[GD13] PF2e - Q01 Sandstone Secret (P3) (Inactive)

Game Master UncleFroggy

Please dot (add a post) in here and then delete your post to add yourself to this campaign.

1) I am based in Southeast Asia (UTC +8) so my posting hours may be unusual (especially for those in North America). I usually update at least one or twice per day. Just to keep the game moving, please post at least once every day and at least once during the weekend.

2) Please keep all posts and communication in all channels limited to a PG-13 level and be both positive and inclusive.

3) Please label all three of your actions. Even if you think what you are doing is obvious.

4) If I am unavailable for longer than 24 hours, I will let you know in the Discussion Tab. Out of respect for your fellow players and myself, I ask that you do the same. Real life happens, and real life will always take priority over the game, but out of fairness for your fellow players, please let us know if you will be unavailable for an extended period of time.

5) Please note that on the following days, my posting can get unpredictable:
Tuesday/Thursdays - all day, as they are the 2 busiest days of my work week

6) Please complete the Macros and the Slides linked at the top of the page.

7) Questions, concerns? Feel free to share them in the Discussion tab.

8) Let's have some fun and tell a great story together! After all, that's what we are here for.

A colorful-haired gnome dances her way to the mission, moving with a lightness that makes it seem as if she’s floating with every step. Her eyes are always gazing up at the stars, even in the daylight, lost in wonder at the vastness of the cosmos.

When she notices the others, she gracefully shifts her focus to them and introduces herself.

“You can call me Sybille, sybil of the cosmos. I read the stars above to determine our fate,” she says with a twinkle in her eye. She pauses, her gaze returning to the sky, and points upwards. “I think we will all be safe; the stars are telling me so,” she adds with a confident smile, her belief in the stars evident in her cheerful demeanor.

The shaded gardens outside the Sandswept Hall provide a welcome respite from the sweltering midday sun. Venture-Captain Norden Balentiir reaches up to one of the date palms overhead, pulling down a bunch of ripe fruit to share with the table. "[b]They’re good for much more than shade, my friends. But I did not call you here to enjoy my garden. A few months ago, I finally received confirmation that we would be able to execute one of the last excavation permits issued by the Osiriani government. The site is a desert location where the dunes have shifted, revealing the beginnings of a staircase leading down beneath the sands.

Go ahead and introduce yourselves

"Huh?" Nhorri, a young human woman, jerks her head as she drags her focus away from daydreams to the task at hand. Again. Anyone who's traveled with her to this site has surely come to expect this behavior, and possibly dread having to repeat everything to catch her up on what she missed.

Once she knows what's going on, she asks: "Do you know what might be in there?"

"They didn't tell us yet" Viladara said in accent many don't recognize. She is young but talented average looking elf expect for multicolored, but mostly black hair. Her companion Wodan, who is brown cat she found as a kitten is trying to get Nhorri's attention by rubbing it's head to her legs.

"Wodan, leave the lady alone" Viladara says with self-learned wild empathy

Well hi everyone. The Najagi shy's away knowing his race can be an outcast to most. I hope to help.

A housecat lounges on one of the chairs, while a songbird sits perched on the arm.

The cat seems fairly ordinary, aside from following the bird around. The bird is larger than one might expect, around the size of a crow. But what really sets her apart are the spectacles, the messenger bag tucked under her wing, and the black pointed cap (it's traditional).

"This place is too hot!" squawks the bird, gratefully accepting the fruit.

"It's the sun," says the cat with a yawn, "It's supposed to be that way."

"Why do people build cities here? Anyway, exploring ruins sounds exciting. I've only read about that before.
"Hello all, relatively new to this field agent thing. I used to be a librarian['s pet]. When the old boss retired--"

"She exploded."

"--I had to take over for her, and I've been working on that with the Society. I'm Whistle Wit, or you could call me Whistle Witch because that's what I am."

"You're not funny."

"My cat here is called Whisker, but I also call him Feather's Fall sometimes. It's a bit of a joke, because I used to be afraid of him. You know, Before."

