[PFS2, Outpost07] 2-17 Lost Maid of Anactoria (Inactive)

Game Master Watery Soup

"You parents said you went out with a friend last night. Who was it, and where could we find them?" Jadran gets straight to the point, feeling like Evengi is currently very suspicious.

Last question on my end.

"Evgeni, you don't want the Maid to be found do you?"

"You parents said you went out with a friend last night. Who was it, and where could we find them?"

Evgeni sighs. "Don't tell my parents, okay?"

Assuming the Pathfinders agree ...

"Look, his name is Ottos Pavlik, and my parents don't really approve of our friendship. He's kind of a bum, and they don't think a university student like me should be hanging around him."

Ottos Pavlik's house is a place you can choose to visit, and Ottos is interviewable.

"Magic? You mean...", he begins casting and his eyes start glowing "... that? I assume you're a specialist?"

Lazzare scans around thanks to the Detect Magic spell he just cast.

Evgeni sighs. "I can't even cast a cantrip. I'm just a scholar."

Detect Magic doesn't find anything but whatever magic items the Pathfinder carries. This includes anything in the Tarsolu house, including the glass case, in case that wasn't clear before.

"Your town thinks the Maid is really important," Zibini says casually to Evgeni, "but most of them don't have to live in a curios museum. I don't think I'd be that upset, if it was me."

"Evgeni, you don't want the Maid to be found do you?"

Evgeni looks around to make sure his parents aren't listening. "Look, the Maid's real power is that people believe it has powers. It gives people hope and motivation to improve their own lives, and that's good enough. It doesn't need to be magical for it to work. If it weren't for the fact that gullible fortune-seekers like the Aspis Consortium start tearing our town apart, it'd be harmless."

I'm going to flick the lights on and off, signaling that Evgeni has pretty much given out all the information provided. Keep asking questions if you have them, but also please decide where you'd like to head next.

Jadran feels satisfied they'd asked all the questions necessary, waiting for the others to finish up anything else.

Considering the timing of the new lead, Ottos Pavlik's seems like it makes the most sense. Not giving Evgeni time to warn his friend makes sense in Jadran's head.

Lazzare shakes his head as this is not what he was expecting. When the group gathers he says: "There are tracks leading to the bog. Maybe there's still a chance to catch the Maid... but every hour that passes makes it less and less probable."

Huh.

"That does seem like the lead most likely to run away," Zibini agrees.

"So it looks like we have two leads." Meadow counts on her fingers as she lists the leads. "First, the general store to see about the mysterious patrons, and B, talk to Ottos. Oh and 3, Follow the tracks. So three leads." She brow furrows in concentration. "And fourth we could just wander around in the swamp looking for the swamp witch. Four leads." She nods sagely. "So where to?"

I still don't really remember anything important about this scenario but I'll forgo any decisions anyway. Meadow has survival +10 if we choose to wander blindly in the swamp or +12 once she hunts prey to follow the tracks. She has diplomacy +11 if we want to go and ask more questions.

Lazzare shakes his head as this is not what he was expecting. When the group gathers he says: "There are tracks leading to the bog. Maybe there's still a chance to catch the Maid... but every hour that passes makes it less and less probable."

"A trail into the bog? That is a good place to start, so long as someone can keep us on the trail and we don't end up in a bottomless mudhole." He looks down at his full plate armor and shrugs.

Jadran is not one with nature, untrained in both survival and nature, but he's too confident to admit apprehension. A bog misstep could also cause a large waste in time if we do get lost. Jadran's vote is bog or Ottos next.

Tiger has Survival +11, Diplomacy +11 as well so either one is ok.

If we interview someone, Tiger has to be the good cop (no Intimidate!) :)

Ottos: Jadran, Flory (?)
Footsteps: Lazzare, Zibini (?)
Abstain: Meadow, Tiger

Flory liked Jadran's post, which I'm going to assume is a vote in favor of going to Ottos's house, and Zibini seemed to agree with Lazzare, but their posts were only 25 minutes apart and I just wanted to make sure their posts didn't cross. Assuming those are both correct, I need one of Meadow or Tiger to break the tie. Rolling 1d2 is fine.

