[Outpost9] GM Enchanter's 04-01: Year of Boundless Wonder (Inactive)

Game Master Enchanter Tim

Welcome! Please dot and delete to add yourself to this campaign. We will start on March 2.

You all stand in the Vaults of the Grand Lodge in Absalom after being assembled by a small fungus leshy named Rain in Cloudy Day. Rain calls this the “Vault of Boundless Wonder!”—a phrase he exclaims while excitedly waving his hands. Rain has a bright green body and a purple mushroom “cap” atop his head, and he wears a white scarf and brown vest emblazoned with the Glyph of the Open Road.

Feel free to introduce yourselves. We will start on March 2.

"Greetings fellow Pathfinders.", says a Green colored metal creature with golden accents. He is clad in a similar colored clothing and cloak and clutches a hand-made staff. "I am called Bustral. My kind, called Automatons, come from the ancient Jistka Imperium. I am a Wizard of the 1st Order and I salute you all."

Feel free to ask any questions and/or review my character sheet.

"Greetings automaton Bustral!" The athamaru waves its dancer's spear with non-proficient enthusiasm, before resting it against the furniture. "I can't say I've heard of Jistka, it must be to the west. I'm from the east -- East Xidao, specifically, the beautiful sea south of Minkai." The athamaru peers to the east and gets lost in thought.

Then spins back towards Bustral with a graceful pirouette. "Oh sorry I'm Koi, Koi Polloi! I'm a linguist training to be an emissary. Or as they say in ol' Xidao..."

"The Jistka Imperium came into being shortly after Earthfall where Rahadoum now lies." explains Bustral.\

Silently waiting on the side, the elven lass of red hair, and green clothes, awaits, as the crew start to assemble she walks towards them with calm step, Lether boots, green cloehte one leather armor that matches the colors, as well as a cloak of the same fabric and matching the rest of the clothing pallete.

On her blet there are plenty of vials, and reagents, as well as a rapier,, and about 4 daggers, and 4 throwing knives,, also acomodated in an ordernaited fashion.

Greetings Fellow pathfinders, You may call me Aru of Daggermark, I hail from that city in the River Kingdomws, I am a member of the Poisoner's Guild from that city,. She stops there and lets it sink for a moment

You should not be concerned, I am currently not here for any contract on anyone on this room, I was lent of service to the Society, by my masters in the guild, to show good will beetwen our organizations.

I will put my skills and knoweldge to the best use of you and the leadership. A pleasure to make you alll acquantances .

A human... ish woman glances at the gathering crowd and slowly makes her way toward the others. She steps toward the group and bluntly introduces herself.

"Izy Valentino. I specialize in the odd and things most others do not wish to deal with. Hopefully, this mission is straightforward."

A soft, deliberate clap echoes once in the Vault. Not loud. Just enough to claim attention. An elf tilts her head slightly, observing each of them in turn. Her smile is faint. Measuring. She steps forward, boots whispering across the stone. “Lirien Glint. Enigma of the Grand Lodge.” A slight bow — elegant, but not submissive. “My interests lie in magical disruptions. Things that should not behave the way they do.”

You hear the hesitant voice of a young kobold outside the Vault...

"Are you sure they'll like me? I can't help but worry about Huang-Tong!" comes the voice.

"I'm sure you'll be fine." comes the answer from a much older kobold, "Just be yourself. I'll be waiting in the common room revising the paper Rhaegal commented on. We can go for more scones if you like later on."

"Sigh... Ok, Uncle Jinlong"

****

As the young kobold steps through the doorway, he looks around in awe at the Vault, piled high with treasures. Looking around, his eyes light up as he sees a familiar face talking to what appears to be an upright mushroom...

"Oh wow! Well met! I am Mu Long Dragonkin! My brother is Huang Tong Dragonkin and my uncle is Jinlong Dragonkin, warpriest of Abadar!" He scurries up to a familiar elf. "Lirien? Is that you?! Nobody said you're going to be here!"

She glances at the interacions, it was good to work with agents that were famliar to each other that would make things easier for her as well, Less worries to have, she only had to preapre the dispense the healing and the mutagens for the others. And the poisons for their enemies.

She smiles slyly to herslef.

Grand Archivist Zarta Dralneen enters, wearing a vibrant blue dress that accentuates her long dark hair and black nail polish. She looks over the group of Pathfinders with studious dark eyes. "Very well, Rain. If this is the group that you believe can help you catalog items, so be it. Part of your advancement is to identify agents with skills you will need.” She nods to him.

