No worries, hopefully you won't end up in a fight before your sheets are sorted :)
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The man's eyes narrow, "Mmm, as you can see everything is in order." His tone made an implicit dismissal.
Get well soon!
The golem never once wavering in its motion or paying attention to any of you the thunders past as Lope moves to the next door. Lope opens the door but it's hinges squeak horribly and those in the room suddenly jerk into wakefulness. A musty unpleasant smell wafts out. In the center is a scarred wooden table surrounded by wooden chairs, seated at which are four stirring figures and the remains of a large meal. One figures, a tall man is dressed in cultist robes, the other five are particularly disreputable looking collection of ratish men and women. Perception DC 15:
Are those the tips tails poking out of the back of the ratish looking people?! The southeast corner contains several pallets of straw jumbled together like a nest. A target hangs on the back of the wooden door in the east wall. A wooden door in the south wall has a small barred window and
The cultist takes Lope's appearance in and apparently assuming he too is part of the cult snaps, "What is the meaning of this? Clear instructions were given that we are not to be disturbed till the morning!"
Kn: Local DC 12: You're convinced the ratish looking people are in fact wearrats!
From my pov, I'll try to scale encounters so they're not too easy/hard so it's up to you how you build your characters as long as they follow the rules.
Lope opens the door to find a cramped, unlit room lined with shelves and filled with lumber, jars of paint, rolled tapestries, and other materials for constructing sets and props. Perception DC 16:
All the stuff in here seems to be junk from when the enclosing bower was theater. The one thing you do notice is the lack of footprints. All the dust suggests nobody comes in here and the door can be barred from the inside.
Good luck @Triphylla!
If you could all post your lvl 9 updates soon that would be great :)
You are supposed to be level 9 currently.
Ok so all the currently active players have a method of disguise or invisibility. As a reminder this is the map of the lower level. There are five unopened doors, let me know which you'd like to try.
Unfortunately you might be right :( I'll have to think about recruitment but in the meen time the minions of hell grow weaker, however you grow stronger! I forgot to level you up earlier, you should be level 9 at this stage. Right now we're in the last quarter of book 3 and my original intention was to run an edited book 4. I expect you to be level 13 at the conclusion of this game.
Lets see: Triphylla - Invisibility
I'm not sure that everyone does have magical disguise, certainly some of you do.
Even before Triphylla reaches the bottom of the stairs, she hears a steady THUD, THUD, THUD as something large and very heavy patrols the corridor below. Kn: Arcana DC 16: While very durable, Golems are not exactly the brightest of things. Presumably this one is programmed to not attack cult members. It's method of identifying cultists is probably something simple.
The door to the north is locked, along with the door to the east. Triphylla hears snoring coming from both rooms, it's hard to tell the exact number of snorers but there's more in the room to the east.
I was planning on doing book 4 but could stop at the end of this book if you want.
Lope gingerly opens the door and winces when the hinge squeaks softly. Inside he can dimly see it's another spartan dressing room, containing a vanity table and a single wooden chair slumped in which is an odd looking heavily robed figure. The vanity table contains a large mirror ringed
The individual in the chair, (Lope can't immediately determine if it's a man or a woman) stirs slightly before falling back into a deep twitching slumber. <--- FAIL Kn: Planes DC 18: The anatomy of this creature is all wrong, what's more what you initially took to be fingers are in fact tentacles! This must be one of the dread denizens of Leng. Under its robes, it will have horned brows, clawed fingers, mouths full of tentacles, and crooked goatish legs with cloven hooves.
Many scholars have argued over where the otherworldly realm of Leng lies— some believe it can be found among the Outer Planes, while others are convinced it can only be reached via a dimension of dreams. The denizens of Leng can travel to other planes freely, and often do so in strange, black ships, constantly seeking new breeds of slaves or trading rubies for unusual services or magical treasures. At other times, their visits are much more violent, focusing on abducting victims for use as slaves or worse. On Leng, these denizens have long fought a war against that realm’s monstrous spiders, a war that sometimes spills over into other worlds. Denizens of Leng heal unnaturally fast, have unusual anatomy which makes sneak attacks etc much less effective and their horrible tentacle filled maws seem to sap the dexterity of anyone they bite. You remember one other, not very encouraging fact, a denizen of Leng can't truly be killed on Golorion. At best it can be banished for a while back to its home plane where it will lick it wounds and hone a grudge against those who wronged it.
Perception DC 15:
There is the sound of soft snoring beyond the door where Lope is. Somebody seems to be sleeping!
To Triphylla's disappointment there doesn't seem to be any hidden surprises in this room.
The door in front of Lope is old but sturdy and it has recently been fitted with a pair of bolts, one high, one low. They make a small scraping sound as Lope opens them, the door reveals a dusty dressing room. It contains only an ancient vanity table with a large mirror surrounded by dusty candles, the room doesn't look like it's been used in years.
The door opens, and for now at least it seems the cult is unaware of your intrusion.
He also became really good at pool.
