Smoosh... no more wiggling tongue undead creature.
bold may post:
round 1:
Oranji
round 2:
Patchouli will save needed
Sorgath
Constantin will save needed
Gavirius
wrapped up thing -28 HP
Tarlamera
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Orenjii moves closer to the mummy and hurls a card at it.
+1 within 30 ft.
+1 within 30 ft.
(Reaping Strike)
{LAW/NEU/CHA},{GOOD/NEU/EVIL},{STR/DEX/CON/INT/WIS/CHA}
"The Courtesan. Your days at court ended long ago, and your days despoiling Golarion end now."
Orenji and Patchouli dispatch the mummy.
The team is able to go investigate the ziggurat. This structure was the site of countless bloody rituals. Thesouthwest corner of the structure has collapsed, revealing an interior stone door covered in runes. Several lizardfolk bodies lie nearby. The lizardfolk guides cry out, proclaiming that Oosthic sent these lizardfolk to retrieve whatever lies beyond the door.
Before you can safely enter the chamber, you must disable its wards. Three magical wards protect the ziggurat from intrusion. The runes on the door give clues as to the nature of the wards. Patchouli and Gavirius can read the relevant language, so to keep things moving I will just reveal what the runes say.
The Blood Ward: These red runes read, “warm blood feeds the cold god.” Knowledge(religion) or Heal(harder) check to know more
The Mind Ward: These white runes read, “pure minds speak in silence.” Knowledge (arcana or history)
The Scale Ward: These green runes read, “false skin emboldens the true.” Knowledge (local or nature) or Bluff(harder)
Orenji knows that serpentfolk often sacrificed “lesser” creatures to their cruel gods. To deactivate this ward, a creature must touch blood taken from a warmblooded creature to the ziggurat.
(blood ward deciphered; the others fail; no, you can't retry.)
Mind Ward: Serpentfolk are masters of telepathy and view creatures lacking telepathy as beings fit only for servitude. Silence is sacred to them, and they prefer magical forms of communication. To deactivate this ward, a creature must use telepathy, sign language, or a supernatural or spell-like form of communication (such as message) to successfully communicate with another creature.
Scale Ward: Serpentfolk are masters of disguise, even using rituals to permanently alter their appearance. A creature must approach within 30 feet wearing a magical or non-magical disguise (including an altered form) and succeed at a Disguise check.
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"I should be able to help with the Mind Ward." note Constantin as he cleans bits of mohrg of from his morningstar with a rag.
He takes out a piece of copper wire, which he rubs between his figures while muttering something under his breath, granting everyone the power to pass messages more easily .
"I could also help with the Scale Ward in my present form, but I suspect my skills in disguise may let me down."
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Patchouli attempts to use her hands as stick-figure-animation-sign-language and spells out words to convey messages to teammates:
Silence, Watch, Me, Hand, Sign Language, Turn Off, Magic, Protection
She will also offers her Sleeves of Many Garments for those who are not completely oblivious to how to wear make up like Patchouli, to deal with the Scale Ward.
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Tarlamera glances around at the stalwart and upfront group around her, and swaps to her shield and axe, approaching the Ziggurat's wards. She adjusts her tiger mask, adds a few tufts of grass to her helmet as ears, then slices her arm with her axe and coats her fingertips in blood.
Letting out a somewhat strangled cat-like growl, she steps forward and presses her blood-coated hand to the ziggurat, whispering, through message, to the group, "Keep clear of the area, I'll set off whatever remains.
She waits a moment, then proceeds past the entrance.
Tarlamera, please take 1 HP damage for cutting yourself. I can't find any relevant rules, but that seems about right.
Assuming Constantin sends words through the message spell, that's two wards solved. I need to look at the scenario again before talking about the scale ward.
OK, this party is really not set up for a disguise check...
I'm going to bot some checks to move us forward.
(Tarlamera, for you to take the effect won't disable the ward, so everyone else would eventually take the same bad impace)
Patchouli has offered the loan of her magic sleeves and guidance.
Constantin will aid by pointing something helpful out.
(success)
So will Orenji
(nope)
And so will Tarlemera
(nope)
(I don't have a stat block or character sheet for Sorgath, so can't have him help)
Gavirius will take the main check, trying to disguise himself with Patchouli's sleeves and everyone else's help by trying to make suggestions.
The last ward is disabled.
The lizardfolk send for Oosthic. The door opens onto a chamber containing ancient tomes of magical knowledge. Oosthic shares some of these with the Pathfinder Society.
(do you want to do an extra combat in this area for a second success, or move on to another mission? Also, what mission next? It might save time if you can pick out a few more missions you'd like to do and in what order. I'll move forward as soon as there is some sort of consensus, rather than waiting for everyone to give an answer)
You almost for sure will not have time to do all of them. Probably half.
The repair teams have patched the rift beneath the Muckmouth. They discovered that the tapestry itself is generating massive amounts of necromantic energy around the rifts. The Muckmouth is secured!
Several more mummies stumble towards you.
bold may post:
round 1:
Gavirius
Constantin
Sorgath
Patchouli
Orenji
mummies
Tarlamera
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Constantin sighs seeing new foes approaching after most of his combat enhancements have lapsed. Looking to at least partially address this, he mutters more incantations, causing additional images of himself to appear once more ...
He then moves next to Patchouli and readies his longspear to skewer any foes attempting to approach .
