[Gameday XIV] PFS2 #6-99 Under the Eye of the Mantis (tier 5-6)

Game Master cmlobue

>>startles<<

"Oh, yes, sir, right away, sir" he looks around the boat, but, all of his master's belongings are already on his person! Scrambling with an impossible task, he instead rushes over to gently wipe dust from Don Jurri's ruffled pirate tunic with a feather.

Jinglemane looks to the others near him. "You know what Dreggar and I want to do? We want to talk to Vernai-Appoint Giovana and get more details on what this is all about." Jinglemane adjusts his glasses. "And not just because this would make a good story, but also because information is everything."

During the crowded meeting, Kit listens intently while trying to keep the impulsive Jinglemane from interrupting. She gently grooms his mane, which seems to help settle the poppet.

After the meeting she finds the rest of you and asks “Do any of you know this Khione Thidos?” Looking directly at Jinglemane she says “It isn’t a name I recognize.”

Looking back towards the galley, she mentions “Did it seem to anyone else like Eando and Giovanna knew each other?”

“Also, any idea what the Red Mantis means by protected? Giovanna said it like this was some significant crime.”

She is quite willing to join others in trying to talk to Giovana.

"Yeah, it looked like they totally knew each other!" Jinglemane bounces with excitement. "Now... I don't know Khione Thidos, but wasn't there some hullaboo last year when a group claiming to be the Red Mantis said that they captured our 'nosy agent' and wanted us to send a bunch of platinum and osirion gold to rescue her? What if that agent was Khione?"

And what if she's another Venture-Gossip that needs rescuing?

There are three missions you can choose from. We have one vote for "The Mantis We Know", but since it is Sunday for most of us, I am not going to hurry into one. Please post the order you would like to tackle them in, and when I see a consensus or tomorrow morning EDT, I will start one.

Roark follows Kit and Jinglemane. Doesn't matter to me

Eando Kline pulls the group aside, talking with his hand covering his mouth away from Vernai-Appoint Giovana, several yards away up on the foredeck. “Pathfinders, I need your assistance. It’s no secret that our unlikely ally on this expedition is, at best, an untrustworthy ally, and at worst, a cherished enemy.” He motions to Giovana. “But we don’t know how far down either path she goes and what information she has decided to keep to herself. I need you to get a better read on her, find out what she thinks—er... knows. She has been, frustratingly, not exactly forthcoming to me.” He pauses a moment before clearing his throat, awkwardly adding “...or the other venture-captains.”

As the Pathfinders approach Giovana, she turns to face them with a wide, satisfied grin. “I see Eando has yet to muster the strength to flirt with me himself, so he sent you in his stead.” She gives an appraising look at the Pathfinders. “Still, he could do worse for someone that has already saved his life once.” She allows the wind to tousle her hair a bit, indulging in the drama of the moment before returning her piercing stare toward the group. “You may ask me your questions, but only two of them. Anything else, Kline will have to... beg me for.”

A Charisma-based skill check may increase the number of questions you may ask -or decrease it - but the party gets only one try at it.

The scenario wants you to decide on questions yourself, rather than picking from a list. If you get stuck, I may give you hints, and it won't count toward your number asked if you pick something that won't be answered.

Confident in his Taldan swagger, if perhaps somewhat oblivious to the (to others) obvious and more-than-existential danger his mark poses, Master Donatellus Jurrious Orwellious waltzes right up to "Giovana, was it?" curtzying like a proper noble clicking his high-heeled boots with newly refurbished clasps - she must be halfway swooning by now! - and just forget Eando "Though we represent Persons of Status (POS) in our respective circles, of course" leading with flattery - of himself and his conversant "Every Revolution comes with it's share of Scapegoats" he winks at her, softening (in his mind) the "hook" into her interest and attention "It would be most prudent of you, therefore, to share with us a list of those targeted for execution under the false pretenses you claim - the Mantis Rouge, shall we label these imposters? - for therin we may be able to glean a pattern, and thus, a motive. Would you not agree?"

