PFS2 1-23 Pirate Crossed Court (Inactive)

Game Master Pirate Rob

Game is played here.

You arrive at the iruxi island-city of Ekkeshikaar with Calisro Benarry
and Venture-Captain Eras the Needle as part of an expedition put together by Mirian Raas.

Your mission: to re-establish ancient trade routes between the nation of Vidrian (formerly Sargava) and the iruxi of Ekkeshikaar.

Although the expedition got off to a rocky start (See #1-09:
Star-Crossed Voyages), you have now arrived and negotiations have begun in earnest.

You have been summoned by Calisro and Eras to a small conference room in their embassy suite.

Go ahead and introduce your characters.

A burly blue kobold wearing a thin turban and a long loose tabard with an image of a sand tornado suffused with lightning steps into the suite. He carries a khopesh with a jagged end after its curve like a classic lightning bolt design strapped to his hip.

"I am Boltblade, the Desert Storm. Gladiator from the great arena of Katapesh and training so that I might continue a streak my streak of wins in the future! By training with the Pathfinders I know I can spread my name and fame across all of great Golarion and thus I am here today to impress all."

An girl, who looks elven but has greenish tinged blonde hair and wearing aquamarine robes is the next to arrive.

Ah. I am Betel Capella ... I presume I am in the right place?

A halfling in normal clothes is accompanied by a duck as large as the elf.

"G-greetings. I'm W-welby. This is Drake," he says, indicating the duck. "He was a normal d-duck one day and then quacked and told me he wanted to go adventuring b-because he's a d-dragon. So... here we are..." Welby says.

A slender woman of medium height enters the room and sees the assembled Pathfinders.

"Hiya all! Shayla Quickfingers at your service. If you've ever been to the Grand Bazaar, you'll no doubt need equipment. The Quickfingers Equipment Emporium's the place to go! It's run by my twin sister, Shayna. Just tell her I sent ya!"

Shayla sighs. "Ok. Now that the sales spiel is done. I was told to report here. Not sure why but I'm hoping there's some nice loot to have!"

No, I don't work in Marketing... the sales pitch sounded like an infomercial though! :)

With the party gathered Venture-Captain Eras begins, “As you know,” idly fidgeting with some paperwork in front of him as he talks,

“our audience with the city’s ruling council to discuss the possibility of reopening trade is tomorrow, and it’s important that we make a good impression. It seems that there are some here who feel that Ekkeshikaar has nothing to gain by trading with us--–“

“Backwards isolationists! Everywhere has at least a few,” interjects Calisro with a snort, taking a swig of a colorful drink
that nonetheless smells strongly of liquor.

“Yes, well.” Eras clears his throat. “In any case, this… reclusive sentiment is certainly not shared by all of Ekkeshikaar’s citizens, but it has a grip on enough of them that we feel some additional preparation is in order. To that end, we’d like you to take on a few tasks that will help give us an edge when the time comes tomorrow. 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.”

“He means they’re stalling, and don’t want to give them to us.” Calisro chimes in cheerfully, with a wry smirk.

“A tactic my colleague here is very familiar with,” Eras retorts good-naturedly. “Sadly, I’m beginning to think she’s correct. And without these documents, we’re essentially going into the negotiations blind. So, we’d like you to head down in person and sort these ‘irregularities’ out yourselves. How you do this is ultimately up to you, but 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.”

“Or,” interjects the half-orc captain, producing a small wooden box, stamped with a Taldan coat of arms and labeled ‘Voinarum Glade Winery: 4700 ar’ “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. “As much as I’d prefer we not start our relationship with Ekkeshikaar with bribery, it’s true that time is at a premium here. We do have other tasks we’d like you to attend to after this is done. I’ll leave how to handle the situation to your discretion, but please hurry back either way: Calisro and I will need as much time as possible to look over those documents, and you’ll need as much time as possible to
complete the other things that need doing.”

---

Some of you know a little about local culture:

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.

Additionally 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.

Things to do: Ask any questions, finalize Pathfinder Provisions, Discuss your plan to approach the bureaucrat.(optional)

"Well naturally anyone can be charmed by the great desert storm that I am. So lucky for everyone here, they sent the right kobold for the job!"

Boltblade puffs out his chest some. Meanwhile the gnome man in a fine kaftan standing behind him sighs and shakes his head at the kobold's arrogant display.

Meet my sports manager hireling, Vincent McHuman who is here to roll Society and Underworld Lore checks and do nothing else!

Betel is so tempted to facepalm at that but, decides not to.

Translating, indexing and organising chronicles? she says. Sounds like fun It sounds like she really means it. Unfortunately Hallit is not one of the languages I know.

