos. Makes for some great target practice though. You can see for miles across that wasteland."

Society +8

Salaish relates her critical knowledge about iruxi culture and society.

Although they are referred to as “lizardfolk” by most other humanoids, the name they use for themselves is iruxi. The simple villages that most outsiders associate with iruxi are the homes of migrants in outlying regions. In true centers of iruxi civilization, such as Ekkeshikaar, they build impressive complexes of glass and stone. It is rumored that a vast empire of dinosaur-riding iruxi, known as Droon, dominates southern Garund, in territory beyond any maps common to the Inner Sea region.

Various forms of divination, but especially astrology, are of vital importance in iruxi culture. However, while they often have one eye on the future, they are patient and cautious, with strong ties to tradition that occasionally make them seem slow to act.

She draws a complete blank when thinking about Vidrian's trade history and the nations south of Ekkeshikaar.

Caitlin, Isaku? Any information or preparation you'd like to make?

"Are there any groups that might try to sabotage our negotiations? Any organised opposition?" Cait asks thoughtfully.

"Eh." Captain Benarry shrugs. "We're here to reopen trade. There's always opposition. Plus, Chileax didn't leave this city a good impression." She snorts. "There are certainly people profiting right now from the trade who would want us to go home before we cut into their profits. But I haven't heard of anyone too organized to make noise."

Eras the Needle looks up from a list of documents. "Sounds like all of you are ready. Good luck. We'll be here if you need more help. And do hurry, we have more tasks for you."

The Ekkeshikaar Hall of Records is an imposing stone building with a massive central dome made of blue-green glass. Surrounding the main building are a number of tall, spiraling minarets that transition at the highest levels from smooth stone to gleaming glass. The interior is no less impressive, with the glass-filtered sunlight creating beautiful patterns on the stone floors, themselves engraved with different patterns, that complement and seem to change with the light as it moves across the floor with the time of day.

You are soon directed a female iruxi named Narsha. "Ah, greetings... Pathfinders." She briefly looks up from her seat before returning to her documentation. "As I told your superiors, your request was added to the queue and will be processed in the order it was received. There are many others who would like their requests processed."

You have a few options here to speed up the request.
- You could offer Benarry's wine. You might have to drink it, though...
- You could offer to help her with the documents, although this will take a long time.
- You could try to Intimidate her, although word travels far.
- You could try to distract Narsha and steal the documents at the same time. Don't get caught!
Something else?

perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

Great. She's stalling us Luna thinks to herself as she frowns. Usually in this situation she'd turn on the succubis charm, but that would not likely work with an iruxi, or she'd release her 'inner tiefling' and start threatening violence on someone or something.

Hopefully someone else can come up with something before she boils over.

Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13

Lie to Me: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (9) + 13 = 22

"Greetings Narsha. I'm interested in knowing why diplomats have no priority for processing? This is usually a common courtesy given in most societies" Seoni says, trying to engage Narsha in conversation to figure out if she's lying or not.

Lie to Me

Perception DC24: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (4) + 13 = 17

This one needs to lighten up, I'll give 'em a chance before I pull out the big boozy guns! Scratch flops into a chair.

"Prioritization has many facets, much more complicated than a simple first come, first served system." Narsha shrugs as she flips through one of her books. "What if a member of the ruling council enters and demands I process a trade document with Droon immediately?" She snorts. "Of course I'm going to drop whatever I'm doing and prioritize that."

Seoni notices the example is very pointed and specific- most likely Narsha would rather do business with Droon than Vidrian. Or maybe members of the ruling council feel that way.

"Well, that's fair. It sounds like the demands on your time can shift unpredictably. We might be able to help with that, at least for today. These Pathfinder Chronicles that we promised to send for transcribing for the Hall of Records are written in Hallit, which I can translate if you'd like. It'll make processing them much easier." Salaish offers Narsha a warm smile.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (17) + 13 = 30

I can help with that too Luna offers

"You can read Hallit?" Narsha's defenses drop a bit. "I see... then fine, let us begin."

With a sigh, Narsha takes the Pathfinder bundle and unwraps it. "Right here. The preamble is in Hallit. Something about radishes or rutabagas, I'm not certain..."

Over the next few hours you learn about vegetable trade routes, humidity and soil, exotic spices and harvest traditions and ceremonies.

Each of you may attempt a single Deception, Diplomacy, or Society check to attempt to win over Narsha. An appropriate Lore skill check (such as Academia, Accounting, or Library) can be used instead. This is optional, so please tell me if you decide not to roll.