Deception (Expert): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (18) + 15 = 33

Kit grins and says “Knew it! The two of them know each other.”

While she is still delighting in having guessed correctly, Don Jurri is already asking the first question.

After his question is answered she says to the group “In no particular order I would like more information about the island, the imposters, and the hostage. Tactical information that allows us to anticipate the enemy in some way would be great.”

It is possible that the answer to Don Jurri’s question would overlap with asking about the imposters.

In a wistful tone she admits “I’m curious about when she saved Eando’s life and what the connection is between them, but that is unlikely to help us with the mission.” It is obvious she is curious but restraining herself from asking what she considers off-topic questions.

“Maybe we save that question for Eando himself?”

"Eando talk about himself?" Jinglemane shakes his head. "Not going to happen." Jinglemane tries to remember what Kit said about not asking questions that are not directly related to the mission.

Then he starts to squirm, and bounce up and down, and he keeps thinking, But... that story could be the BEST VENTURE-GOSSIP COLUMN EVER!"

He puts his stuffed paws over his mouth, trying to keep from blurting out the question that is burning in his brain.

"MMMmmmmmph! Mmmmppph! Mmmmmph!"

And then gasping, he finally has to ask it:

"How did you save Eando's Life and was the story super romantic?"

Kit shakes her head and sighs. Well, at least it wasn’t I who gave in and asked. She doesn’t appear angry or even exasperated.

She does eagerly await the answer.

I think it likely we will get another answer based on Don Jurri’s excellent Deception roll. I’m hoping it was a crit success.

Should we continue to discuss any further question(s)?

Jinglemane huddles with the other Pathfinders. "So I asked about the romantic backstory, and Don Jurri asked about the contracts on illegal targets. If we get another question, do we want to ask about whom the false Mantis abducted or what she knows about the Red Mantis Dispatch?"

“Any information about the island would also be a good question.”

Frowning, she says “One of the venture captains should be able to tell us about Khione Thidos. Since that is information we should be able to get on our own, perhaps asking what information she has on the kidnappers including where she suspects Khione to be held by them would be a better question.”

Coming to a decision, she says “Asking for any information that would help us find and rescue Khione. We are Pathfinders and rescuing her may give us other good information.”

Roark simply stands there with his beak slightly ajar. He remembers his manners and snaps it shut...

Voron was exasperated by their burst of questions about a potential romantic entanglement. It left him speechless for a bit, but now they seemed settled down and focused again.

Good. We need relevant info, not social nonsense.

Still in the huddle, he muses

I wonder if any of the Red Mantis Dispatch are former proper members of the church, or even Red Mantis Assassins. If Giovana or other current members were acquaintances or had insight into any of their members it could be useful.

Giovana listens to Don Jurri's plea. ""Very well, I can find it in my heart to answer two additional questions for you. But don't think that will get Eando off the hook. He may have something to say to you later."

She then fields the Pathfinders' inquiries, in order.

“I know of four of their recent contracts.” She begins counting them off on her fingers. “First was a contract on Dhrami Blakros, one of the prestigious Blakros roses. But there has been no movement on it, so I suspect the contract was vacated. One of them is for a woman named Kassi who enjoys an immunity from Red Mantis involvement. That alone would cause my concern. A third is for a teacher from the Magaambya. Though that contract goes beyond a simple assassination, so it is, again, something the real Red Mantis would not entertain. And finally,” she points her finger at the Pathfinder’s head archivist, “there is the Ice Queen, thrower of the best parties in Egorian, and Paracountess icon, Zarta Dralneen. It was her contract that finally drew me forth. Her ladyship enjoys some protection from Red Mantis attention for reasons only she can tell you. One.”

To Qitarah, she says, “I know of two for certain, though there are likely more. Well, you already have heard about the Pathfinder, Khione, though better gossips than I would have to explain why they took her. There is also an informant of mine that managed to get me one of their contracts before getting taken. I don’t believe he is dead because I would have found the body. I think there might be another—a child, or at least they were when they were taken. I heard rumors of a child in Nex that has been ransomed for years. I can’t be sure, but it fits this group’s methods. Two.”