Rain in Cloudy Day waves exuberantly to indicate the piles of treasure in the vaulted chamber. “Wow! Just look at all these magic items! And enchanted weapons! And a skull that always looks at me funny! Big magic books about even bigger magic books! Well, I’m not sure about
that last one. I haven’t read them. Cataloging all this treasure is bound to be exciting! It sure beats sorting the mail.”

Zarta runs her fingertips along the table, lifts a strange hourglass, and inspects it with dubious curiosity. “Exciting, yes, and possibly quite dangerous.”

Rain frowns. “Well, yes, but… at least we’re in the safety of the Lodge? Can’t be that bad! You said these items are harmless.” He picks up a skull from the table. Its eyes suddenly glow with pink fire, and it speaks, “Unhand me, you hideous rotten mushroom! Harmless?! How dare you!”

Rain replaces the skull and covers it with a cloth, muffling the voice. “Well… mostly harmless?”

Zarta fails to stifle a grin. She tilts the hourglass this way and that, shrugs, and sets it back on the table. “Yes, mostly harmless. We believe these items present no major threat to us, and we’ve secured those we believe to be cursed. The true danger comes from an old enemy of the Pathfinder Society, the night hag Aslynn. She nearly claimed these treasures for herself before they were entrusted to us. We don’t know why she needs the items, or which ones are most central to her wicked plans.”

She turns to address the group of you. “I’m off to a meeting to discuss the situation with Eliza, Ambrus, and the faction leaders. You’ll stay here with Rain and continue cataloging these objects. We need to learn where the items come from and understand what they do. Then we can decide what to do with them. Any questions?”

"Umm, will we get snacks? Or are we going to be working all day? Can we get scones?"

”Should we be concerned with that?” Izzy points to the cloth with the skull underneath it. ”I do believe we should be safe, but that item may need to be taken to a cleric.”

"Oh yes!" screamed the athamaru. "Cataloguing!" the fish leapt forward to ◆grab a quill.

"I have the best handwriting! Okay, everyone. Tell me stuff to write." It surveyed the vaulted chamber looking for anything maritime or barnacle-crusted to write about. ◆Athamaru Lore +4 secret check

Koi stopped and stared at the quill. "So much to write, so little... paper!" The athamaru turned its eyes on the magic books, Seeking for suitable vellum. ◆Scribe Lore +4 secret check. Was there anything scripted in Thalassic, Fey, Jotun, Necril, Tien or even vaguely Occult that might support penning an extra chapter?

"I am very familiar with the Library.", says Bustral.

Library Lore (T): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21

Esoteric Lore +7, -2 penalty with Diverse Lore

Izy stands to observe the cloth-covered skull. She leans toward the veiled object, observing it closely without touching.

She leans back into one of the shelves, and looks at the exchange.

I am not confortable with creautes that cannot die She says with a hint of crude honesty, She looks at the leshy with some concern, alas the voice remains calm and collected.

So.. have you seen this things then? How don you think it would be better to address

"Umm, will we get snacks? Or are we going to be working all day? Can we get scones?"

Zarta stares at Mu Long for a long moment, tapping her lips. "I'll see what I can do. There are sacrifices to Pathfinder duty though. Rain will be in charge. When he says you're done, you can go."

She turns to Izzy. “At least one of the ‘objects’ seems to be alive, in a sense, yes. So far, the skull just insults everyone. You'll have time to inspect it. Maybe you can talk to it and learn more. We haven’t found any other creatures in the vault—yet! It’s not our business to keep creatures captive, so we’d like to help get them home if we can, and to keep them safe from Aslynn.”

She glances at Bustral. "While this has plenty of books, it also holds lots of other items, collected from the Onyx Alliance. We’ll return some to wherever they belong. Some might be dangerous, some should be destroyed, some might hold valuable knowledge. Some might be all those things. That’s why your work, and my meeting with the Society’s leaders, is so important. We need to make a plan!”

Rain jumps in. “Oh! How we got them is such a cool story! There’s this place called Shadow Absalom, where a mercantile group called the Onyx Alliance had a massive vault of treasure! Aslynn wanted it all, and she almost got it, but some Society agents learned about her plot just in time! There’s more to it...but you’ll have to read the chronicle yourselves. I don’t want to spoil the story!”

Other questions? Izzy will have plenty of time to inspect the skull after the questions.

Mu Long heads to Rain. "So can we get scones?" he asks.

