(PF2 - Gameday XIV) @ “Claws of the Tyrant” part one “Gravelands Survivors”

Game Master rainzax

Esoterica Lore w/ Diverse Lore modifier: 1d20 + 8 - 2 ⇒ (9) + 8 - 2 = 15

Barlespin looks the jar over curiously. "I think that is a canopic jar ... but you'd have to look inside to see what it contains inside of it."

...and so, the party decides if they want to stick their hand inside of the mysterious canopic jar...

...specifically, who will be brave enough to try...

"Well, the secret was entrusted to me. So, now that we've opened the chest, it's my duty to see this through."

Marius carefully reaches into the jar and attempts to pull out its contents.

Squishy watches with eager anticipation as Marius lifts the contents from the chest, a canopic jar, according to Barlespin, along with whatever has been sealed within it.

Marius pulls out... ...an obsidian organ... ...with a symbol of a winged rapier on it... ...and a "heavy" glow...

DC 15 Medicine: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

"Hmmm..." Squishy mutters. "The organ is shaped like a lung."

Barlespin nods to Squishy, then looks over the symbol to try to identify it.

Esoterica Lore w/ Diverse Lore modifier: 1d20 + 8 - 2 ⇒ (2) + 8 - 2 = 8

... but doesn't have any success at that.

Occultism: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

Nor does his magical knowledge provide any insight into the types of magic at work here.

"I got nothin' else, I'm afraid."

Malendyl has been silent through all of this. On the one hand, Marius holding back possibly vital information was infuriating. On the other hand, he doesn't know if he would've acted differently. It clearly weighed heavily on Marius' mind.

He's surprised when a withered lung emerges from the jar. Why would this be so vitally important to keep hidden?

Religion: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13

The symbol on the lung is clearly important, but he has no idea of its origin.

Religion for magic: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13

He tries to get a feel for the magic radiating from weird item, but he also comes up blank. Malendyl grinds his teeth. He's supposed to be smart, why isn't a plan forming yet?

Malendyl remains silent after examining the object. He doesn't want to disappoint the rest of the group by speaking up, but frustration is clear on his face. Eventually, he speaks up about something else.

"So, by sharing this with us, I guess we're all your seconds now? Hope I can live up to the expectation."

Religion check: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

”A lung. And the holy symbol of Arazni. I don’t understand if or how they are connected.”

"Well don't look at me. I have no clue." Agnes gives an exaggerated shrug.

Oh, I have an out of character idea. Someone try to identify that magic aura!

Marius's condition takes a turn - possibly for the worse.

Marius - please immediately roll your Fortitude save!

The party continue to marvel at the... lung?

Hero Points are still on the table to fully Identify the Organ

Jystolo turns to Barlespin "Is there any food?"

I need someone to track party rations! I am presuming you feed all the Survivors tonight, who haven't eaten since yesterday evening!

Malendyl manages to find some scavengables (Success), while Marius brings home something that get's everyone sick (Critical Failure)!

Hero Points are still in play to Subsist! Malendyl and Marius, would you please describe the outcomes of your checks?

Rokvel finishes tranfering the rune and hands the sword back to Red "Whaddya think, lassie?"

And the party prepares to bed for the night!

To Do:
0) Any outstanding business above... plus:
1) Are you sleeping in your armor?
2) Tomorrow, how will help lead the party away from Yua's Hope? (See Discussion)
3) To where?

Oh, I have an out of character idea. Someone try to identify that magic aura!

From what I can tell, we don't have anyone with either detect magic or read aura, let alone both of them, so that would take a DC 15 tradition check ... which I failed. You do appear to have +6 on Arcana & Occultism, though, so I'd say give it a go.

I need someone to track party rations! I am presuming you feed all the Survivors tonight, who haven't eaten since yesterday evening!

I'll take care of that ... will show my work on the Discussion tab, and add food status onto my tracker.