She chuckles at Jinglemane. “You don’t know, do you? Interesting.” Giovana savors the suspense, just a little. “It was a few years ago. A contract for one Eando Kline caught my attention. I knew of him, of course—it is always best to know your adversaries well. I laid out my charge for the contract, and made sure it was leagues beyond his coffers, as no one would take the contract once I had laid claim. But alas, the customer could not pay all the gold in Thuvia like I’d asked. So, I kept the contract for just such an opportunity to call in a favor. Like this. Three.”

As the group closes ranks, she calls out, "Does this mean you are done with me? It's disappointing that you would turn your backs on a lady, especially one who is trying so hard to help you."

You have one more question, but don't think she will have the patience to wait for more discussion before answering it.

Looking to Jinglemane, Kit tells Giovana “I have a feeling that quite a few Pathfinder’s will soon find out about it.”

Turning to fully face Giovana, she says “Sorry for turning our back on you, my lady. We did have to discuss which questions to ask.”

“Last question: What do you know of the Island of Claimed Souls which might help us in our tasks?”

If it isn’t clear, there are two tasks that Kit sees. The rescue of hostages and closing down of Red Mantis Dispatch.

"Darling, I'm more of a people person. I thought your society always told you about whatever monsters and traps you were expected to find? But since I cannot help, I will not count that."

Since her question was rejected, Kit quickly signals someone else to ask their question.

Plenty of options, time for someone else to pick their question.

"Alright," Jinglemane says, "I'll accept that you don't know about the layout of the island, but we know that you're an assassin and that you're clever. You've clearly done some research on the Red Mantis Dispatch. So... What do you know of their organization that can help us?"

"Smee" Don Jurri wails "Write that down"

Curling his mustachio, Don Jurri seems pleased that his charms have doubled the number of questions allowed his party. Not that anyone was counting...

>>walks cautiously up to mis master and the master assassin<<

"Yessir, right away sir" somewhat nervously, he deposits the dusting feather into a pocket vat of ink, and transcribes:

"1) Dhrami Blakros (contract vacated)
2) Kassi (has immunity, contract served)
3) Teacher from the Magaambya (special instructions, contract served)
4) Zarta Dralneen (has immunity, contract underway)"

"Anything else, sir?"

"No Smee. Very good"

"Very good sir"

I wonder if any of the Red Mantis Dispatch are former proper members of the church, or even Red Mantis Assassins. If Giovana or other current members were acquaintances or had insight into any of their members it could be useful.

was this one indirectly answered? Essentially echoed by Jinglemane’s last question.

“I can tell you only a little about the Red Mantis Dispatch, I’m afraid. They seem to have started as a smuggling and courier service that moved goods with the protection of a Red Mantis stamp. Not a terrible plan—comical even. And if I knew who the owner of the business was, I would have made an example of them, but sadly, I don’t. Recently, they seem to have begun taking contracts in our name, and that cannot be allowed.”

She closes the conversation with mirth. “That is enough for now, Pathfinders. But please, do tell Eando to ask for himself, if he has any more questions of me. I’ll be right here, waiting.” She waggles her fingers playfully at the Pathfinders as they depart, a smile dancing on her lips.

“I could tell you tomes about Mediogalti and most of the surrounding islands.” Zarta Dralneen gestures to a dozen thick books splayed about her table and four heavy chests by her side by way of greeting. “But our destination is little more than a rumor to me. So, I need your best expertise in this venture. We need to figure out as much as we can about local lore, the navigational issues in these seas, and possible meteorological unpleasantness we can run into. Anything that I can bring to the Seekers’ Quest’s captain to save us from unexpected... situations.”

There are two tasks to attempt here. Each character can only succeed at one of them, though if you fail, you can attempt the other (so you are done after one success or two failures).

You can attempt a check to Recall Knowledge for information you might have heard over time about your destination, the Island of Claimed Souls, or by poring through Zarta’s books, brought from her own corner of the archive just for that purpose. Secret Occultism, Religion, or Library Lore.

