GM Jhaeman's PFS1 Module: "Curse of the Riven Sky"

Game Master Jhaeman

Farrokh ponders the terrain to get a sense of how long this journey will take.

@Farrokh: It's hard to judge how long it will take to get to the top because the upper part of the mountain is completely obscured by the stationary clouds. (in other words, you can't tell how tall it is) The road is steep, however, which although making the climb more arduous, it should deliver you at least to the edge of the clouds after a couple of days' hiking (depending on the slowest PC's speed).

@Everyone: The Venture-Captain's briefing did not indicate any rush, but just so I can keep track of time and distance traveled, what is the speed of the slowest PC?

Adeah's base speed is 30 ft, but she doesn't really have any way of increasing it (although she has 5 rounds of freedom of movement per day).

Farrokh's base speed is also 30ft (or 40ft when using overland flight).

Anthys has a base speed of 30' (even in heavy armor).

Xilt and Tzleztor will both have a fly speed of 40.

@GM Jhaeman - Please note the Contingency and Mirror Image pairing (mentioned below) and see if the trigger is acceptable to you.

Overnight Buffs

Tzleztor:

Endure Elements (24 hours)
Mage Armor (26 hours, CL 13, Extended)
False Life, 26 hours, CL 13, Extended: 1d10 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17
Ablative Barrier (26 hours, CL 13, Extended)

Xilt:

Endure Elements (24 hours)
Mage Armor (26 hours, CL 13, Extended)
False Life, 26 hours, CL 13, Extended: 1d10 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16
Ablative Barrier (26 hours, CL 13, Extended)

Life Bubble (26 hours, CL 13)

Contingency (11 days CL 11, linked with Mirror Image CL 13)
The Mirror Image spell will trigger any time Xilt is targeted with an attack.

Casting spells right now on Xilt

Overland Flight CL 11, 11 hours

Heightened Awareness, CL 11, Extended. 3 hours 40 minutes

Prestidigitation

Message spell on the entire party.

Here's the dice rolls for the spells Farrokh cast on himself:

false life THP: 1d10 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16
lucky number: 1d20 ⇒ 19

As no one has specifically requested particular overnight spells from Farrokh, he will use the second casting of Life Bubble on Berato. Thinking about the other spells in theory if Berato used Blessing of Fervor Farrokh could use the extend meta magic from that to cast Delay Poison on another 3 people, alternatively he can give the whole party Lucky Number.

Incidentally would Xilt have been open to exchanging spellbook spells? If so then Farrokh would definitely be interested in Ablative Barrier and would have cast the extended version of that on himself as well.

Channels used before Berato's bedtime each day if any are leftover: 2 consecrated warhammers (one on Berato and one on Anthys) to each produce one 1/2 dmg 5d6 channel smite (Will DC 17 for 1/4) vs. undead; sanctified shield +1 sacred bonus to AC

The Pathfinders begin the ascent. After several hours of laborious trudging up the steep track, night begins to fall and the wind picks up. Yet still the clouds shrouding the peak's top refuse to budge!

@Xilt: Yep, sounds good to me and you tick the box on having the focus.

@Everyone: Thanks for the speed info--it looks like the standard 30' will be your pace. Nothing happens during the day's walk or evening meal.
Now's a good time to establish your night routine; I gather you'll be in a rope trick -type of shelter with Tzleztor and maybe someone else watching?

Berato goes to bed after 6 bells and wakes at 2am to be on watch for 4 hours. He prepares the group's breakfast between 6 and 7am. He then prays for spells from 7 to 8am.

Just prior to going to sleep Farrokh casts his usual set of overnight spells.

@Everyone: Let me know if you want Farrokh to cast any of the overnight spells on you that I mentioned in my previous post. If any of them are not needed it will reduce the number of spell slots I need to leave free so I will be able to fill them up with other spells.

Secure in their infra-dimensional shelter, the Pathfinders find the night passes without incident.

Day 2. Usual new day routine: mark off a ration, heal hit points equal to your level, regain spells & daily use abilities.

The road up the mountain--such as it is--has been entirely free of other travelers.