They all take full damage, and due to weakness to fire are at -37 HP, so significantly injured.
Orenji-bot moves a little closer, but not so much closer as to be within range of the nasty aura, and then throws a card at red.
+1 within 30 ft.
(Reaping Strike)
{LAW/NEU/CHA},{GOOD/NEU/EVIL},{STR/DEX/CON/INT/WIS/CHA}
She misses.
The mummies all work their way up close to one of you. None of them are able to attack, because they had to double move.
Constantin's readied attack goes off.
Everyone in the party must make a DC 16 Will save or be paralyzed by fear for 1d4 rounds.
You may all act, although you need to make your will save at the start of your turn.
status:
green, yellow, orange -37 HP
red -53 HP
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Orenjii's mental subroutines prevent her from being frightened by the creatures. She hurls another card at the nearest enemy.
+1 within 30 ft.
+1 within 30 ft.
{LAW/NEU/CHA},{GOOD/NEU/EVIL},{STR/DEX/CON/INT/WIS/CHA}
"The Peacock. What beauty you had was lost when you left the grave. Return to it now."
Constantin finishes off red; Patchouli finishes off green.
Orenji's card strikes yellow.
status: yellow -54 orange -37
Gavirius, Sorgath, and Tarlamera may go, although it looks like Tarlamera has already moved (but not posted)
Sorgath eliminates yellow.
Tarlemera gets rid of orange.
That's another success.
To keep things moving, I'll take us to mission 3, as discussed earlier.
The Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment, crafted of white marble, rests atop a forested hill. Three aasimars stand guard before ornate double doors that bear an image of four spheres resting inside a lotus flower. Recognizing agents of the Pathfinder Society, the aasimars open the doors and lead the way to the temple’s garden courtyard.
The garden’s plants are brown and withered. A Tian man sits at the edge of a dried-up fountain, staring forlornly at the noble turtle in its center. The man has hazel eyes and a streak of white in his hair. Several temple acolytes are busy preparing incense, meditating, and inscribing symbols on the fountain. One of the aasimar speaks. “This is Zhuang, our leader. After you Pathfinders defeated the demon, Dakang, and purged the temple of corruption, Zhuang was determined to set us on a better path. We now aid wayward travelers in the tapestry and spread Korada’s teachings. However, Dakang’s deceptions have always plagued Zhuang, and he is on the verge of abandoning the temple. He has been sitting like this for many days, and neither speaks nor eats. Will you help us with a ritual to bring peace to his mind?”
[ooc]I'll give you a chance to react here, because real life calls. I will post the mechanics in a few hours. Also, did any of you say earlier you had played the scenario #3–21: The Temple of Empyreal
Enlightenment?
I'm still not getting input into which adventure you want to do, and it sounds like you're not happy about my putting together someone's suggestion to do them in order with a suggestion to skip #2 in cast other groups are doing them in order. I'm just going to pick one for you that no other groups are working on. Please let me know in the discussion thread the next time you post what mission you would like to do after we finish #5. It would be good to have a ranked list of possibilities, because some of the missions are closing because they have enough successes.
Mission #5: Allies on the Fringe
Background: During the Aspis Consortium’s time in the tapestry, they turned several groups against the Pathfinder Society to gain allies for their assault on the Grand Lodge in Pathfinder Society Scenario #6–97: Siege of Serpents. While many members of these groups aided in the attack, others stayed behind, and they still harbor distrust or outright hatred for the Pathfinder Society. Some believe the Aspis Consortium’s claims that the Society is a group of thieves and murderers, while others blame the Pathfinders for thwarting the Aspis, eliminating their chance to escape from the demiplane. Nonetheless, recognizing that the tapestry is falling apart, they have agreed to meet with the PCs.
This area of the tapestry is a strange patchwork of several environments: sand dunes abut jagged hills, and massive evergreen trees rise from a dry riverbed. Tense silence permeates the area, filling the space between three groups of humanoids: a group of stoic soldiers enshrouded in strips of cloth, a group of winged people with draconic features, and a group of lanky, owlheaded scholars.
Which of the three groups would you like to talk to first? There will be a wide variety of skills you can use to influence each of them.
The Hhruul: These owl-headed syrinxes hail from Arcadia and are eager to return to their ancestral homeland, but they have no sense of where they are in space and time. The Hhruul make a show of being calm and collected, but are obviously excited to speak with people from outside the tapestry and often interrupt the conversation to ask questions like, “what’s the sky like where you come from?” or “how many star cycles does it take you to get home from here?” This excitement is tempered only by their wariness of you.
You may try the following to convince them to join the Pathfinders in securing the unstable regions of the tapestry. Someone from your party must succeed at two of the three tasks to succeed overall. (it does not need to be the same person who succeeds at both)
Impressive Knowledge: The PCs can succeed at a Knowledge (geography) or Profession (sailor) check to describe where Arcadia is and how to get there.
Promise Assistance: The PCs can’t know precisely how to help the Hhruul get home, but with a successful Bluff check they can give assurances that the Pathfinder Society possesses the knowledge and means to help.
Philosophical Appeal: The syrinxes bluntly ask the Pathfinders about the philosophical implications of siding with the Society instead of fending for themselves. The PCs can succeed at an Easy Will save to prevail in a drawn-out philosophical debate with the syrinx.
I need each of you to try one of the above checks. For one of you to fail will not prevent someone else from succeeding.