Or you can attempt a check to Sense Direction with Survival or Recall Knowledge with Nature to find a good path around the upcoming reefs and sandbars and using the wind currents flowing freely over the waters to their advantage. Alternatively, you can attempt a check to climb with Athletics or Sailing or Weather Lore check to put your sea legs to use joining the crew of the Seekers’ Quest in their work up in the rigging. Any successes go a long way toward helping navigate the conflicting winds and mists that hide sandbars and reefs just below the surface of the water.

Roark attempts to climb the mast.

Athletics(T): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12

If you'll take Acrobatics, add 5, though I doubt that it matters

Unfortunately, he loses his footing and doesn't make much progress.

None of the above skills other than Athletics/Acrobatics

When Kit reports back to Eando, she mischievously says “Your girlfriend Giovana was most helpful. After this is done, you really should do something to thank her.”

——

Kit calls upon her religious knowledge in the research Zarta requested. Being a follower of Ranginori The Duke of Thunder, part of this is judging wind direction and strength. That should be useful in the current situation.
Religion +15 E You said secret, so I assume you want to roll it.
Since I am an expert and Recall Knowledge can be done untrained, others should be able to Follow the Expert if they do not have a better skill to use for this.

If that doesn’t work out, she uses her wayfinder to accurately determine their direction of travel.
Survival +12 wayfinder provides compass for Sense Direction

Since these are secret rolls that the character is aware of, I will spend a hero point on a critical failure.

Athletics E: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (16) + 14 = 30

"Climb the Mast?! I get to climb the mast?!" Jinglemane gets super excited at the idea. "C'mon folks, follow me!"

Jinglemane is an Expert in Athletics, so anyone who wants to climb can use the Follow the Expert activity to get a +2 to Athletics Roll.

Jinglemane bounces and climbs up the ratlines and then shimmies his way up the mast into the Crow's Nest. "The view's great up here!"

The Recall Knowledge checks are secret, the others are note.

Roark ends up tangled in the ratlines. Critical failure. Which surprisingly does not reduce the team's success level on this mission. Also...

Jinglemane is up the mast like a ship's monkey, helping to free his teammate and looking for weak spots in the rigging.

Qitarah's training allows her to locate exactly the passages with the information the team needs.

Although there is no more to be learned about the Island of Claimed Souls, successes on that check still count toward the team's overall success.

"Smee" Don Jurri applies his resources "Help that fool of a captain steer us in the proper direction"

Relaxing a little, being asked to perform something within his actual skillset, Smee applies himself to the challenge at hand.

Sailing Lore (Expert, Hireling): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19

Dreggar will leverage his knowledge (and paranoia) about the Island to see if anything is missing.

Making the Island itself his second lead topic for now.

Occultism +15

...cautiously, Don Jurri, feigning nonchalance, peeks over the shoulder of the redident expert, Qitarah al-Tabib of Sedeq, to see if his intellectual faculty can add anything of merit...

Religion w/ Untrained Improvisation (+6) w/ WIS (+2) w/ Follow Expert (+2): 1d20 + 6 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 6 + 2 + 2 = 25

"Squawk! Help!" Roark screams as he falls off the mast, barely hanging on by a ratline that's fortunately tangled around one leg.

Basically he's hanging upside down held in place by one leg that's tangled in the rigging

Unless it's too late, Secret Religion +11

Voron will very clearly *not* climb any mast.

Smee is a bit out of practice. At least he doesn't get in the way.

Neither Voron nor Dreggar can find anything else useful. Don Jurri does point out something that Qitarah missed, though.

You did not get enough successes to pass this mission. If you want to use hero points or attempt the other task, you will need at least two of Roark, Voron and Dreggar to succeed. If so, we can flash back to that.