"I told you she's not funny."

"Maybe tomorrow you don't get to talk."

Looking up at the others again, the bird adds, "Oh, and as long as I'm alive Whisker can't really die. He'll always come back the next day, which is just like a cat. So don't worry about him."

"I would still prefer not to die at all."

"Don't worry about him as much."

"...better."

"The Osiriani government is protective of its cultural history, and with recent changes in their stance on allowing foreign archaeologists to work inside their borders, I wasn’t sure this permit would even stand. The bureaucracy was rather slow this time around, but it turns out we were approved before they stopped issuing permits. I’ve already secured your provisions, including camels, tents, food, water, tools to perform the excavation, and a map to the site. As you know, it may take many weeks to clear the site of debris. The desert can be unforgiving, so don’t hesitate to return here to rest as needed.

"[b]The government has already sent guards to oversee the site and protect against any potential thieves. Remember—keeping up a good reputation in Osirion is vital to the Pathfinder Society’s continued presence here. Don’t antagonize the guards."

If you need equipment or anything, now would be the time to get them.

[b]"I'm really sorry if I missed it, but what are we actually going to do? I'm a bit lost. Wodan, seriously. you're going to harm her."[b/] (lost in and out of game. I don't know what were doing or what I'm suppose to do, help.) Viladara asks respectfully.

"All you need do is map the site of the excavation. As always, be prepared for anything although there shouldn't be anything dangerous inside."

Of course, if you've played Q15 (In the Footsteps of Horror), you know how deceptive that can be! :)

"Huh?" Nhorri just missed the reiterated explanation because she was cooing and cuddling with Wodan. Only now does she realize the sounds she'd been hearing were people talking. She gawks at Whistle Wit and Whisker for a moment before realizing she's doing so. "Uh, hi? Sorry, I'm...really absent-minded," she mumbles.

Wodan squirms in her arms, and she jumps, as if she'd already forgotten that she was holding a cat. "Oh, sorry." She sets down Wodan and glances around sheepishly.

"Shouldn't be, but checking for it is a big part of our job, isn't it? Though no need to send scholars after," says the bird with confidence, "I'm an expert, after all. Sort of."

"This is my first quest with Pathfinder Society. I have only been exploring caves. I have not tried to explore excavations. But the stars tell me not to worry," the colorful gnome tells them, confident about the star's guide to her.

I think Sybille has everything she needs.

As you prepare for your journey, an aide walks up to the venture-captain and whispers into his ear.

"Ah. It appears one of you, Viladara, did not complete the necessary paperwork needed for this journey. It won't take long, you just need to fill in this form HERE."

Your journey to the archaeological site is relatively uneventful. With the supplies provided by the venture captain, you have plenty of resources to handle the desert’s most basic threats. You travel at dusk and dawn, resting during the day when the sun is at its hottest. When you arrive at the ruin, find that the ruin’s entrance has already been excavated. The staircase leads down to a torchlit chamber. A canvas fence secured around staircase keeps most of the sand away from the opening. Nearby, a guard named Elrekah sits under a tarp, humming to herself to stave off boredom while two additional guards nap in the shade, resting with four camels.

"More Pathfinders? You should be ashamed of yourselves, arriving after the hard work has been done."

"Huh?" Nhorri is confused. Again. Did I miss something? I *tried* to pay attention the whole time. I really thought I did! I could swear we were the only ones... She looks around at the others on her team, hoping one of them will clear things up without her having to explain how much she missed.

"Well now. That's exactly why a large organization has a team of agents with diverse skills. I'm not especially suited to manual labor on a human-sized scale as you can see. I'm more of a scholar and--hang on, that doesn't make sense! Venture-Captain Balentiir said that he'd only just heard our permit was issued. He didn't specifically say we're the first team here--" Whistle Wit looks over at her cat, who shakes his head--"but it was strongly implied. Maybe we're at the wrong excavation site."

She rustles in her bag and withdraws the document. "Here miss, can you confirm we're in the right place?"