Once anything related to the group activity on investigating the lung is over, Barlespin slips out of his gear, using the loaded backpack and satchels as cushions for his sleep, and then pulls off the scale mail armor and buckler, leaving it sitting out in each reach next to his weapons, amulet, and esoterica.

He glances around. "Did we identify all of the magical items we've found today?" I think we had an unidentified trinket and mace, perhaps? Anything else (other than the lung)?

"Well, for tomorrow, we've got a handful more places to go ... then on our way out of town ... The General Goods store, The Open Pot, the Brewery ... and then head out over the Bridge, unless we want to give a crack at that swarm of zombies at the Inn."

"Once we cross the Bridge, who has the best sense of the terrain to lead us in the right direction ... hopefully to make out way out of this nightmare territory. I'll be busy tending to ..." He nods over toward the sleeping Jystolo nearby.

The night passes without event.

Anyone who slept in their armor is Fatigued today - let me know if you will be doing this moving forward either way (I rolled for random encounters, came up empty)

And then, there is a sound.

It starts slow, soft, barely audible, and in fact, never actually much more than that, only a slow, soft, but persistent and steady increase in volume, almost entirely below the audible range of hearing.

And then you see it: a sea of zombies washing slowly over the horizon, coming from north, south, and west (see Map), first one, then a couple, then a few, then several, then many, then many more, a hoarde, a throng of zombies shambling your way!

Synopsis (Three Options)
One: You may spend your morning exploring the remainder of Yua's Hope, sacrificing some time setting up Camp tonight (◆), but will first have battle zombies prior to exploring each location. The first location will be 1d6 zombies (Trivial-ish) , the second 2d6 zombies (Moderate-ish), the third 3d6 zombies (Severe-ish), and so on...
Two: Alternatively, you can abandon Yua's Hope (and the prospect of extra discoverable resources), and head over Eastlane Bridge (A10), out into the hinterlands beyond...
Three: Or, you can try to "wait out" the horde (anyone who has Scouted before knows this happens from time to time, sometimes lasting between a day and a week or so). Mechanically, it would be a Skill Challenge with a catastrophic Critical Failure outcome...

DC 15 Occultism: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13
Hero Point! DC 15 Occultism: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

"It carries a powerful aura… definitely seems like an artifact." Squishy mutters as they continue examining the object, trying to piece its nature together.

"Arazni… lung… artifact…" they murmur under their breath—until a sudden realization strikes.

"This must be the fabled Lung Bloodstone of Arazni!" they exclaim.

----

Before they go to sleep, Squishy undons their armor and puts it back first thing in the morning. They then cook Lastwall soup for her allies, and prepares the remaining as ghost charges.

Everyone may now open the final spoiler HERE!

The party discovers the artifact, but...

...will anyone dare wear it?

Please declare Daily Preparations!

Barlespin looks over the lung. "Interesting ... So, Marius, not sure of the rules of your order regarding using an artifact of another deity, but in this specific case ... again, feel free to correct me ... I would think lashing out with retributive pain goes a bit against Iomedae's edicts. Likely why Constan kept it locked away. So, you want to lock it back up or entrust it to someone?"

Assuming no one here is a worshipper of Arazni (or favored by her) since that would be the best person to hold it.

Once rested, Barlespin gets up in the morning and dons his armor again.

He checks that none of his traps have been sprung overnight, then disables them, using any salvageable parts along with those in his snarecrafter kit to build his four snares for the day. "I'm going to focus on slowing them down ... No time to dally this morning, I don't think. Let's head straight for the bridge, and I'll set these up to slow those who would follow after us ... unless someone has a way to actually destroy the bridge behind us."

Marius's condition takes a turn - possibly for the worse.

Marius - please immediately roll your Fortitude save!

Fortitude Save: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21

Hero Points are still in play to Subsist! Malendyl and Marius, would you please describe the outcomes of your checks?

Marius scrounges around the nearby bushes for some berries and root vegetables. Thinking that they are safe, he shares them with the party. "These are slightly different than the ones I used to pick back home, but they seem safe to me. I ate several berries 10 minutes ago and haven't had any issues."