"I-I don't know it either..." Welby says. "W-wine as a gift always works! I suppose it's h-how it's offered."

Calisro smiles "I'm sure you'll make nothing but the best decisions."

It's easy enough to make your way to the imposing stone building, known as the The Ekkeshikaar Hall of Records 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.

Offices are well labeled in both Taldane and Iruxi and it's no trouble to find Narsha, the iruxi bureaucrat whom you need to talk about.

"How can I help you?" she asks, in a polite, but formal tone.

Feel free to roll Sense Motive(Perception). Don't need social rolls yet.

Erm ... we are from the Pathfinder Society, here to collect some documents and also to assist you in cataloging the Chronicles that were sent.

perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13

Perc: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23

"Yes, as my colleague has established this is about how we can help you with some of the bureaucratic work here."

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

You get the distinct undertone of distain in her voice and she is clearly unfriendly towards you despite her perfect courtesy. Likely due to your status as outsiders

"Allow me to assure you that they've been entered into a queue and will be processed in the order received..."

She pauses and considers the offer "While it would be quite irregular, I suppose your help could contribute towards clearing the backlog of documents we received from the Pathfinder Society, which are in the queue in front of your requested documents... In fact I would be grateful for your assistance as we Iruxi do get so overwhelmed here."

She follows up "Do any of you by chance read Hallit?"

Currently heading down the Pushing Papers route of trying to assist the bureaucrat, but the party could still choose otherwise if y'all wanted to do differently.

Boltblade looks at his allies slightly embarrassed and shakes his head sheepishly.

Unfortunately not She looks around at her companions. Does no one have Comprehend Languages or Translate or whatever that spell is called?

Narsha frowns for a moment before smiling.

"I know, Mirian Raas and her adopted brother Jekka can surely handle the translation part. I'll send a messenger and I'm sure they can help you out."

Before you have a chance for discussion Mirian and Jekka are summoned and they show up and are available to help you sort and translate the index for the documents the Pathfinder society has provided.

It's clearly a task that will take several hours, but that's not a problem. Narsha provides you some space, and the documents that the Society provided along with the Hallit codex.

During those several hours, each of you has a chance to impress Narsha. Obvious approaches are social ones with Deception, Diplomacy or Society. Or just by being really good at your job with a lore like Academia, Accounting, Scribing or Library)

Since Betel works as an Occult Librarian - specializing in magical books ...

library lore: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (1) + 14 = 15
((Hero Point))
library lore: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (15) + 14 = 29

Will get a real update in about 9-10 hours after I sleep, but the 29 is a success (The nat 1 is a crit fail)

Betel does good work getting the papers sorted out. Narsha seems to take notice and defrost a bit, but clearly it'll take more than just one good impression to warm her heart.

Waiting on checks from everybody else still.

While not much of a scholar, Boltblade does know his fair share about charming an audience and tries to at least make it look like he knows what he's supposed to be doing.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (6) + 13 = 19

Narsha's responses to Boltblade's charms are just short of curt, as she maintains her professional curtesy.

Fail from Boltblade.

Welby tries to share his knowledge of some of the wonders he's seen, including a recent trip to the east.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (12) + 10 = 22

Welby gets a better response to his stories, perhaps the stories from further away avoid any hard feelings.

Success from Welby. Just waiting on Shayla(Froggy) (Whom' I'll bot if we haven't heard from after the kiddo goes to bed in a few hours.

**Beep Boop**

Deception(T): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25

Shayla Quickfingers makes a good impression on Narsha and the efforts of 3 Pathfinders is enough to win over Narsha.

She opens up a little bit, impressed by your work and your social skills. Not only does she provide the requested documents but also...

+1 circumstance bonus on further checks to interact with iruxi bureaucrats and politicians for the remainder of the scenario.

---

Returning to the Embassy with the documents several hours later Eras and Calisro gratefully take the papers off your hands.

“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 and the hours are starting to get away from us.”

Although Eras and Calisro are in somewhat of a hurry to get you on to your next appointment they are willing to answer a few short questions if you have any.

"I have plenty of stories of derring-do! I wonder if she enjoys a narration of a good clean gladiator match. I know several I have starred in that would probably fit the bill."

I can't think of any questions, personally.

Presumably she is also an iruxi?

Eras nods "You could say that Kesstraka is the daughter of a famous Iruxi diplomat, but that wouldn’t quite do the matter justice. You see, some iruxi are apparently born parthenogenically—she is, essentially, a clone of her late mother. Apparently, they both served as ambassadors from Ekkeshikaar to Droon, a large iruxi empire even further South.”