But now, about six hours into the climb on the second day, four massive humanoids coifed in chain hauberks and carrying gigantic clubs studded with nails and barbs can be seen trudging up the road ahead.

Each is accompanied by a spike-collared wolf the size of a small horse. A fifth wolf, closer to the size of an elephant and draped in chain armor, walks ahead of the group.

A group of bulging, bald men--large, but smaller than the armored giants--brings up the rear, carrying something large and heavy between them. It looks like a pallet of boulders! They’re wearing the same spiked collars as the wolves.

"Would these be employees of the cloud giant we're supposed to make friends with? or do you think said cloud giant would like to see these taught a lesson?" ponders Berato, aloud...

"Hard to say. I vote we keep our distance for now, though-- I'd hate to have to face those clubs in a fight. Maybe we can follow them and find out what they're up to. I don't imagine this way gets a lot of foot traffic."

Where are they heading in relation to where we're heading? Are they moving away from us, or towards?

@Adeah: They're ahead of you, also moving up on the road. (so you're coming up behind them) They're moving a little slower than you (20') because the pallet of boulders.

"A wise vote I'd say. No need to kick the hornet's nest then. Do you think you can get us around unnoticed Adeah?"

Spotting the group up ahead of the party Farrokh sees if he can recognise what any of the creatures are...

Knowledge (armoured giants): 1d20 ⇒ 1 +8 assuming it would be knowledge (local)?
Knowledge (wolves): 1d20 ⇒ 11 +21 assuming it would be knowledge (nature)?
Knowledge (big wolf): 1d20 ⇒ 1 +21 assuming it would be knowledge (nature)?
Knowledge (bald men): 1d20 ⇒ 4 +8 assuming it would be knowledge (local)?

"That sounds sensible to me." adds Farrokh "If we decide we do need a route around them I guess one option would be for those of us who can fly to carry those who can't past them, especially if flying would allow us to shortcut bends in the road.". He looks at the surrounding terrain to see if that would be a viable option.

"If anyone is feeling especially inquisitive or sneaky, I suppose there is also the option of having someone go and spy on them to see if there are any clues as to what they are up to. But I'd think if they are doing any talking it would be in their own language and also that those wolves probably have a great sense of smell."

Out of interest, how far are we from the edge of the cloud surrounding the peak? Would I be correct in thinking that we still have a day or so to go before we reach it?

The group discuss how to deal with the new development as Farrokh studies the scene carefully.

@Farrokh: Your best guess is about two hours' walk to the edge of the cloud layer.

@Everyone: Thanks for the speed info--it looks like the standard 30' will be your pace. Nothing happens during the day's walk or evening meal.

Now's a good time to establish your night routine; I gather you'll be in a rope trick -type of shelter with Tzleztor and maybe someone else watching?

Adventurers sleeping safely in a pocket dimension every night is just too weird of an AD&D-ism for me and feels beyond what a 2nd-level spell should do, especially in comparison to something like Secure Shelter. So I tend to avoid it whenever possible, and Anthys just stays up all night with the benefit of a Keep Watch scroll. If it becomes absolutely necessary I will stay in the Rope Trick.

"If it comes to a fight, let's have them come to us and whittle them down from range. I won't go charging off ahead."

Xilt has a look at the assembled large creatures.

27 Knowledge local on a take 10 for the armoured creatures.
27 Knowledge local on a take 10 for the bald headed creatures.
24 knowledge nature on a take 10 for the large sized wolves.
31 knowledge Dungeoneering on a take 10 for the huge sized wolf (otherwise if this check is nature the result will be 24).

"I can easily turn invisible and spy on them if you like?"

"If it comes to a fight, let's have them come to us and whittle them down from range. I won't go charging off ahead."

"They are carrying a literal cartload of boulders... I think they'd be doing the whittling, methinks. Do we have a quiet fellow who could sneak up to disable the boulder cart team? coating the slope or pallet handles with oil perhaps? Xilt: can you make us all invisible or modify the topography with an illusion so we can all sneak up on them?"

"It looks like they have dire wolves with them." notes Farrokh now he can see them more clearly "Much more aggressive than normal wolves and great speed, sense of smell, plus ability to see in low light conditions. Definitely something to be cautious of if we want to do anything that involves avoiding their attention. The big one looks to be the pack leader."