Marius responds to Barlespin's question. "If Father Constan knew about the chest's contents, he never told me. Though, you are correct. I wouldn't feel comfortable using this artifact myself - but I wouldn't stop any of you if you think it can be put to use." He turns to the others to see if anyone wants to claim the lung. "We should definitely lock it up and take it with us if no one wants it."

When the party sees the zombie swarm approaching the town, Marius suggests leaving town quickly. "While we could search the rest of the town and find useful items, I worry that that would allow the undead swarms to close the distance. Then, if we run into any issues on the road, we would have very wiggle room."

Now that the item's been identified, some background info I recall (might not be 100% accurate, but this is what I remember from my Tyrant's Grasp AP):
Arazni was a demigod and herald of Aroden. She got killed, and later raised by Geb as an unwilling lich, and had to serve as a ruler (again, unwilling). Her internal organs still possess the powers of a demigod and could be very powerful items, or indeed, artifacts, and have been spread apart to keep out of the wrong hands. Followers of Geb or the Whispering Way would be very interested in one of these items, for example.
Not sure what that all means now that she's alive and kicking again, but apparently the organs still hold great power.

I don't know if this is common knowledge or knowledge that is available to us after we've pieced those bits of information together, but I thought it was cool to share and might add some depth to the adventure.

Malendyl is silent once more once Squishy reveals what they know about the bloodstone.
"That's... quite a thing to keep locked away. I think I understand why Father Constan kept it hidden. But now we doubly need to make sure we get out of this alive; we need to deliver this to the nearest church to make sure it remains safe. If this falls in the wrong hands, who knows what might happen."

---

A bit back, after foraging (I thought the lung bit should be the first thing I post, for clarity):
Malendyl comes back after scrounging around for food. He looks quite pleased with himself, just shy of being smug.
"I thought we'd picked Yua's Hope clean of food after six years of raids, but apparently there's some bushes that hid some goodies from us."

He dumps an armful of thin root vegetables, berries, and mushrooms at Squishy's feet. "Think you can make some good soup or stew out of this? We'll need all our strength to get away from here as fast as possible."

---

The next day, when the horde of zombies appears on the horizon:
"I agree with Barlespin, let's not take any risks and get out of here as soon as possible. This bloodstone could be a powerful weapon in turning the tide, and I don't want any more survivors getting zombified if I can help it."

I'm not sleeping in my armour, but I will wear it during watch. It's only an AC difference of 1, so no huge loss if I get woken up naked.
No daily prep for me, I don't have any spells or consumables to prepare.

As for the question who wants to carry the lung:

"I follow the Acts of Iomedae, but I don't think she's the jealous type. I'm not completely up to date on Arazni's philosophies, but she seems sympathetic enough.
I still don't wanna carry the lung though, carrying a divine artifact on my person seems a little... much."

I'm not 100% sure when Arazni became a Core 20 deity. I think it was during the whole Godsrain shakeup, which we wouldn't know of. And even if we fudge that and say it happened during the transition from 1e to 2e, that's when we went underground, so still a bit of a gap in our information. I'm not even sure we know Arazni is an actual deity now. For all we know, she's still ruling as a lich in Geb.
That's all beside the point I guess, but fun to think about.

"Between my weapon and my implements and esoterica, I'm afraid I don't have an extra hand to hold it during a fight when it would come in useful." Being something of a hoarder of interesting esoterica, though, you can see it pains him somewhat to not claim the exotic artifact.

Thanks to Malendyl’s generous haul of vegetables, berries, and mushrooms, Squishy turns the soup into something truly delectable.

“If no one’s going to use it, I suggest we put it back in the chest and keep it safe.” They clearly also aren’t keen on using it.

The party decides to seize the day and prioritize travel - but first, they must exit Yua's Hope! They head to...

A10) Eastlane Bridge
A steep ditch marks the eastern border of Yua’s Hope, and the only eastbound road out of town crosses this bridge. Diligently maintained when it was first constructed, half a decade without repair has left the bridge as derelict as everything else in town...