I'll accept Salaish's roll.

"I'll be over here if you need me, just holler." Scratch takes a nap; dreams of grand explosions, plumes of gunpowder smoke, and freshly smoked hog belly dance in his head.

No rolls here.

"Okay, let's see... Oh, you're right; it's rutabaga. Do you have those around here? They tend to do better in cold weather." Salaish gets to work on the translation, occasionally chatting with Narsha as she tries to learn as much about iruxi society and culture as she can during this time.

Luna casts her spell in order to help with the translation.
diplomacy: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (4) + 12 = 16

I'm not even sure what a rutabaga is, apart from being a plant

"It's a swede, Luna. I think rutabaga is the Andoran name for it. Let me see if I can help too."

Society: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24

So it's sort of like a turnip? ... I remember hearing that some farmers were growing swedes to feed them to their cattle.

She is working her way backwards through the index hoping to meet Salaish somewhere in the middle.

By the end of the many hours, you have the documentation you need. All nicely translated. Turns out rutabaga are a rare delicacy among the iruxi, and some noble requested papers on trade routes. The routes are valuable in general and could speed up Vidrian transport.

Narsha leans back in her chair, drinking a tall glass of water. "I need a vacation..." She snaps to attention realizing that was not a professional thing to say. "Well, you have what you need. Good day. Or night."

You return to the embassy with a handful of papers. Eras nudges Calisro as she bolts awake, managing not to spill any liquid from her ceramic mug. "Wha-? Oh! Good job Pathfinders, I knew you could do it!"

“Yes. Wonderful,” exclaims Eras as he sets the papers aside after a quick glance through them. “I’m sure these will be invaluable tomorrow. But our work is far from over. There is a visiting diplomat of some renown, known as Kesstraka, who is visiting on business from further south. If we could convince her to help represent Vidrian’s interests, or at least argue in favor of the trade deal, her words would certainly carry a great deal of weight during the negotiations.

As luck would have it, she’s staying here in the same embassy building we are. She’s asked to meet with you in her garden quarters just outside.”

Calisro speaks up, waving a drink in the air as she speaks to underscore her point. “If you ask me, your best bet is the old ‘stick and carrot’ approach: talk some big talk about the last guys who didn’t want to trade, maybe drop a few hints that Vidrian’s navy is a bit bigger than it really is, and get her to agree to help out. You can always smooth things over later by holding a couple minor trade concessions up your sleeve.”

“Alternatively,” Eras interjects, mildly frustrated, “if you don’t want to risk starting an international incident, you could simply tell her a few tales of derring-do and adventure, and once she’s warmed up to you a bit, broach the topic of her aid then.”

“The important thing,” says Calisro, lounging back and taking a long sip of her drink, “is to get her on our side and come right back here, because there’s still one more job we have for you today.”

Eyes twinkling at the prospect, Salaish barely manages to avoid preening. "You're asking a bard to tell grand tales? Oh, I heartily accept!"

Seoni looks at Salaish, happy at her confidence. "It's good to have you on this assignment. We should've have any problems then!"

"Who doesn't like a good roasted root veggie? Some of 'em grow wild too, I can take a look if we ever make it out of the city. Might be too warm here though." Scratch gets distracted by food, wild food.. mmmm.

"Make sure you tell 'em the story about saving that island from the over hyped gargoyle. That'll get us a free drink or two." He nudges the ladies then shoots off double finger guns that sound like lightning bolts and magic missiles.

"Ah! Isaku! We need your help. Mirian Raas tried to challenge the captain to a drinkin' contest!" Captain Benarry puffs her chest, hands on her hips. "Guess who lost!" The human woman groans from the bedroom and starts coughing. "We can't have her sick like this, she'll muck up the council meeting. So, someone has to nurse her back to health. Thanks for volunteerin'. Isaku sighs and tips his hat before grabbing whatever medical equipment he can. He bids you all good luck as you make your way to the embassy.

The interior of the embassy is home to a sprawling and luxurious courtyard and garden, including several chairs and tables on a terrace overlooking a stream. Although at first glance the area seems peaceful and idyllic, with no sign of anyone else in the garden, a loud hiss draws attention to a hideous lizard-like creature with eight legs and an unsettling gaze.

The iruxi woman stares directly into its eyes. "Oh. That's not good..."

Standing in front of the creature, slowly backing away from it, is an iruxi woman, whose faded green scales quickly turn to grey, and then her body completely transforms to stone.