"If we are thinking of interacting with them in any way, I think the first thing we need to do get some idea about who they are. Given we are traveling here to visit a giant, it would be unfortunate if we took some action that was perceived to be hostile, such as tampering with their cart, and then it turns out they are actually our potential allies."

"We also have the option of possibly just looking to avoid them, looking for options to get around them or making use of flight or similar."

"They are carrying a literal cartload of boulders... I think they'd be doing the whittling, methinks."

"With this shield of mine, I am not worried at all, and I can keep everyone else safe.

In a first test of the Pathfinders' ability to work together, various strategies for dealing with the giants are proposed: sneaking past, flying over them, interacting with them, sending in a spy, or preparing for a fight!

Good RP everyone--I always enjoy seeing different strategies discussed. We'll proceed once there's more of a consensus.

"Thinking about it from a practical point of view, I'm beginning to think that our best initial option here may be to see if we can just find an easy way of getting past them without interaction or too much expenditure of resources. Ultimately we are traveling this path to get to Zoarth's castle so if we don't need to interact with these other travelers, then perhaps simply avoiding them is a good option."

Looking at the terrain in the area and the route of the path, would there be any options for getting ahead of them without taking the main path (e.g. smaller paths that the bigger creatures can't use; switchbacks that we could use flight to take a shortcut up to etc...)? If not would simply having flying characters ferry the rest of the party past them look to be viable?

@Farrokh: There's only the one steep trail, but you could go off-trail (after all, you're going "up" so you won't get lost) at a reduced speed. Yes, flying looks to be a viable method of overtaking them.

Adeah shrugs. "It's fine with me, but I don't have any ways of getting around them except the old-fashioned way." She knocks her knuckles against one boot. "My wings aren't strong enough for this-- I'd have to strip down naked in order to leave the ground, and there's no way I'm doing that in this cold.

"I can cast a few invisibility spells, but not enough for all of us." (3 per day, and that would be all my 2nd-level spells.)

"I'd be able to fly and would be more than happy to ferry folk who doesn't have easy access to flight past them." Farrokh offers.

As the Pathfinders hurriedly discuss their best course of action, the giants continue trudging on, completely unaware of their presence!

Okay, it looks like the group is drifting toward flying past? I'll wait another 12 hours or so for objections and then assume that's the plan. If you need to work out logistics, you can RP here or sort it out OOC in the Discussion thread.

"If need be I could potentially carry multiple people per trip." the wizard adds after roughly sizing up the rest of the party.

Assuming everyone is good with the idea, Farrokh would cast Overland Flight on himself and could then carry any other party members who need it past the other group (ideally taking a route that avoids drawing their attention). In terms of pure carrying capacity he can fly with loads up to 700 lbs (his maximum heavy load).

Berato waits for the discussion to be over then motions everyone to get close, saying "Very well. Party flight capability, coming up!"

He proceeds to cast communal air walk on the entire group.

"I'm more than happy to carry people if you wanted to save that spell." Farrokh offers.

Farrokh will make use of his Overland Flight to get past the other group, so he wouldn't need to be included in the communal airwalk (allowing the duration to be spread over fewer people for a longer duration).

Between the astounding aerial magic of Farrokh the Strong and the divinely-gifts possessed by Berato, the Pathfinders are able to soar high above the marching giants! A couple of the armored figures look up and see you flying, but they don't seem to be the least interested and continue on their implacable route.

Leaving the giants behind, the flying Pathfinders draw closer and closer to what seems a veritable wall of thick, roiling fog--the densest you've ever seen!

The edge of the fog was two hours past the giants, so please adjust spell durations of communal airwalk and overland flight accordingly. There's probably an hour or two until sunset. I'll pause here in case there's anything special you want to do before plunging into the fog of utter annihilation mist.

Posting will be a bit spotty this week as I'm travelling.

Communal Air Walk is gone

Is this the same fog that obscured the mountain peak when we first arrived?

"Now that we're up close, is it possible to learn more about it?" Adeah asks Berato, Farrokh, and Xilt.

"I can check it for magic auras." Farrokh volunteers.