Ottos=1, track footsteps=2

what next?: 1d2 ⇒ 2

"I bet we could track the thieves to their hideout. Let's check out the trail."

Jadran voted for both Ottos and bog.

Bog works, lez go!

"Let's go! You can lead!" Zibini pushes Tup forward.

"Um, I can help..." answers Tup.

If a navigation check is needed, Zibini's hireling will Aid Tiger.
Survival (Hireling): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10 Failure. No bonus, but at least no penalty.

The bogs are a wet, nasty, smelly place, full of biting insects and treacherous footing. A few dry pathways meander here and there, surrounded by a swampy fen of mud and water.

Once in the bog, the tracks disappear in the spongy ground, and are extremely hard to follow.

I will need a Survival check from someone to follow the tracks. Note that this is a pretty difficult check, so those who are trained will want to make good use of Aid. Please decide who's rolling (more than 1 is okay, but I'll average the results), and who's Aiding.

Zibini, 10 vs DC 20 to Aid is a Critical Failure.

Flory tries to focus on the terrain before them, as Lady Gwendolyn busies herself with catching lunch on the wing.

Aid to Survival: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

The remaster changed the standard DC to aid to 15.

Aid

Meadow studies the tracks for a bit before attempting to follow them. hunt prey

survival-track-hunted prey: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 10 + 2 = 13

"Looks like they headed that way. No wait...That way?" The ranger looks around, confused.

Hero point reroll

survival-track-hunted prey: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 10 + 2 = 16

Meadow follows the trail for a bit then frowns and turns back to try again. She does this twice more before throwing up her hands in defeat.

"Oh beans! All this water is throwing me off. I'm sorry everyone."

Ratatouille watches Meadow losing the party: "What are you doing? Tracking with your gigantic ears? Boss, do something, she's incompetent!"

Well, considering your check, I think the average between 2 will at least be better, so I'll get a shot.

Lazzare feels much more at ease inside the swamp than Meadow. He doesn't hesitate to get wet, quite the contrary actually.

Survival: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12

"I think you were right at first... no, wait."

Survival (HP): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13

Lazzare quickly gets stuck, too.

"This bog is cursed, it plays with us."

Finally, the average between 2 is worse, sorry about that, we are meant to fail this check.

Ratatouille watches Meadow losing the party: "What are you doing? Tracking with your gigantic ears? Boss, do something, she's incompetent!"

An indignant Meadow glares at the rat. "Hey! It's not like I made us fall off of a cliff and into a lake or anything!"

Totally unrelated link #1
Totally unrelated link #2

Finally, the average between 2 is worse, sorry about that, we are meant to fail this check.

Yeah. We're bad at this

An indignant Meadow glares at the rat. "Hey! It's not like I made us fall off of a cliff and into a lake or anything!"

"Yeah, you could have made us fall off a cliff... in a g!@!~$ swamp! Because you're THAT bad!"

The remaster changed the standard DC to aid to 15.

Aid

Oh, okay. I don't actually have the Player Core, so thanks for the heads up!

---

Meadow is thrown off by the wet, mossy ground, and Silence flies off to find beans every time Meadow says, "Oh, beans!"

Lazzare takes charge, leading the way, and makes things worse. Trekking through the wet parts is a long and slow process, and maybe it's just everyone's imaginations, but the mud seems to grab at everyone's feet creepily.

Flory and Zibini do their best to help, with Flory helping (but unable to redeem Lazzare's CF) and Zibini ... not so much.

While the Pathfinders wander, the sun sets, and the full moon and stars provide dim light only. Please describe how your characters are seeing in dim light. Although the sounds of birds and frogs dominated during the day, at night, the birds are replaced by hundreds of fireflies forming eerie patterns in the darkness. An overwhelming scent of wet earth and the buzz and bite of mosquitoes is omnipresent.