...ahead, a large, solitary creature paces up and down the bank, marking it's territory. A bear!

The party decides how close to get to ascertain the threat!

Before rolling, you must decide on a distance:

Far Away: Take a -2c penalty to all skill checks below
Close: No bonus or penalty to skill checks below
Very Close: Take a +2c bonus to all skill checks below

Then, the party decides how to cross the bridge!

Options:
Direct Confrontation: Encounter mode, party gets a free "buff" round (no Strikes or spells w/ Defenses).
Indirect Confrontation: Skill Challenge to "lay a trap" of some kind followed by an Encounter (advantage / disadvantage based on outcome of Skill Challenge)
Non Confrontation: Using Stealth and other skills to bypass the bear (failure means Encounter where bear has advantage)
Quorum of 3!

"I think we can leave them be, getting past that bear and proceed to our destination if we can." Squishy suggests through whispering.

DC 15 Medicine with close inspection: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

"But that bear's undead. Look at that fatal wound." they point a putrid gash across its chest.

Religion +5 to recall one of its abilities.

I vote for Non-Confrontation, but can go Indirect to utilize Barlespin's traps.

If no one else wants it, Barlespin accepts the bloodstone lung, using it in place of the Pharasma religious icon in his Divine Disharmony attempts.

Seeing the bear, Barlespin mutters, "You have got to be kidding me. How in the Outer Rifts has that thing survived out here? Are we sure it isn't a zombie bear?"

For the identify check, I will invoke Exploit Vulnerability on the bear. I'd say we aim for "close" (assuming that is still on our side of the bridge)

Esoterica Lore DC 16: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

Barlespin shakes his head. "Can't make it out from here. Should we try from a little closer?"

Barlespin nods to Squishy. "Figures. I'm not good at sneaking, but if someone can tell me where to step, that extra helping of soup that Squishy forced down my throat this morning might come in handy."

Unfortunately, since I made 4 hampering snares, they just turn a 5-foot space into difficult terrain ... great for slowing them down on the bridge, but not as helpful against an undead bear in open terrain. So I'll set the snares as we cross, and then Follow the Expert to Sneak on the other side.

Earlier...

Rokvel finishes tranfering the rune and hands the sword back to Red "Whaddya think, lassie?"

Agnes takes the weapon and gives it a few practice swings. She nods approvingly. "This is excellent. Thanks Rokvel."

Now...

"Oh that poor bear. Do you think we can slip past?" Agnes draws Sir Karl's sword in case the answer turns out to be no.

I vote for non-confrontation

Squishy points out the "lethal" that would have killed any mammal - he can see right into it's torso, where it's missing entrails should be - and explains to the party that the bear is zombified.

Squishy / Party, go ahead and roll your own checks openly, and open the spoilers if you beat the DCs. If you'd like to move closer (to roll again), it will cost you a Hero Point, but you can apply the bonus (or remove the penalty) for the change in distance.

Squishy and Red Agnes think the best way would be to try and sneak by the Zombie Bear entirely.

Barlespin decides between wanting to Trap / Lure the bear and simply Sneaking right by it... (Must pick one - can't do both)... The rest of the party weighs in...

Quorum of 3!

"Look at how that bear is pacing back and forth. It's clearly got some intelligence left in it. I do not want to fight a bear, let alone an undead one. Let's try to sneak past, indeed. It'll be tricky to get everyone across, but it's our best bet against being mauled."

He watches some more, then murmurs to himself, "Maybe we can lead it away from the bridge, but someone will have to play bait. No, that's a terrible idea. If they get caught, it's one person versus a bear. Better to go as a group. Strength in numbers."

Agree on non-confrontation. That's number three.

Over the Bridge & Slipping By the Zombear
In an attempt to avoid direct confrontation, or fiddle with a some kind of risky bait and lure trick, the party tries to give the zombie bear that aggressively patrols the bridge area the slip... ...will they be able to pass unnoticed, or will the ferocious undead wood predator catch their scent?