"I s-see.. family gatherings must be d-different..." Welby says.
No other questions as well.

With some urging from Calisro to get on with it you are given directions to the Embassy nearby.

---

Arriving, you find 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 trio of hideous "duck" sized lizard-like creatures with eight legs and unsettling gazes. Surrounded is an iruxi woman, whose faded green scales quickly turn to grey, and then her body completely transforms to stone!

The 8 legged lizards then turn their attention towards you!

The Blue dashed lizard slinks forward and settles its gaze on Boltblade before catching Drake with a glance.

Initiative:
Blue Dash Lizard
Welby + Drake (Fort DC 20)
Red Solid Lizard
Betel
Avoiding Notice Shayla
Boltblade (Fort DC 22)
Orange Mix

Welby and Drake are up! (Saves for Boltblade & Drake)

Reactions are available from the start. The fancy platform with the lizards and your petrified diplomat is about 5 feet higher than the ground with a low railing around the edge that's easy enough to pass through. The stairs to get up there are difficult terrain. (Both of the stairs squares, can get to the top from either)

Fort Save: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14

Fort Save, Hero Point: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 21
:'(

Boltblade starts stiffening up. Slowed 1

"Oh d-dear.." Welby says.

Drake save: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (4) + 11 = 15

Welby feels slowed as well.

"D-don't charge in Drake..." The duck glares at the nearest lizard.

◆◆ Act Together
◆ Welby - Protect Companion
◆ Welby - Cast Shield
◆ Drake - Intimidate blue Intimidating glare: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

Welby gets slowed by his sympathetic connection with Drake. Not afraid of the big bad lizard, Drake glares right back, demoralizing the blue lizard.

The Solid Red lizard slinks forward and also gazes down at Boltblade before catching a glance at Betel

Initiative:
Blue Dash Lizard
Welby +
Drake (Slowed 1)
Red Solid Lizard (Frightened falls off after acting)
Betel (Fort DC 20 19)
Avoiding Notice Shayla
Boltblade (Slowed 1) (Fort DC 22 21)
Orange Mix

Betel, Shayla and Boltblade are up!
Fort Saves for Betel and Boltblade

Boltblade tries his best to resist the petrifying gaze.

Fort: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31

fort: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (12) + 10 = 22

Uh oh. I think I know what these are
(Recall Knowledge: Arcana/Occultism +14, Nature/Religion +9)

She then lets Red have it with an Elemental Toss (focus spell)
sa: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (14) + 12 = 26 bludgeoning: 3d8 ⇒ (1, 6, 3) = 10

before ducking behind the nearest bush

Betel and Boltblade avoid any further stonings.

Betel is pretty sure those are basilisks! Their gaze can turn people to stone, but the blood of a recently killed basilisk can be used to unpetrify a victim! Also, they are not nimble. Weakest save is reflex

Betel's toss also hits for some damage

Sorry, my bolding got messed up with the save notes.

Initiative:
Blue Dash Lizard
Welby +
Drake (Slowed 1)
Red Solid Lizard | -10
Betel
Avoiding Notice Shayla
Boltblade (Slowed 1)
Orange Mix

Shayala and Boltblade are up!

Boltblade takes in a deep breath at hearing Betel's explanation. "Well we're in it now... here goes nothing, I guess."

Boltblade slowly approaches the red basilisk lizard and tries to get rid of them as quickly as he can, by quickly hitting them extra hard with his khopesh.

Dual Handed Assault: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (5) + 16 = 21
Slashing: 2d10 + 4 ⇒ (9, 1) + 4 = 14

Boltblade moves up and gets a nice big strike with their khopesh but can't find purchase in the basilisk's stony hide.
Miss

*Beep Boop*

Finding the bush suddenly crowded Shayla moves up to the lovely fountain and tries to duck down.

stealth: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (18) + 12 = 30

Then Shayla quick draws a hatchet from their bandolier and chuck it at solid red.

thrown hatchet: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (1) + 10 = 11
damage+SA: 2d6 + 2 + 1d6 ⇒ (6, 5) + 2 + (6) = 19

But the axe goes wide, revealing Shayla's position.

The Orange Basilisk glares at Boltblade as it slinks forward.

The blue lizard slinks forward and glares at Welby facing Boltblade with a combined front. maybe catching Welby with a glance as well.

Initiative:
Blue Dash Lizard
Welby + (Fort DC 22 / 20)
Drake (Slowed 1)
Red Solid Lizard | -10
Betel
Shayla
Boltblade (Slowed 1) (Fort DC 22)
Orange Mix

Welby and Drake are up!
Fort saves for Welby & Boltblade

Fort: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23

Welby save: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28
Drake save: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (15) + 11 = 26

Shrugging off the effects of the slow, Drake charges in and strikes at the red lizard.