Ahead, the remains of a camp are visible, with a few tents still standing among a litter of broken tables and scattered gear. Several bodies lie around the campsite, covered in swarms of incessant flies. Please describe how you approach the camp. Note that some approaches may be off the table, such as sneaking up on the camp if someone is holding a torch. :)

Lazzare has no issue seeing thanks to the moonlight: "A camp, and bodies scattered. We should be cautious."

Lazzare is ready for any bad surprise when approaching the camp (Search).

Jadran slogs through the swamp, doing his best to keep up on the drier mounds when possible. He follows the bickering team, constantly trying to remain the confident optimist. "I'm sure we're nearly there, this place is quite difficult to manage, you're both doing an admirable job."

As things get dark he mentions "Anyone with a magical light source? I would be easier than my torch, but I am prepared with five if not." He prefers to save them for an emergency if possible, or having someone else carry it.

---

Approaching camp Jadran draws his sword and shield, slowly moving ahead to investigate, not worried about being quiet, but not calling attention to those that wish to be unseen. "Is anyone here? We've come to help."

Flory casts a pale glowing orb that floats above Sir Miles, to help cut the gloom.

"Meadow" wrote:

The remaster changed the standard DC to aid to 15.

Aid

Oh, okay. I don't actually have the Player Core, so thanks for the heads up!

Fortunately Archives of Nethys now has the remaster rules up

Lazzare has no issue seeing thanks to the moonlight: "A camp, and bodies scattered. We should be cautious."

Meadow nods and whispers. "Yeah, this looks like trouble. Silence and I will cover you guys." She draws her bow and quietly slips away, keeping to the shadows with the owl close behind.

Meadow and Silence have low light vision and will move far enough away from the lights to properly skulk about.

"You don't have a wayfinder?" Zibini asks Jadran, holding his own up proudly.

Not needing a light himself, Zibini doesn't light his own unless somebody asks him to.

"I can also make magic lights, but they go away when I get distracted so I don't usually use that to help people see. Only to blind them."

Dancing lights. I know the Remaster's buff to light makes it largely obsolete, but it's a Psi Cantrip for Zibini so it's not as simple as swapping it. The compatibility errata says I can swap it for figment, but then he wouldn't have a light spell at all without trading another one.

"Oh. Uh oh. Bad guy camp?"

Tiger lights his Wayfinder as well. He pulls out his javelin in case something nasty jumps out at them. He studies the ground, looking for tracks...

Survival: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19

If I'd crit failed the survival check I would have asked Meadow if she's hiring...

"You don't have a wayfinder?" Zibini asks Jadran, holding his own up proudly.

"Afraid not. My first time out on the job in a while. Usually I'm on a ship looking for lost treasure and the wayfinder breaks my cover." He adds in, looking for any survivors, and dangers. Continuing search mode.

As a pregen my gear is not optimal.. no wayfinder was included, neither was healing tools for a character that has battle medicine! I dropped the gold to pick up a set of healing tools at least but I'll have to live with the other deficiencies.

As a pregen my gear is not optimal.. no wayfinder was included, neither was healing tools for a character that has battle medicine! I dropped the gold to pick up a set of healing tools at least but I'll have to live with the other deficiencies.

I would love to handwave this, but I believe my hands are tied. A while ago, I helped transcribe some of the pregens to PbP format, and learned that pregens have to be played as written, even if they contain mechanical mistakes (several of the pregens are shorted skills/feats, and the alchemist is shorted several reagents).

---

The Pathfinders approach with dancing lights and lighted wayfinders, and quickly determine the camp appears to have been attacked, with tents torn down and gear scattered everywhere. The excavated pit in the northwest corner of the map is about one foot deep, and it is marked off with stakes and cords dividing it into regular sections. Scattered around the place are the remains of waterlogged notebooks, which detail what looks to have been a careful archaeological excavation over the course of several weeks. One table still has a gridded map pinned to its surface, and a few fragments of bone and ancient Kellid spear points are scattered nearby. There is also a complete human skeleton, ancient and wearing bits of once-opulent robes, sprawled in the excavated pit.