”A plan!” The athamaru nods vigorously at Zarta. “Yes! We start with a list. We check it twice. We try to discover if things are naughty or nice.” Koi points its quill at items in the room. ”Books - nice! Skull - naughty, for sure. Any thoughts about the hourglass? The weapons or the other magic items?” It does its best to itemise the room, watching the Pathfinders after each item is listed to gauge their opinions.

Zarta smiles at Koi. "That's exactly what we're asking you and Rain to do. Figure out what items are important and catalog them." She runs a finger over the hourglass again. "Who knows what you'll find."

Rain nods at Mu Long. "I'm sure we can arrange for some lunch to be brought in. It will depend on what Gnimish has made today."

Zarta nods at the Pathfinders. "Please help Rain, but like all good Pathfinders you should be ready for anything you find here. If you need any extra supplies, now is the time to get them. Now, I must get going. I will see you later.” She turns and quickly exits the Vault.

I'll pause for more questions or if you want to make any purchases. Don't forget to choose your provisions if you haven't already.

Bustral would like to take a Scroll of Mystic Armor from the Provisions and use it at this time.

Mu Long will grab a scroll of heal (if anyone wants a heal scroll as well, Mu Long can cast it)

"Oh goody! If you haven't tried Uncle Gnimish's scones you're gonna love 'em!"

Izy will grab a heal scroll and give it to Mu for them to hold on to.

Aru will also provide a Scroll of Heal rnk 2 for Mu to cast if needed

Lirien turns at the sound of the familiar voice, “Mu Long? Last time I saw you, we had just finished quite the remarkable adventure”

Lirien watches Zarta depart, then exhales softly as the Vault settles into a quieter, more anticipatory hush. She turns slowly, taking in the towering shelves, glittering curios, shadowed corners, and objects that hum faintly with restrained magic.

Lirien will also grab scroll of heal

Rain claps excitedly. ”Now we get to the fun part! I have several tasks I need help with!” He hands you a list. ”See where you think you can help me. I suggest splitting up to avoid stepping on each other’s roots. Er, toes.”

Time to explore the vault! Each exploration period will take about 10 minutes for you to search an area and catalog what you find. Each PC can pick an area and use a listed skill to explore its contents. Other Lores skills might apply if you can explain.

What are you doing for your first 10 minutes? Please move your icons on the map to where you are searching.
Map

Izy immediately stands and walks toward the skull. She lifts off the cover, staring into its pink... eyes?

"All right. I am going to assume that you are not hostile, even though you may be undead. So perhaps you would like to explain how you got in the possession of the Pathfinder Society?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

Lirien moves without hurry toward the collection of scrolls. Her fingers hover just above the surfaces before she touches anything.

She casts Detect Magic, letting the faint auras overlay her vision as she begins sorting by intensity and tradition.

Arcana: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

Mu Long follows Lirien to the scrolls and has a look around. Smiling, he coaxes a small gourd leshy out from under his cloak. "Don't move, Lirien, let my little friend meet you. This is Jackpot, my familiar."

Nature: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

Jackpot moves up the shelves and hops onto Lirien's shoulder.

Think of him as Baby Groot

Lirien is overwhelmed by the magic that surrounds her in the Vault, but her spell still is some help as she pulls out a heavily creased piece of paper from a behind some others. It appears to be a scroll of Clear Mind. Detect magic provides a +1 to checks

Beside her, Mu Long digs into a similar shelf and finds a wrinkled paper neatly tucked to the side. When he tries to open it though, it tears apart from the used bubble gum that someone had deposited there.

Back at the table, Izy lifts the cloth on the skull again. "Hey! I was watching that!" The skull looks up at her and bobs up and down. "Actually, sister, this might be more fun. How I got here? I was skull-napped from the Onyx Alliance like everything else here!"

"But you know what? Call me Zykyryz! No, it isn’t my name, but it’s shorter than ‘all powerful wizard.’ That’s right, I can do magic! Just wait. Keep me close, and I’ll prove it to you.”

As the scroll tears free, Mu Long panics (again).

"ACK! No! Rain will kill me for this! I've ruined something again! That's twice!" he wails at Lirien.

Mu Long tries to shove the scroll back into the cubby and pretend nothing happened...

Not wanting to crowd others with his 6', 300# metal body, Bustral heads over to the Pile of Treasure (2). "Let us see what we have here."
He then braces himself, muttering quietly, "This is going to hurt," as he casts Detect Magic...

