Aja's page

Seems like the consensus is to stick with 1e and play out at least Ruby Phoenix Tournament and the seeker level adventures so that will be the plan. I'll start reading/prepping Ruby Phoenix in the next couple days.

As mentioned above, I've played Ruby Phoenix, but it was years ago and I don't really remember the details. If you don't mind letting me play anyway, I can bring someone along, and just forego the chronicle sheet. I thought maybe a healer type (lvl 12 life oracle).

I've played and run the Eyes of the Ten four-part cycle. It's a pretty epic storyline and well worth doing if you get a chance. Not sure you learn much lore per se, though it sorta explains why a particular Venture Captain doesn't appear again after Season 2.

Sorry, Aja is 45919-7. Was thinking of Impasha.

Player Name:
Character Name:
PFS Number:
Character Class/Level:
Faction:
Progression:
Day Job:

Player: htrotter

I'm always game for more adventures. Reign of Winter is my only other active campaign. I actually haven't played Fragments of Antiquity, I haven't played much of anything in season 9 or 10. I've played Siege of the Serpents (didn't enjoy it, specials are pretty dull story-wise) and Ruby Phoenix Tournament. I've played and run Serpent's Rise, but I'd play it again for no credit, as it was pretty enjoyable to be an Aspis character. Serpents Rise may be a 4 or 5 star level GM adventure, can't remember.

I've stuck my toe into Starfinder. I like it ok. I remember running the Intro adventure and playing a very bouncy K-Pop song to stand in for Starsugar Heartlove by Strawberry Machine Cake.

I've also stuck my toe into 2e. I can manage the basics, but I don't love the system.

All that said, I think as the GM you should decide what you want to run, since you'll be doing 90% of the work.

"So, what do you surface worlders do for fun?" one of the many ratfolk in the bunker with you asks.

Aja does NOT look happy at the prospect of being trapped in a dark, cramped, dusty bunker for days on end, but she quickly hides whatever glimmers of dismay she may be feeling and goes to work. Lifting spirits and helping people in trying times was her job, after all.

"I'm glad you asked that. I don't suppose any of you have any dice?"

As she gets out the coffee grinder and begins to kindle a small fire...

"Of course I know all sorts of songs and stories, but I find that just listening to someone can get tiresome after a while. Even Rusty the Wonder Dog isn't *that* entertaining. But perhaps we can all participate in telling s story together--

"OK, so, I have some salt, let's get those mushroom chips salted up and put into a bowl. Snack food is essential..."

And even with only a few dice and using sticks to tally things in the dirt and little pebbles to stand in for characters on a battle map, Aja soon has a game she calls 'Pathfinders' up and running.

She runs three sessions a day for three different groups, and that proves to be enough as it provides something entertaining to watch as well as a topic of conversation for people in between sessions. Aja drinks a great deal of coffee and by the fifth day she's looking a little haggard and jittery, but generally seems to be enjoying herself.

At various other times, when people have grown a little tired of the game, Aja takes the opportunity to sleep, or to quietly play an instrument in a corner, and willingly takes requests of songs or famous tales, and surprisingly seems to know many Darkland variants.

When the rescue finally comes, Aja nearly cries with delight and rushes precipitously out of the bunker, grateful to have escaped her claustrophobic dungeon.

Aja moves over toward her companions so she can get a good look at the end of the last... well, really to make sure everyone can get a good look at her as she goes into her rousing finale.

"So long!
Farewell!
Aufwiedersehn goodbye!"

The first person who misses on their next attack gets a Gallant Inspiration cast on them as an immediate action.

Aja snaps the fingers of her right hand, and the grease patch near the remaining enemy disappears, and Myth's hair resolves itself into a Teddy Boy quif with a little kiss curl on the forehead. She starts to strut and dance back toward the melee.

"We're gonna rock that clockwork guy tonight!
We're gonna rock rock rock his world tonight
We're gonna knock off that clockwork block of his toniiiight!"

Seeing Kal'Ryon take heavy fire from the clockwork mage, Aja moves with her magically enhanced speed toward the ganzi and casts another Grease spell under the mage's mechanical feet.

It figures we'd be fighting nothing but undead and constructs in this adventure. Most of my spells are enchantment/compulsion-type and totally useless.

"Grease is the word, is the word, that you heard..."