See Slide 5. On the map, the clear path areas are solid ground, while those with foliage are shallow bog (difficult terrain). The open water in the southeastern corner of the map is about two feet deep, but the bottom is soft mud. Treat these squares as a deep bog (greater difficult terrain).

I know it's pretty obvious that there may be combat with foes approaching from the southeast, but please try to keep characters' actions within believability.

As the Pathfinders search the camp, they hear the unmistakable sounds of something rummaging through one of the fallen tents. He looks at the Pathfinders indifferently.

“More bigguns! And those other bigguns just left. They were so loud! Always talking, to each other, to the ground when it’s hard to dig, to the boss biggun when he wasn’t here. So much noise! And the stench! I’m so glad they’ve gone. They’ve been digging holes everywhere, looking for something they can’t find. They find all the things that I ever find in a hole: worms, mud, sometimes bugs. I don’t know what they wanted. But I know it wasn’t those bony bigguns! A whole bunch of them came from southeast, dressed like it was a big party, and started chasing the bigguns who were digging! They were fighting, and the bigguns ran all over while the bony bigguns chased them. Some of the bigguns fell down, but a few ran away. Some of the bony bigguns fell down, too. You can see them, over there, and some over there."

Each Pathfinder can attempt a DC 19 check to Make an Impression (typically Diplomacy). You can interact with the fey, but their responses will be determined by their attitude towards you, so I'll take everyone's check first before roleplay.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23

Tiger slowly places his javelin back in its sheath and holds his hands out, indicating he's unarmed.

"Well met, small folk. We mean you no harm."

Seeing Loong stow weapons Jadran nods and does the same, moving slowly to try getting onto dry land afterwards.

Expert Diplomacy: Make an Impression: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (19) + 12 = 31

"How long ago did these bigguns run off from the bony bigguns?" He digs out some rations to hopefully win the creature over a bit.

Lazzare stays quiet as he feels the feys would be too easy to scare. He looks at the "bony bigguns" that fell, trying to determine what they were when alive.

Religion +13

"Oh,I bet they were looking for bones. Just not bones that look for them back."

Zibini giggles. "Cowardly snakes, running from skeletons. Thank you for telling us!"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (15) + 13 = 28

Lazzare turns to Zibini: "Why are you mocking them when they were not doing any harm? Don't be blinded by hate. Hate leads to the dark side..."

Ratatouille gets out of Lazzare's sleeve and adds: "Yeah, why are you mocking the Aspis, they are all nice and stuff..."

He blinks for a second and asks: "Boss, I'm lost, you care to explain?"

Lazzare explains out loud: "It looks like the Aspis may not be the culprit in this case. It seems the Maid had old old old friends and that they decided to get her back amongst them. Certainly an ancient curse running through this bog, for sure. Water gives life..." and he gestures towards the Aspis corpses "... and water gives death. Let's bury them, they deserve better."

And finding a shovel among the camp, Lazzare starts digging in what he considers the best place for a burial.

"This mission gets better and better, Ratatouille."

I've put Lazzare and his shovel somewhere, but you can move me if you think another place would be more fitting. I must admit I don't really see where the camp is exactly, there are no tents shown.

Meadow examines the fey carefully before revealing herself and speaking. nature+10 recall knowledge. What are they and what language do they speak? Meadow intends to use their native tongue.

Actually now that I get a better look at the map I see that we don't actually see anyone. Meadow will stow her bow, try to seek in the tent area and then either recall knowledge if she spots someone or seek a different area if she doesn't spot anyone.

Between Tiger's, Jadran's, and Zibini's charms, the fey is quite content to answer any questions you have. Their native language is Sylvan, although, they speak Common quite well. It's moot, but I would have considered Meadow speaking Sylvan to be Aiding the Diplomacy checks.

The fey introduces themselves as Rusylflick, and they gladly show the Pathfinders to the bodies of nine Aspis agents, readily identified by their snake-like badges belongings encased in gelatin. The Aspis agents have little of value, having been attacked while working.

Rusylflick hands the Pathfinders a "shiny" that he found in the bog, which is a skeleton key.