Arcana: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 8 + 1 = 26

+1 is for Detect Magic. Adjust as needed,

Staring at the skull, Izy shrugs and picks it up to hold in one hand. She cups the jaw, allowing it to move if necessary.
"Fine. Perhaps you can also assist in letting us know what else was gathered in the Onyx Alliance's coffers."

Aru moves towards the back of the vault, There was none of his companions on the weapons section, there she migth find something that could be useful, maybe something that the Hag was looking there among the weapons, seems to trivial, but they are here to catalog things so, why not to check that.

Searching at the Weapons part

She observed the tables aligned with calculated calm, she then drinks a concoction to make her mind work faster, and help her to understand better what is there.

Versatile vial to Cognitive Mutagen ( Moderate ) +2 Item bonus at crafting

Crafting: 1d20 + 11 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 11 + 2 = 17

The athamaru heads over to the high shelves in the south. It has no particular talent for material things but if the night hag, Aslynn, had a concealed ally then Koi could possibly find them. It affixed something reflective to the end of its spear then climbed as high as seemed safe.
Athletics?: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14

The athamaru maneuvers the mirror on the spear to observe the objects up high. For each item Koi sees it tries secretly Messaging conspiratorially in its five languages and the common tongue. Psychic Message does not require straight Line of Effect; a creature, even an artificial one, can respond as a reaction or subsequent free action.

What should we do now?, it enquired in Thalassic, Fey, Jotun, Necril, Tien and Common.

Diplomacy?: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

It would have to try this tactic with the weapons too. Swords have been known to do the talking.

Lirien stiffens only slightly as Jackpot hops onto her shoulder.
Mu Long’s frantic attempt to shove the torn scroll back into its cubby is so transparent that Lirien can’t help it— She laughs. Just a bright, musical laugh that cuts through his panic.

“Oh, Mu Long… you are many things. Subtle is not one of them.

Casting detect magic overwhelms Bustral for a moment, causing him to look down instinctively to avoid the sensation. At his feet, he notices carving sticking out of the pile. When he pulls it free, he realizes that it is a wand of shardstorm!

Aru drinks her mutagen to help her think faster and begins digging through the various ceremonial and mundane weaponry. Almost giving up, she spots a well-worn haft sticking out of an umbrella holder. When she pulls it free, she realizes that it's a +1 spear.

Koi climbs up and then uses a spear to reach up the high shelves of dangerous and frightful items. As the athamaru tries to see what might respond to its psychic messaging, the spear knocks something loose. A plush figurine of a purple alien with an inverted coat hanger on its head lands on Koi and in surprise the athamaru falls to the ground.

“They’re not real! They can’t be real!” The panicked voice of Rain in Cloudy Day precedes his rapid footsteps as he races back into the vault.

“I can’t… I don’t… help! Please, help! They’re after me!” Rain collapses just inside the vault, clutching the sides of his head and whimpering in fear. A hideous snarl from just past the entryway causes Rain to go completely still.

You look over and see a shadowy form looming over Rain. Several other shadows flicker at the corners of your vision.

Round 1
Aru
Shadows
Koi
Bustral
Mu Long
Lirien
Izy
Shadows

Map

Aru reacts first!

Mu Long glances up at Rain's sudden scream. "Wha?" The little dragon is suddenly on alert. Jackpot hops from Lirien's shoulder and hides inside the shelf, burying himself inside the scroll Mu Long shoved back inside.

She reacts to the conmotion, she rushes forward toward the ledge as sge dies she pulls out a couple do throwing knives and throw them at the enemy on the lower area.

Throwing Knife 1 vs Green enemy OG: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 161d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

If that hits. he needs to roll a fort Save vs
Graveroot Poison

Graveroot Poison Fort DC19: 1d8 ⇒ 4
This is for Stage 1 on a fail, on a crit fail its 1d10 and stupified 1

1act.- Stride, 1act. - draw dagger , 1act.- throw dagger

Sorry for the edit. i realized she has not yet Quick draw.

Green Fort Save: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

Aru's dagger sinks into the shadowy creature, but it seems unaffected by the poison. It hisses at her, "...a world of boundless nightmares...”

Suddenly shadows shift and three other figures burst out from hiding spots to rush at the Pathfinders. One impales the small dragon with a spear, while another tries to hurl its spear at Lirien as it charges forward. A third comes for Izy and the skull, thrusting its spear at her too. "...the three of thirteen!" it hisses.