"B-be careful, Drake..." Welby says.

◆◆◆ Act Together
◆ Drake - Stride
◆ Drake - Beak attack Piercing: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14 Dmg: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (6, 3) + 4 = 13
◆ Drake - Wing attack Bldg: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9 Dmg: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (2, 3) + 4 = 9
◆ Welby - Protect Companion

Drake is still slowed from before, so only 3 actions total. I'll skip the wing attack.

Boltblade and Welby avoid getting any worse

Welby protects Drake as they head up and miss with their beak.

The Red lizard tries to take a bite out of Boltblade before staring down Drake.

chompers vs Boltblade: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30
piercing: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (8, 5) + 4 = 17

Critically biting into the Kobold who catches a glance, but doesn't get any worse from that at least.

Initiative:
Blue Dash Lizard
Welby +
Drake (Slowed 1) (Fort DC 22)
Red Solid Lizard | -10
Betel
Shayla
Boltblade (Slowed 1) | 27/61
Orange Mix

Betel, Shayla and Boltblade are up!
Fort DC 22 for Drake

Boltblade squaks a sound very unbecoming of a powerful draconic gladiator in his pain but tries his best to shake it off and turns back to the red basilisk.

He tries an extra big swing at it once again!

Dual Handed khopesh assault: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (7) + 16 = 23
Slashing: 2d10 + 4 ⇒ (9, 10) + 4 = 23

And then he reaches out to shake its neck while going in for another slash.
Snagging khopesh strike: 1d20 + 16 - 5 ⇒ (3) + 16 - 5 = 14
Slashing: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (6, 7) + 4 = 17 If it hits the Solid Red is Off-Guard as long as it stays in my reach.

"Owwwww..."

It's getting awfully crowded in there. And I don't have Mom's favorite go to spell - Force Bolts or whatever it's called now

But I do have THIS

She moves so she has a decent view of the combat then drops an Aqueous Orb behind Red before moving the Orb to engulf Red.

Red gets a Reflex save, DC 22

Betel: Aqueus Orb is a 10ft Diameter, so I included Orange for you as well and added it to the map.

Boltblade lands a powerful strike this time on Red, but misses their follow-up grab.

Reflex Red Solid: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9
Reflex Orange Mix: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

Both of the basilisks are engulfed and red seems to be having particular trouble.
Did you want to roll them anywhere, and/or try and pick up Blue too?

Initiative:
Blue Dash Lizard
Welby +
Drake (Slowed 1) (Fort DC 22)
Red Solid Lizard | Crit Engulfed | -33
Betel
Shayla
Boltblade (Slowed 1) | 27/61
Orange Mix | Engulfed |

Shayla still up! (And Fort DC 22 for Drake)

I know Shayla likely needs botting again, hoping to fully clarify Betel's turn before continuing though.

If I can - may as well.

The difference would be you you particularly wanted to move the first 2 away, you could decide to just roll back, If you don't want to send them anywhere and aren't worried about the orb getting stuck (since a save can end the orb movement), might as well try and grab the 3rd. Going to assume that's what you're doing.

reflex DC 22: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

The Orb rolls into Blue who pushes back, getting bumped to the side but stopping the orb.

Beep Boop

With 2 of the Basilisks stuck in the spin cycle Shayla steps forward to keep red in range and quick draws a pair of hatchets from their bandolier and tosses them.

+1 Striking Hatchet, 20' range vs red FF: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26
Slashing Damage + SA: 2d6 + 2 + 1d6 ⇒ (2, 4) + 2 + (1) = 9
+1 Striking Hatchet, MAP, Agile, 20' range: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16 for
Slashing Damage + SA: 2d6 + 2 + 1d6 ⇒ (6, 6) + 2 + (3) = 17

The first one hits, the second one misses, bloodying the Red lizard.
Step, Quick Draw, Quick Draw

--

The Orange Mix Basilisk tries to swim free
swim DC 10: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (15) + 13 = 28

It gets loose and glares at Betel in retaliation.

Initiative:

Blue Dash Lizard
Welby +
Drake (Slowed 1) (Fort DC 22)
Red Solid Lizard | Crit Engulfed | -42
Betel (Fort DC 22)
Shayla
Boltblade (Slowed 1) | 27/61
Orange Mix |

Blue Dash Lizard up, I'll get to them within the next few hours, botting Drake's save if needed since it's important for Blue's turn.

Fort DC 22 for Drake and Betel.

fort: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24