Four dismembered skeletons wearing scraps of ancient finery can also be found. Lazzare notes that the skeletons appear to be ancient, not armed with any weapons but wearing aristocratic clothing reminiscent of the last century. They also all have blobs of dull grey metal that seem to have been burned into the bones; anyone Trained in Crafting notes the metal is lead.

Lazzare notes that these lead helmets will make animated skeletons a little tougher to fight: in addition to the usual skeletal traits (negative healing; immunities against death, disease, mental, paralyzed, poison, and unconscious; resistance against piercing, slashing, cold, fire, and electricity), hitting a lead-armored skeleton will cause a cloud of toxic lead, potentially poisoning attackers.

There are no tents on the map, you'll just start in the yellow box area. But you can questions Rusylflick first.

What type of fey is Rusylflick?

society: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

Meadow makes a face as she sees the skeletons for the first time.

"Ewww! These skeletons have lead all over them. They must be from the Garden of Lead. I think that's near here somewhere. It's an awful ghost-haunted site where hundreds of Ustalavic people were imprisoned and immolated in molten lead more than 1,500 years ago by the Skeletal Countess, an undead servant of the Whispering Tyrant."

“More bigguns! And those other bigguns just left. They were so loud! Always talking, to each other, to the ground when it’s hard to dig, to the boss biggun when he wasn’t here. So much noise! And the stench! I’m so glad they’ve gone. They’ve been digging holes everywhere, looking for something they can’t find. They find all the things that I ever find in a hole: worms, mud, sometimes bugs. I don’t know what they wanted. But I know it wasn’t those bony bigguns! A whole bunch of them came from southeast, dressed like it was a big party, and started chasing the bigguns who were digging! They were fighting, and the bigguns ran all over while the bony bigguns chased them. Some of the bigguns fell down, but a few ran away. Some of the bony bigguns fell down, too. You can see them, over there, and some over there."

"You say that there were a bunch of clompstompers here? Where did they go? What did they look like? Did they eat a lot of gelatin?"

"What about the skellies? They attacked the big people that were here digging? What do you mean they were dressed like it was a party?"

Which direction is the Garden of Lead? Southeast? Meadow has survival +10

Lazzare tells the party: "Careful with these skeletons if we ever meet them as they will certainly expose anyone attacking them to toxic gazes."

And he starts looking at the skeleton's shoes, or lack thereof, in comparison to the aspis members' ones. He also looks at the carts or other means of transportation the Aspis have left.

The footsteps we followed to get there were ones of the Aspis members or ones of the party skeletons? Also, the Maid, or what she was put on, was leaving strange imprints on the ground, does Lazzare find them again? Or maybe some cart that would leave the same kind of marks? Survival +11 if needed.

"Oooh, dead Aspis. I thought you said they ran away. That's a little less funny."

A little.

What type of fey is Rusylflick?

Rusylflick is a grig.

Which direction is the Garden of Lead?

Southeast. It's not specified in the scenario.

The footsteps we followed to get there were ones of the Aspis members or ones of the party skeletons?

The footsteps neither match the Aspis boots nor the skeletons. This is a point that you can revisit after the impending encounter.

Also, the Maid, or what she was put on, was leaving strange imprints on the ground, does Lazzare find them again? Or maybe some cart that would leave the same kind of marks?

The indentation by the back window of the house was a singular indentation, not ongoing ones.

"You say that there were a bunch of clompstompers here? Where did they go? What did they look like? Did they eat a lot of gelatin?"

“A few survived - oh, there they are now!"

In the distance, a trio of humans are standing back-to-back, with torches and blades, and the party quickly sees they're being attacked - by skeletal figures.

"What do you mean they were dressed like it was a party?"

See Slide 5. You're - gasp - getting attacked too.

Suddenly, a shout of alarm rings out from the south. Lurching out of the bog are several humanoids, bleached white bone showing through the tears in their gowns and waistcoats.

I'm out of time, so I'll roll initiative and place the icons later today.

"Bad news...", Lazzare says with a boot at hand. It's the first time you see him puzzled.

Jadran turns in slow motion towards the incoming trio and the skeletons.