Round 1
Aru
Shadows (Red, Blue, Yellow)
Koi
Bustral
Mu Long -12
Lirien
Izy -1
Shadows (Green -4, Purple)

Map

@Koi, note that the path down from Area 5 is windy and long. Due to the stairs, you are about 45' up and a drop might be very dangerous.

Izy is ambushed by a shadow which clips her on the first strike but barely misses on the second. She pulls out a sword that looks like it is assembled by pieces at first glance.

Her eyes glance to the skull in her other hand. "All right, Zigzag. If you can do magic, now is your chance to prove it. Let's see what this thing is made of..."

◆ Equip chain sword.
◆ Exploit Vulnerability
◆ Strike at Red

Esoteric Lore: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18
Chain Sword Strike: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6 + 2 Empowerment weakness trigger

Mu Long screams in pain as he gets stabbed. He yells at Jackpot to get to cover before spitting lightning at the two shadows.

Electric Arc; DC 16 Basic Reflex: 2d4 ⇒ (1, 1) = 2

◈ Command Familiar (go hide in the shelves)
◈◈ Electric Fizz

The athamaru jumps as the toy lands at its feet. "My! Aren't you a rinky dinky tinker's toy." Yet before Koi could interrogate it psychically, shouts ring out from across the vast vault.

From its vantage point high on the ziggarat Koi sees 45 feet down, and 45 feet away a shadowy creature menacing someone behind a corner with a spear. Mu Long's scream suggests he gets hit. At least this means Koi knows exactly where to send a rescue message.

Waves of magic ripple along the athamaru's arms and along its spear. First, it blasts the shadowy creature with its longest range ◈◈Daze attack.

Daze DC 17 basic Wis, piercing: 1d6 ⇒ 5 Crit Fail = Stunned 1

Koi then sends an Amped ◈Message around the corner to Mu Long. "Run, if you still can!" Mu Long can Step or Stride as a reaction on Koi's turn

Hearing the message, Mu Long makes a break for it, shouting "Stay hidden Jackpot! I'll be back!"

↺ RUN!

Bustral sees that Rain is in danger and hurt badly moves forward. He then casts a spell. The air and moisture around Rain condenses then freezes.

Frostbite (DC: 18 Fortitude) vs. Purple: 2d4 ⇒ (1, 3) = 4
damage is Cold.

Move (1 action); Cast Frostbite Cantrip (2 actions). AC=16 until end of turn.

A ripple of pale, crackling force gathers along Lirien's hand, the magic bending strangely as it prepares to pierce through matter itself. She snaps her arm forward through the air toward the purple shadow directly in front of her, the shimmering projectile phasing through the chaotic light of the vault as it streaks toward the creature.

Phase Bolt vs Purple: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8
Piercing damage: 3d4 ⇒ (1, 1, 4) = 6

The instant the spell leaves her hand, Lirien pivots and strides away, creating space between herself and the advancing nightmare figures while keeping Rain within her line of sight.

Cast: ◆◆Phase Bolt ◆Stride

As soon as Izy asks Zykyryz for magic, the skull responds, "You got it, babe! One all-powerful spell coming up!" Izy feels her own greatness rising to the surface! Heroism! While Izy can't use her implement to full capability while holding the skull, she realizes that the shadow creature is terrified of mirrors and manages to flick the polished chain sword at it, obliterating it from existence!

Mu Long spits some sparks at the shadows, but the yellow one ducks it completely while the blue one seems only annoyed. He runs at Koi's urging.

The athamaru blasts Mu Long's attacker with psychic energy from across the vault! He sees it sway a bit, but it stays standing.

Bustral goes to help Rain and coalesces frost around the purple shadow creature. It flinches at the cold, but doesn't seem too bothered by it.

Lirien fires an energy bolt at the same one, hoping to defend Rain, but the magic slams into the nearby stairs instead.

The purple shadow creature laughs and races towards Bustral, hissing "...a world of boundless nightmares..." It pauses for just a moment to hurl a spear at the automaton before closing the distance again. The spear is no shadow as it impales Bustral right through his shoulder.

The green one that Aru tried to poison responds by stabbing her with a spear in return, then it dashes away from her.

Round 2
Aru -8
Shadows (Red, Blue -1, Yellow -5)
Koi
Bustral -12
Mu Long -12
Lirien
Izy -1, Heroism
Shadows (Green -4, Purple -4)

Map

@Izy, while carrying Zykyryz, you won't benefit from Implement's Empowerment (the +2 damage). You can still use esoterica with your chain sword for Exploit Vulnerability though.