Aja reaches out and gathers Myth's hair into her hands briefly, pulling her fingers through his locks, then abruptly raises her hands over her head and twiddles her fingers rapidly until they glisten. She then splays her hands out violently before her toward the ground in front of Myth, causing the dirt and grass to glisten as well.

Continue to inspire courage, casting Grease, then stepping back a little.

DC 19 Reflex Save or fall prone, Mr Robotos!

EDIT: I tried to indicate the squares on the map, but all I can figure out to do is make a big square of white over the affected area, because I am a dumb. If anyone else can edit what I did to make a nice transparent outline of those 4 squares, please feel free. This is why I don't run games of my own. :/

Reflex Save: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (18) + 11 = 29

Aja goes into her routine. She begins a frantically paced dance routine that involves a lot of running in place while banging her finger cymbals, her head flopping back and forth comically in time like a wacky metronome.

"The other night I drifted off Round Mountain rats arrive
Hao Jin on the side, LEONARD BERNSTEIN
Leonard Bernstein, Aram Zey and Keighton Shaine
Birthday party, cheesecake, jellybean, boom!
You symbiotic patriotic clockwork junk, right? Right!
It's the end of Diguo Dashu as we know it
It's the end of Diguo Dashu as we know it
It's the end of Diguo Dashu as we know it
And I feel fiiiiine."

Move Action Inspire Courage, Standard Action cast Haste on all but Kal'Ryon

I can say, I don't like how the Pathfinder Society is presented in this adventure. Your primary goal is NOT to convince the ratfolk to evacuate. Your primary goal is to chronicle their civilization for posterity before it gets crushed by a mountain sized chunk of rock that the Pathfinder Society is responsible for causing to reappear in the first place.

Literally. Your primary prestige point comes from getting enough investigation points. Getting the ratfolk to evacuate by a certain point is just the secondary prestige point.

That's... appalling.

This is such a strange scenario. I have nothing but respect for the way our GM is running us through this, but this adventure doesn't make a lot of sense. There's not much in the way of roleplaying, there doesn't seem to be any real villain to thwart or press against and the narrative structure is non-existent. At a table, a GM could spend 15 minutes asking players to roll skill checks, then hand out the chronicle sheets, at least so far.

And perhaps my biggest area of puzzlement is that all these skill checks at various locations don't really seem to have anything to do with the ultimate goal of convincing the rat people to leave. How is our fact finding about rat nobility and fish markets and engineering skills, which in game terms is what we're spending most of our time on, doing anything to convince anyone to go? In the end we didn't present a shred of new information about the return of Round Mountain out of the Tapestry -- we spent 5 days nosing around and befriending various rat people and learning how they harvest mushrooms and run fish stands.

And it seems like at this point we can just declare victory and go home? Am I missing something? Is there a big climax coming where the mystery of the clockwork people gets resolved beyond their anonymous smashing a few days hence?

"Will the rest of you be staying, as well, or will you join in the evacuation?"

"I think we should check in with our Venture Captain Amara Li and see how she would prefer us to proceed." says Aja.

Am I remembering correctly that Amara Li gave us some way to communicate with her at the start of this mission?

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (20) + 23 = 43
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (12) + 23 = 35
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (20) + 23 = 43

Just to get the ball rolling on skill checks I guess...

Knowledge Nobility: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (13) + 13 = 26

As Aja leaves Nor Zhen's office, her face is screwed up in thought. Her hair visibly darkens to a brownish red.

"You know, I've learned not to trust coincidences." she confides to her friends. And it strikes me as a pretty big coincidence that this clockwork assault should be happening right now. The clockwork creatures are being used by someone else, that much is clear -- they have their own home already, and don't have any sort of imperial or colonial impulses of their own. They don't particularly need the resources of this cavern."

"I'm just thinking out loud here... what if there's another party that is trying to drive the ratfolk from this cavern before Round Mountain returns? They launch an endless assault of non-living soldiers in an effort to press and weaken their defenses and willpower, and separately they try to poison their water to make this place less habitable. It's classic siege tactics, really."

"I'm not sure who would be doing this, or why they'd be using such violent, harmful tactics. But it might fit facts of the situation. And given several more weeks, it might even work. But it doesn't seem like it'll work within 10 days."

