GM Rotation, The COREageous Crew

Game Master Pete H.

Jack passes on his findings to the others.

Ryul points to the lady in blue, ”I am sure we can explain ourselves and gain access to the tomb. We are just looking for clues left behind by an agent of our organization, not stealing anything or disturbing the dead. I will admit though, I am not the best at talking.”

He adds with a smile, ”Unless she wishes to discuss the merits of one handed vs two handed swords.”

She's a lady .. just be a gentleman

Cortina asks Janira for help with her research and also uses Desna's divine guidance while looking through books on religion.

K:Religion, guidance, friend of Janira Gavix: 1d20 + 5 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 5 + 1 + 1 = 14

She then grabs a different ;-) couple history books:
K:History, guidance, friend of Janira Gavix: 1d20 + 1 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 + 1 + 1 = 15

On the one hand, you're right, Ryul, we're not doing anything illegal. On the other hand, perhaps it will be easier to convince about the passage for one or two people than for the whole group? In that case, we could split up. Those who can move silently do it. Those who do not go to negotiate. At least one of the groups will succeed. Or not.

Jack decides to join the 'let's go talk to the lady' group.

Ryul nods, ”That is a reasonable plan Nal. I will go talk to the lady as well, Jack.”

”I am not the best at talking, either. But maybe me being a fellow cleric will help with the negtiations?”

Nal nods. I'll meet you at the place.
Stealth: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13
Almost immediately, he steps on a branch, but then goes quieter...

Feel free to go ahead with Diplomacy checks.

diplomacy: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Good evening m'lady. Would you be the caretaker of this place or just another pilgrim?

"Well, I'm going to try and talk to her."

This isn't going to be easy...

Cortina takes a deep breath. Before talking to the cleric of Pharasma, she imbues everyone in the party with Desna's divine guidance.

"Good evening, cleric of the Lady of Graves. I am Cortina, Cortina Hagen; a humble servant of Desna. My friends and I would like to pay our respects to a stonemason by the name of Arkath, preferably directly in front of his sarcophargus. Would you be as kind as pointing us in the right direction?"

Diplomacy, guidance: 1d20 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (20) - 2 + 1 = 19 Wow, a great diplomacy roll! ^_^

Ryul adds, ”If you could help us, that would be appreciated.”

Diplomacy Aid: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (18) - 1 = 17

The woman nods her head at your greeting, she makes a spiraling motion with her hand. "Pharasma's judgement be true. I am a guardian of the blessed dead. My name is Hadriana. I know the tomb of the departed whom you seek. I will guide you." She leads the party to the largest tomb in necropolis and she opens the heavy stone door. She gestures for you to enter and then follows behind you, standing in the doorway to observe.

Fortunately, the sarcophagus stands open and you clearly see the skeletal remains of the stonemason. His lower jaw hangs askew and the glint of a silver coin gleams from within.

Hadriana is watching, so you may attempt further diplomacy or bluff (DC 17) to allow you to remove the coin for examination, after which she will require it be returned to the remains. Or you can attempt sleight of hand vs her perception to acquire it. Further information as to the nature of the coin may be gained through detect magic and Spellcraft/Knowledge(Arcana).

Thank you. Jack replies. I don't know much about Pharasma ... but ... we're trying to get to the truth of an ... ancient matter ... and it is possible that coin may hold a clue. May we examine it please?

diplomacy: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

Ryul adds unconvincingly, "We won't keep it."

Diplomacy Aid: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (10) - 1 = 9

Crud, I don't think we can justify guidance here. Casting spells in front of her would probably not work. But if it was ok, that woulda passed. :(

"That coin is probably magical. May I check for that with the respective orison, please?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (10) - 2 = 8 :-/

Not wanting to make things worse, Cashel wisely keeps his mouth shut.

Untrained Diplomacy check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11

Paul gives a halfway-decent courtly bow.

"Forgive my friends, if you would. Even though Arkath has long since passed, the emotion of the moment overtook them. We'll be on our way." He turns to leave, looking around at the party.

"I see..." Hadriana speaks hesitantly. She allows Cortina to confirm that the coin does indeed emit a magical aura, though that is all she can determine.

At Paul's words, she steps from the doorway to allow your egress. "Then we will leave Master Arkath to his peaceful rest."

Ryul heads out, ”Alright, well that’s a bummer. But we did things the right way, I think. Sneaking and thieving is almost always wrong. Shall we check out the other locations?”

Jack nods If there is a procedure to allow us to examine that coin and only that coin, then we shall follow it.

He gives a half bow to the lady before leaving

Thank you ma'am

Nal nods. I'll meet you at the place.

[dice=Stealth]1d20 + 11
Almost immediately, he steps on a branch, but then goes quieter...

By the way, how did this solo attempt of mine end? I guess not so good, but what if DC was 12-13? Well, you never know.

By the way, how did this solo attempt of mine end? I guess not so good, but what if DC was 12-13? Well, you never know.

You weren't noticed, but you also did not even reach the mausoleum. Remember that you can only move half your normal speed in stealth without applying penalties. Opening the mausoleum door imposes a -4 penalty as well, just in case anyone wants to attempt this objective again later.

You leave the Necropolis in peace but also empty handed and proceed to the Wall of Names.

Created in 4330 ar, the Wall of Names resides on the grounds of the Grand Lodge in Absalom. The monument is a curving wall of black glass that stands atop a small hill at the western edge of the lodge’s grounds. Trees surround the hill, providing ample shade and privacy for those visiting the wall to remember fallen comrades. Carved into the wall are the name and date of death of every Pathfinder killed in the course of duty since the wall’s construction, and most entries also include a brief epitaph summarizing either the agent’s greatest accomplishments or how she died.