"And what do you mean more Pathfinders? I thought we were the first ones to explore here." Selena chimes in and asks the guard.

Relief floods Nhorri. Oh whew! It's not just me. ... But if they're not us, then who could they be? "Uh, so... How many others are in there?" She asks the guard.

"You are at the right place. The head Pathfinder arrived last week and is cataloging the site. The previous team was here for a week excavating and clearing the sand. They left when the job was done. But then, what do I know? I'm just a guard. Your permit appears to be in order so I guess you can all go in..."

"[b]Well, it's not like we can do anything else. I don't know how this happened and I don't think anyone else does either.[b/]So, like, now we go in?

"[b]Well, it's not like we can do anything else. I don't know how this happened and I don't think anyone else does either.[b/]So, like, now we go in?

Vilarara, the closing tag for bold is [/b :)

The head Pathfinder arrived, cool, which one to be specific? What was his/her name? Just curious if it was the President, vice president or one of the CEO's which is why I ask if he/she identified him/herself.

"There's a head Pathfinder in our ranks?" Sybille asks her allies to confirm.

Whew, still made it in time! A well-tusked, muscular, slightly hunch-backed Orc wearing armor and a shield on his wide back catches up on you, sweating and a bit out of breath. In stark contrast to his grey chainmail and the dark-green color of his skin, a bright golden flower, as if ablaze, is neatly but amateurishly painted on his shield. He's covered in sand and pats it off with heavily calloused hands, whirling up a small cloud among you.

"Head Pathfinder? Here? Trug didn't know Pathfinders dig in the dirt! But Trug's used to it. That's Trug's name: Trug. Pleased to meet ya."

He almost stumbles over the two cats he just barely spotted. Then he stares at the bird with spectacles and a cap on and scratches his right tusk, confused. "Hmph... Trug was gonna go with you all but missed the appointment. Trug barely caught up, but he made it." 'Nuff talk!, he thinks.

"Called himself Durvin Kline. He's still in there so you better go help 'em. Isn't that one of your mottos? 'Explore, Cooperate, or somethin' like that?"

Heading into the site, you find yourselves in what used to be the entryway.

Several of the pillars in this once-grand entryway have collapsed. The statues around its edges depict scarab beetles.

The Southern section is not used in this adventure so ignore the southern door.

Some members of the party have decided on a counter-clockwise exploration pattern so I'm going to assume you're going through the northern passageway. Who pulls the door open -- there are 2 of you now in the front line? :)

Kaya looks back at the party. Durvin Kline. No it can't be, the guard must have misheard or is confused. Anyway, maybe we should ask for the name when we see this guy. Or group of guys assuming more than one went down.
He then moves up, I'll open this door when you are all ready, I wonder where he is.

Society: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

"Is Eando married? Or does he have a brother? Hm. Oh, careful there. Scarab beetle iconography like that represents death. It's common in tombs."

Whistle Wit flutters over to take a closer look at the scarab design. And then quickly, if reluctantly, returns to formation. "Right, sorry. We need to find this 'head Pathfinder' first."

"Who? ... Oh, is it that one guy who talked a lot?" Nhorri mumbles, looking around blankly at the tomb. When Whistle Wit mentions scarab beetles representing death, she asks: "Um... Does that mean there's a curse? I...don't remember that lecture from training."

"Not all tombs are cursed! In theory. But cursed places are often tombs. And tombs aren't the only places associated with death."

Sybille shrugs about Eando for being married or having a brother because she does not know the answer. Not wanting in the frontline, Sybille moves behind everybody and lights up her Wayfinder to shed light around her. She also conjures an orb of light ahead of them to give light into their path forward.

Sybille's light reminds Nhorri that she can't see much of anything in the dark. "Oh! Right. Thanks!" On a previous mission, she was the only one who couldn't see in the cave, and she hadn't even thought to bring a torch.

Kaya pulls open the door.

The carvings in the floor glorify Akmajet, showing him leading an army of undead against a city. The carvings represent a grandiose fantasy rather than a historical event.