"Even if I believed you - which I don't - an evacuation of the civilians would have to be approved by Governor Zho Bai and she would need to request military assistance," he answers Aja.

Aja's shoulders slump a little and she sighs. "I must be losing my touch." she confides to her companions.

"But these invaders you found. Where were they? You say they were smuggling toxins? Why would you think they were trying to pollute our food or water? Why do you say one of them was a mage?"

•Aja tells him approximately where in the mushroom forest they had been.

•"Yes. Violet fungi."

•"I don't know why the creatures were loaded down with toxic fungi, I'm only speculating. But it's not a normal feature of a clockwork creature, so there must be a reason."

•"Mostly because it was casting fire spells at us."

He sighs and rubs his ear, toying with the scarred portion thoughtfully. When he speaks it is as much to his advisors as you. "Perhaps these things are not as mindless as we thought."

"In our encounter with these things, it laid an ambush for us and attacked us from a hidden position and employed commendable tactics of teamwork. Their actions may be programmed, but they were not random or mindless."

"our organization, the Pathfinder Society, faced a similar assault from clockwork creatures about 5 years ago, in one of the dwarven Sky Cities. So we have a little bit of experience with them."

"If you give the governor this information I suspect she will at least evacuate the civilians."

He pauses thoughtfully for a moment. "If you have any other questions, please see my quartermaster. We must return to planning given this new information."

"Well, that's something, I suppose." says Aja. "I know you have a job to do, and I respect your courage and your sense of duty. Just... consider that what we say may be true, and make some contingency plans if the order from the governor comes for you to evacuate. We'll be returning to her to speak with her again, and we'll tell her all we've learned."

"Thank you for your time. We'll talk to the quartermaster before we go, as you suggest."

"Look, we can see how busy you are and your task is very difficult and important, so we don't want to waste your time." says Aja soothingly in salesperson mode. "Admittedly we are outsiders here. But we do have some relevant things to talk about here, I think."

"What my colleague was referring to is the fact that we have very strong reason to believe that this whole cavern, the entire Old Rat's Ticker, is about to be obliterated. This place was not originally a natural phenomenon, it was created accidentally when a powerful sorceress centuries ago grew interested in the ratfolk who lived in the tunnels here, and contrived a spell to teleport the entire community along with their homes away to a special pocket dimension of her own creation. This cavern is the hole left over after that spell. We've come to warn you that this spell is about to fail, and that mountain of rock is about to reappear here and obliterate everything. I know that sounds incredible, but I assure you it's quite true. And I think you must ask yourself -- if there is even a chance that such a thing is true, should you not consider what to do about it?"

"Our mission has led us to travel days through the Darklands from our home on the Surface of this world to deliver this warning and help you evacuate your people. We believe this event will happen in about 10 days from now. We've spoken with your governor, and I think she has also had a hard time believing what we say. We've come to you because if anyone is going to plan and execute an effective evacuation of the Old rat's Ticker, it should be a military mind like yours."

"But let's also talk a little about your clockwork invaders. Who is sending these mechanical creatures to attack you? We encountered a clockwork mage and his pack of clockwork hounds on the way here, and we discovered they were carrying toxic violet fungi hidden in secret compartments in their chest after we destroyed them. Have you noticed this as well in the clockwork creatures attacking you? It's possible they were smuggling the substance in, perhaps to pollute your waters or food, or perhaps delivering it to someone here simply because it's valuable. We'd welcome your insight on this matter."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (13) + 23 = 36

@Aja: Is that enough to get you back to max hp? I can do more but wasn’t sure if your nonlethal damage was also part of your running total…

No, that was the tally for lethal HP. I had a separate tally running for non-lethal. So she's at 64/73, which is probably fine for now. She'll recover the rest overnight.

"Souvenir? It is the beginning of your own portable museum of curiosities!"

"Oh, hardly the beginning." says Aja. Perhaps nothing could be more calculated to make Aja positively quiver with anticipation than the prospect of talking to a willing audience about her collection. But she plays it off to be polite. "But you don't actually want to hear about all my little keepsakes, I'm sure."

"Do you?" she asks hopefully out of the corner of her eye.

Aja is a mess. Her clothes are soaked and dirty, even ripped and bloody in a few places, she sports a really nasty bruise on her left cheekbone and is holding in the blood from a gash on her left arm. Nevertheless she looks both excited and happy at the end of the fight.