Farrokh will use detect magic to check for magic auras. If it picks any up he will see what he knows about the magic...

Knowledge (arcana): 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (11) + 21 = 32

Are there any other knowledge checks which could help us work out what this fog is?

Farrokh attunes his mystic senses to the unnatural fog that clings to the upper part of Mount Kellaris.

@Adeah: Yes, you've now reached the outer edge of the stationary cloud that that shrouds the peak.

"Interesting..." Farrokh mutters as he studies the magic auras. "It's more Xilt's area of expertise, but this seems to essentially be a very big and permanent version of the fog cloud spell. It shouldn't be harmful to enter, but it will block vision beyond things right next to you. Everyone will need to watch their step and stick together so that we don't lose sight of one another."

Assuming we plan on entering the fog, Farrokh will aim to cast mage armor on himself when the party is ready to head in.

"I guess we need to push on into the fog cloud in order to get to the castle. Is there anything anyone wants to do before we move forward, or shall we just head on in?" Farrokh asks the other Pathfinders.

Xilt nods at Farrokh's comments.

"The fog bank is clearly the work of the cloud giant mage. It will keep prying eyes out of his business."

"I have a spell that can pierce through the darkness allow me to see the world as a bat does."

@GM Jhaeman - Do we have any idea about the size of the cloud? I am trying to figure out how long it would take to fly through the cloud to the castle.

"The fog would actually be something of an advantage for us against any hostile giants, as their reach advantage would be negated.
I don't expect to be attacked, but it's just an observation.
I don't mind walking through the fog cloud."

The Pathfinders push into the mist. Ascending the mountain path through the cloud is like entering the densest fog ever encountered. The cliché about being barely able to see your hand in front of your face is quite accurate here!

Suddenly, the mists part. Standing at the pinnacle of the mountain, a truly remarkable sight rises overhead. A round castle of brass and glistening white stone floats amid and atop swirling clouds, rising like a massive pillar. Only a winding brass pathway, which starts at the mountaintop and swoops steadily upward, connects the castle with the ground.

@Xilt: From the edge of the cloud, it took 30 minutes at 30' speed to reach the peak where you are now.

@Everyone: The castle floats 150’ above the mountain peak; it is 280’ tall and 200’ in diameter. The brass walkway is 10' wide.

As the party exit from the from the fog Farrokh glances around, taking in the remarkable scene while also looking out for any other possible guardians or defenses that the castles owner may have set up to protect his privacy.

Perception: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (10) + 23 = 33

"Now that is impressive." he muses as he looks about him.

If he doesn't spot anything of immediate concern he will use detect magic around the area at the bottom of the brass walkway, to check for any sort of magical protections there.

"Now that is a castle." Adeah looks skeptically at the brass walkway. "Not looking forward to reaching it though."

Farrokh examines the area carefully while Adeah looks on skeptically.

"I don't detect any further protections or wards here." Farrokh confirms.

"That said, has anyone else noticed the way the walkway occasionally shudders, almost like it's suffering the aftershock of an earthquake? It doesn't seem to affect the ground here on the mountain, but it certainly appears to have an impact on the walkway itself."

"What's everyone's thoughts on getting up to the castle?" Farrokh asks noticing Adeah's skeptical glances at the walkway.

"Oh I'll do it," Adeah says defiantly. "I just said I'm not looking forward to it."

She steps up onto the brass walkway. Although it's plenty wide enough to walk without having to balance, Adeah spreads her wings anyway-- it is a long way to the ground.

Really wishing I had brought a flying potion or something.

Adeah starts climbing up the spiraling brass walkway, the other Pathfinders following behind.

Okay, I now need to know the classic D&D question: marching order! You can either sort this out textually in the Discussion thread, or if you want to do it visually on Slide # 4, that'll work too. (the ramp is 10' wide, so you can walk two-by-two if you wish instead of single file).

Anthys will take up position next to Adeah, making sure to stay out of the way of her wings. He has sword and shield in hand.

The soldier is impressed at the amount of magic and otherworldly capabilities on display in the group, a far cry from where he started with the Society.

Angels and wizards, and here I am a common grunt... wonder what Berato can do these days.