I'm doing to use Kaya as a 'you are here' marker. If there's combat, I'll move the entire party into the room.

Society: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

"Oh, gruesome. Perhaps ominous. But sorry, I don't think I'm familiar with this story."

I won't roll Recall Knowledge because I'd say, Trug knows next to nothing about Garund, let alone a specific nation.

Trug listens to his companions' concerned words and follows Kaya into the room. Eando? Durvin Kline? Trug only knows Calvin Kline, makes good groin guards.

However, the talk about cursed tombs and death icono-something irks him. As he notices that everything in here is dark save for Sybille's light orb, he asks irritated: "If another Pathfinder's still workin' in here, why wouldn't they make light?" He scratches one of his tusks. "Or are they an Orc who can see in the dark?"

And as he also finds the carvings of undead in the wall, he grows more alert. Trug draws his shield from his back (Exploration: Defend). "Trug doesn't like undead. Trug likes undead armies even less", he mumbles through gritted tusks.

I won't roll Recall Knowledge because I'd say, Trug knows next to nothing about Garund, let alone a specific nation.

Trug listens to his companions' concerned words and follows Kaya into the room. Eando? Durvin Kline? Trug only knows Calvin Kline, makes good groin guards.

Good thing I'm not drinking coffee (or anything)... I'd be choking on it laughing... :)

Undead have this annoying hobby of being skeletons. And skeletons are wickedly good against our usual weapons. I've lost count of times my bow was almost useless.

Does not have society trained or speak the language. Well he ain't here. We can all identify and look at these things if we want later. We can spend a moment, a short while identifying stuff and enjoying history, but we do have to find this guy before he leaves. Once we do, we can take our time here and enjoy history or rather come back to these rooms and the sites.
With that, you can all make your checks or read the language or roleplay the room, but Kaya is roleplaying find him before he is gone. Kaya moves up north to try to find this guy ASAP, or group of guys that went in.

Nhorri is glad to have Trug along. He speaks good sense. And the carvings of undead sure are creepy. She shudders. "I'm with you on not liking the undead, Trug. Too many close calls. Let's just find the head guy and report in, then he can tell us where to start working."

Still occasionally eyeing the carvings with a grim expression, Trug nods and follows. "Let's."

DC 15 Society: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

Nothing comes to Sybille's mind. She instead lets her light wander around the room to look for something they can observe further to report back to Society.

You proceed through the northern door.

The colorful pits in this room are each 5 feet deep. They were once filled with embalming fluids, but the liquid within has evaporated over the centuries, leaving a powdery residue.

"...Gross. What was in there?" Nhorri comments, looking into a pit.

Untrained Crafting: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

"Embalming fluids," says Whistle Wit, fluttering over to the edge of the pit and peering in. "These aren't friendly to living bodies. We could mix that powder into some water to make some makeshift acid flasks. Who wants one?"

Most of us aren't proficient with martial weapons, though.

"Trug should fight in the front, mainly." The Orc lovingly pats his shield.

Viladara and Kaya should be good at it, right? Up to you, I don't really want it but can take one.

Oh, yes I'll take one and thanks for mixing that up Whistle.

"Uh, sure. Can't hurt, right?" Nhorri accepts an DIY acid flask, though whether or not she should be trusted with a dangerous fluid is up for debate.

Btw, what's the rule for opening spoilers? If someone in the party has passed the check, can everyone open it?

Question for the GM: What are those squares with brown "orbs" on them? (two in the previous room, another two in this room)

Kaya moves onto the next room, hoping he finds that guy. Well we got to mix things, I hope this guy is taking all day long. If he has been here a week, I'm sure he'll be here another few hours, we should have probably asked to guard to make sure he waits outside. I'm sure we all want to meet this Pathfinder guy. But more importantly, was the guy foolish enough to go in alone? What happens if there is a cave in and he gets hurt?

"Then we rescue him!" Nhorri quips brightly, following the group to the next room.