"Did you see how that thing actually vomited a stream of bones at us?! That was so interesting! I had no idea they could do that! What an exciting fight! Woohoo!" She even actually begins to hop around gleefully, yipping triumphantly and playfully on the shattered bones of the monster.

"I'm going to have to write some of these details down. How tall would you say that thing was? At least 20 feet, wouldn't you say? I was too busy singing--was it making any sounds? Or talking maybe? My friend Sesta is going to be so jealous when I get back home!"

"So, wow, is anyone else hungry? Could you guys eat? I could eat. I think I have some cheese in my pack..." She munches on cheese as the group makes its way to the horror's lair, and after wrapping her bleeding arm, she tests out a few chords and proto-melodies as she begins to concoct a song about the battle.

But if anyone thought she was excited about defeating the skeletal giant, it's nothing compared to her excitement at discovering the Lung Wa coins.

"Oh wow. Oh wow! I recognize these! I mean, not from personal experience, I've never seen these before, but look at these markings -- these are dates, and these markings over here indicate the names of the ruler who most likely minted these. These are 4th Dynasty Feng Xia currency! They actually have a pretty high gold content, they're not just bronze or iron. Of course the Feng wouldn't have wasted their bronze or iron on coins, since they used it all on weapons and armor. You've probably heard of the Feng emperors, they're the ones that the legends say were all vampires and liches. Nasty court gossip from the people who supplanted them mostly. Probably. I mean, who knows? But all those stories come after the fact, and the records show them living and dying normal lifespans in normal ways, except for Lady Xu Bao Song, who was almost certainly a necromancer and a soothsayer. The legends say she had long beautiful snow white hair nearly her entire life that hung down past her waist, and fingernails so long she needed to use cantrips to even feed herself, and she had special slippers that allowed her to float everywhere instead of walking. The collectors back in Absalom will love these coins! I'd like to keep one as a souvenir though, if I can. To think, a real live Feng gold chingusen! What a find!"

"Anyway, I think we could learn more back at the fishing village, but it might be more interesting to make our way to the garrison. We haven't talked to any of the military figures here yet, and they might be able to throw some light on those clockwork creatures we ran into. The governor did mention that the military has been busy at the borders fending off clockwork enemies. I'd sort of like to know if there's more to what's happening there than just smuggling toxic mushrooms."

Anyone with healing? I think we could all use some.

Reflex Save: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (4) + 11 = 15
Fort Save: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

Busy with her performance, Aja barely moves as the shower of bones blasts into her, pummeling her from head to toe. But the bard gamely continues to demonstrate her mercurial courage in the face of adversity.

DuKOru-DuKOru-DuKOru-DuKOru...

Aja repeats the refrain for several seconds, then descends in a sort of frantic jabbering in Minkaian, growing increasingly wild with her mandolin strumming. The pace of the song accelerates, and she whips her head back and forth, her bright auburn hair swirling about with an almost liquid flow...

Continuing to Inspire Courage (+2's) and casting Haste on all but Scarlet and Poppy. Remember the bonus to attack roll from Inspire Courage and Haste stack for a total of +3.

"This is a creature known as a GASHADOKURO. It is created when a number of creatures die of starvation and their skeletal remains combine into a single ravenous undead. Its hunger is so great that those nearby suffer from it. It can devour its prey whole. And, as may be expected given its bony nature it his highly resistant to any form of physical harm except bludgeoning."

Aja's head whips around and she sees the gigantic skeletal monster as it lurches from the dark waters of the subterranean lake, torrents of water and bone scudding down its skeletal surface. Her eyes widen with wonder and excitement. She looks positively thrilled.

"I've heard about these, but I've never seen one! How exciting!"

Then the wave of necromantic hunger washes over the group.

Fortitude: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

"Hey, you ever notice when you eat crab cakes, you're hungry, like, an hour later?"

"Never mind, this'll be a piece of cake. Mmmmm, cake."

Whipping out her mandolin, she plays a few deep loud tones, followed by a few more slightly higher but just as loud strums, then back to deep ones, making a sort of thudding walking melody.

"Oohhhh no! We say he's got to go! Gash-a DoKUro! Whee-oo whee-oo!
Oohhhh no! That's one big scarecrow! Gash-a DoKUro! Whee-oo whee-oo!"