➤ Level: 3 (base DC 18)
➤ DCs: Bear Stats @ Perception 18, Fortiude 18, Reflex 15, Will 16
➤ Complexity: 3 rounds (3 skill checks each, total)
➤ Timeframe: 6 seconds (think combat rounds)
➤ Synergies: Magic that could incapitate the bear or render a character undetectable by one of the bear's senses (invisibility vs sight, remove smell vs scent, etc)
➤ List of Skills: Everyone must roll at least 2x Stealth checks against the Bear's Perception, and may roll entirely with Stealth at their option. Or, a PC's third check may involve a different skill, with options including: Acrobatics (to Tumble, vs Reflex), Athletics (to Swim, vs Fortitude), Crafting (to Set a Snare, vs Bear's Defense), Deception (to Create a Diversion, vs Perception), Nature (vs static Level Three DC), Perception (vs unknown static DC), Survival (vs Will), or some kind of Animal Lore (vs static Level Three DC). For this third non-Stealth skill, for each repeated attempt of the same skill, add +1 cumulative to the DC of other players' attempts.

Success Thresholds: If the PC's don't score a majority of successes to failures, the Bear catches them, and we move into an Encounter, set by GM. Critical success / failure count double, as normal. If there are around 50% more failures as successes, the Encounter will be very unfavorable to the party. Otherwise, the party escapes!

Round One - the Party is Up!

Barlespin decides between wanting to Trap / Lure the bear and simply Sneaking right by it... (Must pick one - can't do both)

Sorry if I wasn't clear, I was voting for non-confrontation. I wasn't suggesting that we lure the bear into the traps. What I am saying is that I'll Follow the Expert for Stealth (I assume we have a Stealth expert), but when crossing the bridge I will set up my hampering traps, so any zombies in the horde coming our way from the town will be slowed down (even more than zombies are normally slowed). Or maybe I'm confused ... I thought the bear was on the other side of the bridge. Do we have to sneak past the bear to get onto the bridge?

DC 16 Religion: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8 to know the zombie bear's one of its abilities (Failure)
Squishy remembers nothing useful about the zombie bear, but they still need to get to the bridge.

DC 18 Stealth: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18 vs Zombie Bear's Perception (Success)
DC 18 Stealth: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12 vs Zombie Bear's Perception (Failure)

Their first steps are silent: perfectly placed, unnoticed. The second set isn’t as lucky; a twig snaps, and the zombie bear lifts its head.

DC 18 Undead Lore: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18 if allowed (Success)

Squishy freezes. They watch the creature’s unfocused stare and slow reactions, noticing how its attention drifts unless something keeps moving. Using that small insight, they stay perfectly still, letting its gaze slide past them before easing back into cover.

Once its head droops again, Squishy slips around its blind side and keeps low, using shadows and terrain to stay out of sight until they reach the bridge.

Agnes grips Sir Karl's sword tightly, keeping herself between the zombie bear and the rest of the survivors. She motions for them to go on ahead while she plays rear guard.

stealth: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

Marius tries to find a way to use the bear's nature to help them cross safely.

Nature check: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

"I've never been the quietest person. Here goes nothing."

Stealth check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21
Stealth check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13

Anchor Post

Barlespin @ (□□□) @ ??? (w/ ?)
Malendyl @ (□□□) @ ??? (w/ ?)
Marius @ (☑☑☑) @ ⭐⭐❌❌ (w/ Nature)
Red @ (☑□□) @ ❌ (w/ ?)
Squishy @ (☑☑☑) @ ⭐⭐❌ (w/ Undead Lore)

Running Total @ ⭐⭐⭐⭐❌❌❌❌

This could easily go either way!

Squishy manages to remain relatively unseen while Marius gets a luck break - some bush crinkling yonder muffling the sound of his armor. Keeping to the rear, Red stays behind, and the Survivors, one-by-one, cross the bridge...