From his spot up in the perch atop the mainsail, Venture-Captain Viore Ciobanu slides down the rigging to land near the Pathfinders with uncharacteristic flair. “Good, you lot. I need you for a moment.” He leans over the deck rail, gazing through his scope at something far ahead of the Seekers’ Quest. “Somewhere ahead of us is a creature I’ve spoken to through a message spell only briefly, named Tesparisod. He has agreed to meet with our representatives when we slow down to get past a maze of reef ahead. It will be up to you to parlay with him, see if he has any valuable information that can help us, the crew is preparing a rowboat for you as we speak.”

As the Pathfinders reach the indicated area, out of earshot and barely in sight of the Seekers’ Quest, a vicharamuni peeks its head out of the water, looming over the rowboat. The vicharamuni does not attack, instead waiting patiently for one of the Pathfinders to introduce themselves.

You need to make an easy Diplomacy or Deception check - or just introduce yourselves - to move on. Doubt you are going to be total jerks, so skipping that part.

The vicharamuni in turn introduces himself as Tesparisod and asks if any of you was his new pen pal aboard the ship.

He seems to be referring to Ciobanu. Now you have a Diplomacy check that actually matters. Or perhaps you'd like to try a different tactic?

Kit thinks this sounds like a fun mission and happily agrees to take it.

When the creature pops its head out of the water, Kit gives her full introduction. “Greetings, I’m Qitarah al-Tabib of Sedeq, a follower of Ranginori the Zephyrous Prince.” She stays in her east in the boat but does give a short bow from the waist.

I will allow someone else to do the Diplomacy to explain the situation

+12 Diplomacy here

Roark with HP the Athletics check. He doesn't have the skills for the other one.

Athletics, HP, T-shirt: 1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 9 + 1 = 27

The scene blurs as the space-time continuum hiccups and shifts

"AHA!" Roark crows as he scurries to the top of the mast (I hope)

NOW

Roark moves up to the bow, still feeling buoyed at being able to scramble up a mast again. He bows extravagantly to the naga.

"Greetings, noble creature! I am Roark! Roark Thunderbird!"

+12 Diplomacy here in case it's needed

1 of 2 additional successes acquired

Roark Diplomacy: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (7) + 12 = 19

Tesparisod is happy to answer questions for you.

Probably misunderstood what was needed. I thought you needed exactly one of us for the second diplomacy check to explain ourselves. Since you’ve moved us along, I gather we are done with that but it allowed more than one person to attempt it.

After asking about useful information, Kit asks “Can you either tell us your hypothesis or tell us some way to help you test it?”

Hearing of the crates, Kit says “Will we need to go beneath the waves to deal with these crates? I am not as skilled a swimmer as you, which is why I ask.”

“We had heard rumors of this ghoul Sotroz and their control of the island. Can you tell us more about them?”

Just one Diplomacy check to get him talking.

"Yes, the lost crates are underwater. While I can reach them, I lack the anatomy to deal with them." Image added to slides.

"Unfortunately, I cannot say any more about Sotroz or the island at this time."

Kit says “Are they very deep underwater? If it will take very long, I have a scroll to allow us to breath underwater if needed.”

"Not so far that I would expect you can't swim there, handle the crates, and get back with your own lungs, if you are skilled."

Water breathing would help but is likely overkill for this challenge.

For the last challenge we failed, Dreggar would like to reroll (Occultism +15) but also activate this ability.

Task 2 is now a success!

Zarta writes in her notes that these particular Pathfinders are valuable for the benefit of gathering much-needed field knowledge in the future. As a result of their newly gleaned information, each character gets a +1 circumstance bonus to the first saving throw they roll after arriving on the island.

Ever the diplomat, Don Jurri arrives precisely in time to save the negotiation. Undoubtedly.

"Tesparisod - pretty please!" an assured confidence possesses our chivalric hero, who has learned through his charmed life that he becomes as irresistable to ladies as gentlemen even or especially when he begs. And the reward? More fleeting attention from a very well-dressed and classically-handsome Taldan man of "good" birth.

Diplomacy (T) w/ High Fashion Clothing (+1): 1d20 + 12 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 12 + 1 = 32

He winks at Jinglemane, a "will you capture this moment for your next style article?" kind of wink.