While playing the mandolin with her strumming hand, her free hand is twirling above her head. At first it looks like it might just be an artistic flourish, but it soon becomes evident that she's generating a glowing sheath of arcane energy about her arm. The same sheath is growing around Kal'Ryon's sword, making a sort of cylindrical surface of magical force...

Fatigued! And HANGRY! Move Action to start Bardic Performance to INSPIRE COURAGE (+2 to Attack and Damage and +2 to Will Saves vs Fear & Charm), and Standard Action casting Versatile Weapon on Kal'Ryon's sword to give the Bludgeoning quality. Scarlet I had planned to hit you with that, but you vanished from sight!

Aja has been spending much of the walk over here recounting maritime themed ghost stories, and so she at first doesn't notice the huge skeletal monster rising from the mere. In fact, she has her back to it as she builds to a dramatic climax, and so is facing her audience, and completely misinterprets their wide eyed stares as they look past her to the undead horror...

Is it in fact an undead horror? Knowledge Religion or Knowledge Arcana?

"I guess you can't blame the governor for being cynical. A bunch of people show up and say you have to move all your citizens because a mountain is going to come out of nowhere and crush everyone. Seems unlikely at best."

"I wouldn't say cynical--more like dismissive." says Aja. "I believe her words were: 'Oh, I'm sure it's not as serious as all that.' or something to that effect. I was expecting suspicion or doubt, but not that. If I was the governor and outsiders came with the news that my entire community was about to be wiped out, I would of course be skeptical, but on the off chance that it might be true, I'd certainly be looking for ways to investigate the claim, and at least have some contingency plans."

"But we haven't given up. I think we'll convince her eventually."

Once Aja finds out about a haunted shore, she'll definitely want to check that out.

Aja inhales deeply and licks her lips at the smell of crustacean delicacies, her teeth for a moment looking more sharp and needle-like than usual. But before she can head off to bargain for a hot lunch with the locals, she encounters the Pathfinders.

"Well hello to you to you as well. I'm Aja." she replies with easy charm to the Pharasman. "Yes, I'm sure I remember you from the trek down here."

"So, are you having any luck convincing any of these folk to evacuate? We spoke with the Governor in Zhotan; she was friendly but in a bit of denial about the dangerousness of the situation. So we've been trying to build our arguments for a second conference. We also ran into some clockwork creatures who tried to ambush us on the way here."

Aja surveys the bustling scene. "This is a more vibrant community than I expected. And more extensive. I don't personally fancy a swim right now, but perhaps one of my companions would enjoy that. I thought I might speak with those engineers about their aqueduct system."

Which, eventually, she does. After snapping down some crab puffs.

Knowledge Engineering -- Take 20 with Loremaster: 20 + 12 = 32

I'm happy to just keep rolling skill checks, but I keep wondering if there's going to be any roleplaying or plot development associated with our explorations.

I assume that the point of checking in with the governor would be to see how far we've moved the needle to making her agree to beginning the evacuation, and if we discover that we still need to convince her, then we do more skill checks? Clearly we could easily make 80%+ of these checks without difficulty, but it might take too much time that we otherwise need for the evacuation phase of the task?

Just want to make sure I understand the structure of how best to fulfill the goals of our mission.

Also, I would encourage everyone in the party to attempt these checks. I know Knowledge skills are trained only, but for things like Diplomacy or Appraise etc you can always roll lucky and there doesn't seem to be any penalty for failure.

So if I understand correctly we're moving on to Mushroom Farmlands tasks now?

Knowledge Dungeoneering (take 20 via Loremaster ability): 20 + 12 = 32

As Aja makes her way among the mushroom stalks, she chatters about the various details of the sundry species as if she's giving a tour of the place, or teaching a seminar to a group of students.

Aja auto passes the DC 10 Knowledge Dungeoneering

Once the fight is over and the toxic fungus is discovered, Aja crosses her arms. ”Well that’s certainly interesting. You know, there’s quite a market for this stuff. I suspect these clockwork creatures were being used to smuggle it.”

”But who’s behind these clockwork creatures? And who’s behind the smuggling operation? Clearly it’s someone in this cavern. It might even be the governor. I think we should poke around a bit more and see what we can learn.”