...The zombie bear begins heading the party's way, sniffing the air...

Barlespin, Malendyl, and Red are Up!

Don't forget that the Lastwall Soup provides a +2 item bonus to Stealth vs. undead.

Looking at Malendyl's stats it looks like our rogue isn't a Stealth expert (yet), so I guess Follow the Expert isn't an option ... this should be interesting

The rotund tripkee loaded down with equipment does his best to creep past the zombie bear quietly ... but it's not a strong part of his skillset.

Stealth w/ Lastwall Soup item bonus: 1d20 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 1 + 2 = 13
Stealth w/ Lastwall Soup item bonus: 1d20 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 1 + 2 = 20

As he nears the bear, he picks up a small rock and hurls it at a bush in the other direction, hoping the rustling noise will draw the bear's attention away from the group.

Deception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28
W00t!

There is a crack and a snapping sound as the rock smacks hard into the bush.

Anchor Post

Barlespin @ (☑☑☑) @ ⭐⭐⭐❌ (w/ Deception)
Malendyl @ (□□□) @ ??? (w/ ?)
Marius @ (☑☑☑) @ ⭐⭐❌❌ (w/ Nature)
Red @ (☑□□) @ ❌ (w/ ?)
Squishy @ (☑☑☑) @ ⭐⭐❌ (w/ Undead Lore)

Running Total @ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐❌❌❌❌❌

This could still go either way!

Barlespin's trick works... ...the bear pursues the sound of the bouncing rock... ...a few more Survivors cross the bridge...

Malendyl and Red are Up!

Red is using stealth. I didn't realize that the soup gave us +2 stealth vs Undead. That would make her earlier 16 into an 18. Not sure if that would make a difference.

stealth r2: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 6 + 2 = 11

stealth r3: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 6 + 2 = 10
Hero point reroll
stealth r3: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 6 + 2 = 22

Agnes continues to be the rear guard. Unfortunately in her haste to get everyone across the bridge she proves to be less stealthy than she would like.

Short post, I'm on mobile and formatting a proper post is hell.
Yeah, I'm expert in Religion, sorry for no Follow the Expert. :(

Malendyl keeps on his tiptoes and watches over the group to make sure they don't make any sudden movements. Squishy's nutritious meal gives him confidence his stomach won't growl at an inopportune time.

Stealth check, Lastwall Soup bonus: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 8 + 2 = 26

Stealth check, Lastwall Soup bonus: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 8 + 2 = 27

Stealth check, Lastwall Soup bonus: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 8 + 2 = 28

Taking advantage of the distracted Zombear, Barlespin darts forward as quickly as his short legs will carry him, with Jystolo and the Brushpaw children hurrying behind him. He sees a steep incline of rocks with a vine along it. His stickytoe heritage and climbing skills coming in useful as he scurries over it and drags the children up and over to safety. The bear looks back, just barely missing the last of the small figures vanishing over the rocks.

From the safety of the other side of the rocks, Barlespin pants for a moment, then motions for the children to follow him as he proceeds along the path slowly, waiting for those sticking to longer and more stealthy routes to catch up, ready with his hand crossbow should any of them have a Zombear in tow.

survival, set camp: 1d20 ⇒ 16

Agnes does what she can to set up the camp for the evening.

New Year's Morning

The party successfully escapes Yua's Hope as the hoardes close in, evading the grasp of the zombie bear that lurked under the bridge. They take stock: Everyone seems to be alright. Once out to a safe distance, they party begin packing for a longer trip, to...

"Um. Where are we going?" asks Jystolo, having never seen beyond the four crypt walls of his childhood "home"...

Alyzo points out that "Look" he holds up his notebook "It has been exactly 6 years to the day since we fled into the crypts..." a couple others who had made some record of notch marks affirm it to be true "Happy new years, of sorts!" he tries to brighten the mood.

Agnes nervously rubs the hilt of Sir Karl's sword in her hand. "Vellumis is the closest settlement. Do you think they managed to hold out against the hordes?"