There are a number of people milling about, some taking rubbings of names or leaving small tokens of esteem; flowers, trinkets and the like near a particular name. You also overhear some gossip that a Mendevian crusader intends to attempt the Test of the Starstone today.

After some careful observation, you believe you have located entries that don't quite match the artistry and craftmanship of the majority of the wall.

Fresh art and your discovered names are added to the Map and Art slideshow.

k local: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

Knowledge: Religion t: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6 :-(

Ryul has a 1/session K: Religion roll he can make, but I’ll wait to see if Cashel hits that check first.

The elf inspects the wall and takes a rubbing of each questionable inscription. He doesn’t speak as to disturb anyone visiting the memorial.

Knowledge(History): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21.

Cashel scratches his chin thoughtfully.

"The underlined portions of each inscription refer to failed aspirants. That's a bit odd... I swear that there is another monument specially meant to honour them - The Shrine of the Failed..."

Paul jots down the indicated names. "Shall we examine that shrine, then?"

Makes sense to me Jack replies quietly.

Ryul nods, ”That seems like a good lead, the gnome can wait.”

”I agree, let's check it out.”

Nal nods silently. But he thinks about his own.

GM, my omission, I did not understand in the previous encounter (the mausoleum) that I need to move the tokken on the map. Can we split up with the party now? I'll go back there and try my stealth mission, and then catch up with the party somewhere. It seems that the PbP allows this, although here it is also a double burden on GM.

You journey onward to your next destination. Erected centuries ago by an unknown organization, the Shrine of the Failed is a dour complex that pays homage to those who failed in their attempts to overcome the Test of the Starstone. The building houses numerous altars, each dedicated to a specific failed aspirant. Black-robed acolytes protect, clean, and maintain the halls as well as the few trinkets left behind by the aspirants. The shrine is a stone edifice with several levels that contain altars to the failed aspirants.

You enter the Antechamber, this monumental chamber stretches eighty feet from end to end, with a ceiling suspended thirty feet from the floor by great pillars. Seven arched passages lead to humble rooms, each of which contains a polished stone altar dedicated to one of the failed aspirants who attempted the Test of the Starstone

Each of these alcove chambers contains a small stone altar to one of the failed aspirants. Each altar stands upon a raised dais and bears a small brass nameplate identifying the aspirant and the would-be-god’s areas of interest.

"Huh. Looks like there is a secret door over here on the west wall. Pretty well hidden, too - that illusion isn't half bad! Still, I can't seem to find the opening mechanism..."

We might have missed a clue .... back to the cemetery?

Ryul frowns, ”Or the gnome’s house. Should we go there?”

He touches the pointed out illusory wall, trying to feel or see his way through it.

[b]Yeah ... why not ... {/b]

"Before we leave, there is one more thing I would like to check. Are there shrines here to the people whose names we found?"

"Before we leave, there is one more thing I would like to check. Are there shrines here to the people whose names we found?"

Confirming Paul's intuition, the nameplate on the altar where you detected a secret door does indeed bear a familiar name. That of Karina Clamp.

You proceed to locate the address detailed in Selmius Foster's notes and find Fimbrik's home is a sizable residence on the Arcanamirium campus in Absalom’s Wise Quarter. The home itself is an impressive stone dwelling reminiscent of what one might expect from an eccentric wizard’s home. You can see into the interior through large glass windows which despite being clean, also seem fogged so that you discern only the rough shapes of furniture and the glow of lamps within. Still, it looks cozy and tidy enough.

A brick step leads to Fimbrik’s front entrance and upon trying the door handle, you find it locked. A small slot in the door appears to be used to deliver messages and periodicals. In fact a thick newspaper has lately been roughly inserted and left the flap partially ajar.

Map is updated! Let me know how you wish to proceed, didn't place Nal on this map because he seemed to wish to return to the Necropolis, which is still available on slide 5.

Cashel moves up to the door, and knocks on it.

If there is no response, he tries to peek through the wedged-open flap.

"Give me a few minutes, I'll see what I can, well, see..."

Repeatedly asking her goddess for divine guidance, Cortina peers through the small slot, trying to get a better picture of the room than through the windows.

Perception, Take 20, guidance: 20 + 6 + 1 = 27
takes 2 minutes with guidance cast every round

Afterwards, she uses detect magic to scan the door, the room behind it and all of the windows.

It's a wizard's home - I doubt that there's nothing magical here...

Jack follows Cortina around the building, just in case

No one comes to the door, not even after repeated knocking or called greetings. Peering through the flap you can see a large sofa sits awkwardly near the entrance, facing toward the center of the room and obscuring most of the view from your vantage point. It does become clear why the flap is propped open by the latest newspaper as there is a loose stack of them beneath the slot where they have been piling up.

"There's something magical inside, but it moved quite fast by the window."

"Well... That is odd..."

If he can, Cashel attempts to case the jointwalk around the exterior of the building, looking for other clues, or ingress points.

The front door is the only established portal into the house. The windows don't appear to be the sort to allow passage, unless broken out to allow entry.

Opening the door will require Disable Device DC 15.

Jack starts picking up all the mail on the doorstep as well as pulling the one out of the flap.

Ryul frowns, ”I don’t condone breaking and entering. But we seem to be running out of reasonable options. And when those end, you have to consider unreasonable ones. Anybody able to open the door or a window without damaging it? We could claim concern that the owner may have passed away, considering the mail isn’t being collected. In fact, that is actually a reasonable reaction here.”

I suppose we could ask a town guard person to open it for us ... for that reason.