Bocke is Hasted, he can make that move and still have his standard action.

Do Clockwork Mages dream of electric pain? Aja healed a little so she's now -31 HP.

"He's a magic man, oooooooh he's got magic hands..."

Knowledge Arcane (take 10 via Loremaster): 10 + 12 = 22

Aja points at the Clockwork man as he reveals himself and splatters her with fire.

"It's the fire starter! There's the fire starter! Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey!"

"Myth, wherever you are, adamantine weapons. Or electrical ones--they short out!"

She then withdraws from sight, pulling out a healing potion and drinking it.

Potion Cure Moderate Wounds: 2d8 + 3 ⇒ (8, 3) + 3 = 14

Once again, remember your +2s for the Inspire Courage!

”We have a hidden one now too.” notes Aja with grin.

”Private eyes, they’re watching you.
They’ll see your every moooove…”

Aja changes up the cadence of her performance a little, still inspiring courage.

Weeellllll
You ain’t nothin but a Hound Dog!
Cryin all the time!
You ain’t-a nothin but a Hound Dog
Cryin all the time!
Weeellllll you ain’t never caught a rabbit
And you ain’t no friend of mine!”

Meanwhile she engages in a stylized hasted strut, circling clear of the dog Scarlet is massacring, and makes her way to Mythryndyr. Once there, she lays a hand on his collar and appears to yank him backwards and he vanishes from sight!

casting Greater Invisibility on Mythryndyr

Myth, don’t forget your Haste & your +2’s from the bard song. This happens when I play my bard at tables too, I spend all my time reminding my team-mates of the great bonuses I’m offering them. Which is I guess the opposite of charisma, which makes it ironic.

Scarlet, don't forget the +2's from the bard performance

Seeing the charging clockwork creatures, Aja grins and gives a little yip of excitement. She reaches quickly up into her sleeves, and her fingers come out sheathed in finger cymbals. She begins to clink and chatter them in a very allegro rhythm, wiggling a little just because she can, and begins to sing a light-hearted song at the same time.

”Whooo let the dogs out?
who who-who
Who let the dogs out?
who who-who-who?”

Standard action cast Haste, move action Bardic Performance to Inspire Courage, +2 competence bonus to attack & damage, +2 morale bonus to will saves vs fear & charm. So the attack bonus from haste and bard song will stack to +3. I think the Haste will get everyone except Mythryndyr

Aja will also take a 5 foot step back to make room for the guys with swords

Looks like Almaas isn't posting

Day 2

Appraise: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (11) + 15 = 26

Waiting to see if Almaas makes the Merchant check

At the end of the first day, Aja returns to the inn and settles down in the common room with the others, feeling very pleased with herself. Having skipped a meal, she tucks into a stash of grapes and bread that she'd secreted into the Darklands in her handy haversack, mixing it with a bit of local cheese.

"I hope all of you had as productive a day as I did. I got so many ideas for new compositions, and I think I learned a few things that will help us."

She chit chats lightly about some of the facts she uncovered, snapping grapes into her mouth whenever she allows herself to stop talking, and drinks liberally from a tankard of Darklands mead.

After a while, she settles back from the table and pulls out her mandolin, tuning it expertly, then strums a few chords.

"I must say though, I do miss the sun. It reminds me of a story, a folk tale I heard in Brevoy, about a boy who went looking for a lock of the Sun's hair."

She recounts the story to the whole room, but in Common, her hands expertly plucking and strumming on her instrument to provide a background accompaniment, but she speaks her words in a casual prose, as one would read a story to children.

Aja is too much of a grasshopper to actually have any trained craft or profession, though she might find it amusing to try an untrained craft alchemy check.

Scarlet and Poppy find Aja a breath of fresh air to be around and clearly enjoy having a fellow performer and musician about to form a three-piece band with "You know with your talents we could perform up a storm, and no doubt take on some more ambitious... tasks".

Aja seems charmed by the idea. "I've never worked with an ensemble before. How fun!"

"My usual performances are more formal usually. It depends on the audience of course. I do quite a few epic tales and songs for the snooty clients, and folk takes and fairy tales for the hoi polloi. Interspersed with recounting current events and cultural commentaries. But I'm sure if we put our heads together, we could work out some way I could contribute to your act."