Scratch seems to be prepared for anything. Even petrifying lizards of 5 hues and colors!

Round 1
Scratch
Green Lizard
Purple Lizard
Yellow Lizard
Salaish
Caitlin
Red Lizard
White Lizard
Seoni
Luna

>Diplomacy has failed<

"AMBUSH!" Scratch's backwoods military training kicks in, his trusty sniper rifle leaps into his hands ready to rumble!

BOOM!

Hot steel flies towards the purple lizard's lizardy face.

◆ +1 Striking Arquebus: Concussive, Fatal d12, Kickback: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (15) + 17 = 32 Damage (P/B): 2d8 + 2 ⇒ (8, 3) + 2 = 13
Replace Damage with Fatal Damage if a Crit, then x2 (P/B): 2d12 + 2 ⇒ (11, 2) + 2 = 15Extra Fatal Dice Damage (P/B): 1d12 ⇒ 9
One Shot, One Kill (Precision): First Strike, Stealth for Initiative: 1d6 ⇒ 6

So 19 on hit, or 51 on a crit.

Then he does what any old sniper would do, he ◆ scoots off for cover to ◆ hide and reload.

No really, Scratch is ready for anything, like critically shooting a lizard before diving for cover.

The green lizard slowly moves off the platform. The purple and yellow lizards follow, although they have enough time to bite at an unprepared and off guard Caitlin.

Purple Bite: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (11) + 15 = 26
Piercing: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (6, 5) + 4 = 15

Yellow Bite: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (6) + 15 = 21

As they reach the bottom of the stairs, they begin to stare at all of you nearby.

Salaish, Caitlin: Give me a DC 20 Fortitude Save before you start your actions.

Round 1
Scratch
Green Lizard
Purple Lizard (51 damage)
Yellow Lizard
Salaish (DC 20 Fort Save)
Caitlin (15 damage, DC 20 Fort Save)
Red Lizard
White Lizard
Seoni
Luna

Salaish, Caitlin: Give me a DC 20 Fortitude Save before you start your actions.

>Diplomacy has failed<

Fort DC 20: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19
Hero Point: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (19) + 11 = 30

Salaish feels something bad start to happen when the lizards stare into her eyes, but she tears her gaze away quickly enough to reject it. "Not today, lizards! Don't look at them, guys! Their stare is bad news!" Salaish drops her Persona Mask over her face and launches into song, shaking her finger dramatically at the lizards.

Inspired by "Don't Do Me Like That" by Tom Petty:
"Don't do me like that!
Don't do me like that!
Someone-ah might need me baby.
Don't do me like that!"

Lingering Composition (Performance), DC 22: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (18) + 16 = 34
Crit success: Inspire Courage lasts 4 rounds.

◆ Avert Gaze, ◆ Interact, ◇ Lingering Composition, ◆ Cast a spell

Fort Save: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15
Hero point
Fort Save: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25

Caitlin readies her spear, Hunts Purple and stabs.

Stab!: 1d20 + 14 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 14 + 1 = 252d6 + 2 + 1 + 1d8 ⇒ (5, 2) + 2 + 1 + (3) = 13

Caitlin impales the creature in front of her with a spear, yet it still stands.

Even is Caitlin, Odd is Luna: 1d2 ⇒ 2

The White-frilled lizard takes its sweet time moving towards the platform before glaring right at Caitlin.
I'll need a DC 22 Fort Save,

1 is Caitlin, 2 is Seoni, 3 is Luna, 4 is Salaish: 1d4 ⇒ 4
Red quickly reacts to Salaish's movements with a stare.

1 is Caitlin, 2 is Luna: 1d2 ⇒ 2
White quickly reacts to Luna's movements with a stare.

Luna and Salaish: Give me a DC 20 Fort Save.

Round 1
Seoni
Luna (DC 20 Fort Save)

Round 2
Scratch
Green Lizard
Purple Lizard (64 damage)
Yellow Lizard
Salaish (Avert Gaze, DC 20 Fort Save)
Caitlin (15 Damage, DC 22 Fort Save)
Red Lizard
White Lizard

Caitlin: Give me a DC 22 Fortitude Save.

Salaish, Caitlin: Give me a DC 20 Fortitude Save at the start of your turn.

Everyone: Don't forget the >Avert Gaze< action to give yourself a +2 circumstance bonus to these saving throws.

>Diplomacy has failed<