In the dim light of the library, Aja's eyes gleam nearly golden. She reaches into a pouch and tosses Rusty a treat.

I think we'll probably do a second day here, depending on what happens with the remaining party members. At this point, we still haven't made contact with the merchants or the military, and Aja would want those avenues explored successfully, if possible.

Scarlet, it looks like only one Diplomacy check is available for Zhotan, if I read the handout right, We're no longer at the Cavern Walls phase of things. Aja can handle either an Appraise check or the Diplomacy check. It sounds like we discovered the census, which we can use in our planning somehow as well, assuming it's relatively current and accurate. It can also tell us where other communities are within the cavern.

Does the census give us an overall headcount that we're likely to be dealing with? The more people we have, the more time will be needed to physically march them out. I'm guessing its a few thousands?

Day 1

Knowledge Nobility: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (11) + 13 = 24

Once at the library, Aja has every intention of studying the history of the folk here, but quickly falls into her weakness, the ins and outs of noble tittle-tattle and all the stories of petty drama and dynastic intrigues that the aristocracy always engenders.

In fact, there are several points in the day where she goes and pesters Bocke or Scarlet with some scandal about illicit affairs or bargains gone wrong because they are simply too delicious to keep to herself, and she also finds herself jotting down notes for inclusion into new songs and tales of her own composition, and doesn't feel all too shy about pulling out a mandolin and trying out a few verses now and then as the fancy strikes her.

Also because of her mercurial nature, she spends a fair amount of time analyzing the materials used in crafting these records, marveling at all the Darkland alternatives to paper and botanical inks.

Aja seems a little surprised that Zho Bai is taking the obliteration of the cavern so lightly, but quickly recovers.

"Yes, all right, perhaps you're right. We'll go learn more about your community. And we'll check in with your office each day we're here. And of course the Pathfinder Chronicles will have a new chapter about Zhotan, and all its wonders."

"And thank you for the warning about the eastern cavern. Many of my companions are skilled fighters -- if we can be of any help, you have only to ask."

She rises to leave.

***

After leaving the governor's office, Aja huddles with the other members of the party.

"So, it seems like the governor is going to need more convincing before she's ready to act. I think we'll get there, but we'll likely need to learn more about these people and enlist some of their leading citizens to bring some pressure to bear."

"It sounds to me like she's given us three good leads for where to start. Some of us can continue to pose as merchants and visit some of the markets and artisans. Some of us can make contact with the military figures and see where they stand, and perhaps offer them help. I plan to visit this library and see what more I can learn about this place and the people here. Anyone else similarly inclined can join me."

"We should either find lodging at whatever passes for an inn, or set up a camp outside town, then we should plan to check in with each other there regularly."

Aja accepts the tea and sniffs it luxuriantly, then sips it almost daintily. A little smile and nod to the governor indicates her approval. She addresses the governor in Zho Bai's preferred language.

"We've come here under the guise of merchants, but we actually have a more important errand. Indeed, this may very well turn out to be a life changing event for everyone here."

"We are emissaries from Amara Li of the Pathfinder Society. Perhaps you've heard of us. We're here to warn you of an impending danger. I'm afraid this will take a bit of explaining."

"First of all, have you heard of the Sorceress Hao Jin and her Tapestry?"

"Centuries ago, a powerful sorceress of Tian Xia embarked on a project to preserve a number of unique and valuable cultures from the stresses and strains of the world, and she used her magic to teleport whole cities and settlements into a demiplane that she created inside a fabulous magical tapestry. Here she would keep the people and treasures of those places for her study and under her protection. Her motives were benign, but the result was that generation upon generation of new lives burgeoned within these sequestered communities inside the magical tapestry, with most of the inhabitants unaware of any other existence, or indeed that they were trapped inside an artifact. One of the communities taken by Hao Jin was Round Mountain, a thriving city of rat folk that existed here in the Old Rat's Stolen Heart. This cavern is the hole in the rock left after Round Mountain was taken centuries ago."

"All well and good, one might say. They continued their lives in relative safety inside the Tapestry, and your community grew up here in its place. But we've come to warn you of a new and terrible development. Hao Jin has left our plane of existence, and her Tapestry has come into the keeping of the Pathfinder Society. And we have learned that the magic of the Tapestry is breaking down. Within a few weeks, perhaps mere days, the demiplane will break down entirely, destroying everything within. Our organization has take it upon itself to try and save all the thousands of people now trapped in that failing world."

"Our best option has been to send agents, much like ourselves, into the Tapestry to try and gather up all the people they can, move them to Round Mountain, and use it as a lifeboat to transport all those residents back to this world, in a sort of reversal of the ritual that stole it away in the first place. We have actually located Hao Jin on the plane of Axis and consulted her, and this was the only real option she could provide us."

"What that means for you and your community here in the cavern, is that Round Mountain will be reappearing right here in a matter of days, refilling the cavern it was originally taken from. My group has come here to help you handle this situation however you think best, but make no mistake. That mountain is coming no matter what we do."

Aja sips the tea again, then sets it aside and rests her hands in her lap, and awaits Zho Bai's reaction to all this.

Diplomacy (if needed): 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (11) + 23 = 34

"Sounds like where we need to go, to the Governor"

Scarlet and Poppy begin to lead on "I'll let you determine just how open and up front we are with them when we get there"

"I agree, the governor should be our first stop."

"I'd prefer to be open and direct with the governor about the situation, but I suppose we'll have to see what sort of person we're dealing with. Some people would honestly put the needs of their community first, but I've learned that some politicians expect to be bribed or cajoled or flattered, and some even need to be threatened to make them listen to reason. Hopefully that won't be necessary."

"I find these sorts of situations work best if the fellow in charge believes he's the one making all the decisions. The worst thing we could do is to march in there and start giving orders and making demands. And of course if we offer to do the leg work and handle the logistics to carry out *his* plan, it can only help motivate him."

Comme vous voulez

Knowledge Engineering: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (18) + 12 = 30

Appraise: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (14) + 15 = 29

Aja lingers over her coffee, allowing the others to sign the ledger first. One might think she was more interested in luxuriating in the warm aromatic experience of the invigorating beverage than she was in exploring a dark dangerous cavern. She makes unhurried small talk with the ratfolk guard right up to the moment it's time to leave, sharing bits of juicy news and gossip from the surface world, none of it terribly important in itself. When everyone has signed and moved through the gate, she sighs lightly, signs her 3 letter name with a hurried flourish, drains her mug, and proceeds away after a friendly wave of goodbye.

As the tunnel opens onto the dark cavern, there is a swish of movement in the air behind Aja, almost like the whisking of tail, and she sings a single note into the palm of one hand. In her palm, one at a time, 3 tiny ghostly luminescent foxes emerge from her skin, look about, then run along her fingers to leap into the air and begin cavorting about above her head. They quickly brighten to such a degree that they appear to mostly just be little balls of light, about the same illumination as a torch. With flicks of her finger, Aja moves the little creatures this way and that about the immediate area, then allows them to settle in the air about 10 feet above the ground and 5 feet ahead of her.

"Well, I suppose we should start with that settlement." she says, no longer paying attention to the lights playfully buzzing about above, like kits play-fighting in a meadow.

Cast Dancing Lights

Aja lingers over her coffee, allowing the others to sign the ledger first. One might think she was more interested in luxuriating in the warm aromatic experience of the invigorating beverage than she was in exploring a dark dangerous cavern. She makes unhurried small talk with the ratfolk guard right up to the moment it's time to leave, sharing bits of juicy news and gossip from the surface world, none of it terribly important in itself. When everyone has signed and moved through the gate, she sighs lightly, signs her 3 letter name with a hurried flourish, drains her mug, and proceeds away after a friendly wave of goodbye.

As the tunnel opens onto the dark cavern, there is a swish of movement in the air behind Aja, almost like the whisking of tail, and she sings a single note into the palm of one hand. In her palm, one at a time, 3 tiny ghostly luminescent foxes emerge from her skin, look about, then run along her fingers to leap into the air and begin cavorting about above her head. They quickly brighten to such a degree that they appear to mostly just be little balls of light, about the same illumination as a torch. With flicks of her finger, Aja moves the little creatures this way and that about the immediate area, then allows them to settle in the air about 10 feet above the ground and 5 feet ahead of her.

"Well, I suppose we should start with that settlement." she says, no longer paying attention to the lights playfully buzzing about above, like kits play-fighting in a meadow.