The acid vigorously attacks the metal, releasing clouds of noxious fumes. After about five minutes it had worn through the end of the bracket which fell off with a muffled clang. Triphylla was confident that she could now leaver the wooden beam off allowing the door to open, but the heavy beam would make an ungodly racket when if struck the floor, that is unless she has a cunning plan...
Triphylla activates the cloak, and a glowing portal briefly appears in the air next to her leading to one of the two entrance antichambers. She steps through inside the theater and she finds the large double doors are barred from within with a heavy wooden beam, the inner doors are ajar. This part of the complex is inky dark and silent as a tomb.
Three chilly hours later, the area around the encircling bower is completely dead. It's been half an hour since the gates were closed and twenty minutes since the last stragglers went home. Fifteen minutes ago, a group of cult guards came out of the gate, circled the bower and went back in again. There's been no action since and the cold is starting to seep into your muscles. It's dark and damp and the humans among you are effectively blind with the stars lost behind the clouds. Quiet as a mouse, Triphylla approaches the gates. The only noises she can hear are the small sounds made by her breath and the beating of her heart.
I've been really busy and haven't had much time for this game of late, sorry all. I guess that shows, I notice interest had dropped way off. Anyway as a reminder, you're looking into the cult of the twilight child. There is a rumour that the twilight child is in fact prince Carrius back from the dead. Carrius is the elder brother to princess Eutropia who died in a riding accident when he was little. Oddly he couldn't be resurrected and the reason for that was the subject of much gossip, at least behind closed doors. If he did come back he would be the heir to the throne. But this all begs many questions, not least of which - if this truly is Carrius did he come back willingly? What are we actually dealing with here, is he all there? Taldor has already suffered one mad man on the throne after all.
Once an imposing circular edifice, the brick arches and stone ornaments of this large theater are now scarcely visible beneath climbing rose, grapevines, and ivy and this jumbled mass of foliage may be the only thing preventing the venerable theater from simply collapsing. The stone marquee set between the two entrances bears the nearly illegible text: “The Encircling Bower Welcomes You into Its Embrace.”
"I've not been for a while but as a young man I always enjoyed the Whistling Wyvern, it draws a diverse crowd." suggested the enumerator.
Kn: Local 18:
Located on the heart of the Bountiful quarter, The Whistling Wyvern is a large tavern and inn popular with travellers, mercenaries and hired guards, the Whistling Wyvern gains its name from an enormous fluted weather vane resembling a wyvern atop the building’s highest spire. Next evening you venture once more of the city walls towards the encircling bower. Of course there was another evening service, and you needed to decide whether you would use that as means to gain entry to the compound or wait until much later.
"Fighting golems sounds like something to avoid, although brute force is suppose to be effective in a pinch." remarked the Enumerator.
The chief Enumerator nodded, "That would certainly reduce the risk of civilians getting hurt, and if you're lucky many of the cultists will be asleep."
Get well soon!
Abrun replied, "Pythareus is many things, a demagog, a general, a would be dictator, but above all he is an opportunist. I'm not convinced he's behind this cult, but if the rumours about this twilight child are true and it really is Prince Carrius returned to life then you can bet your last copper that Pythareus will take full advantage unless someone acts first. For the good of Taldor the truth must come out, but I must warn you this will be dangerous. The cult will not respond kindly to interference, the council has tried to send a number of agents to keep an eye on them but last night their bloodless corpses were found stacked at the back entrance to the council building. Clearly somebody wanted to send a message." Abrun frowned as this evoked unsavory thought before nodding to one of the acolytes. They then brought forwards what turned out to be a plain white-ash staff with inlaid with small silver runes, and with a wrought iron cap. "I think this might give you an edge. It was owned by one of my forebears and has sat unused in the reliquary for several generations. It's supposed to have great healing potential."
Heeding Valeria's advice, you make your way back to the Gilded Baldachin where hot scented baths are run and masseuses expertly ease away the aches and pains of pulled muscles and other minor consequences of battle. Suitably pampered, several hours later and dressed to the nines your carriage takes you the short way to the official residence of the Enumerator. Located in an impeccable neighborhood, the townhouse exudes the understated confidence and solidity of old money in juxtaposition to the extravagant and oversized mansions you saw earlier today along the river bank. The door opens before you have a chance to knock and you are welcomed in by another one of the temple acolytes. The residence itself is warm and airy, decorated in a minimalist style by Taylor's standards with a unifying motif of Abadar's symbolism. Likely not to everyone's taste, but it was undeniably well executed. Dinner was served in a cozy dining room with a roaring fire, spiced cuts of prime beef in a spiced Quadrian inspired sauce, with an unusual frozen and very tasty dessert that hailed from far off Jalmerry. Over the course of the meal Enumerator Abrun Palliettor engaged with small talk, sharing various anecdotes of life in Yanmaas interspersed with listening to your story. With the remains of dinner taken away glasses of port, whiskey, and other drinks served Abrun says, "On behalf of the council I'd like to tank you for everything you've done. It's clear to almost everyone that Maxillar has been stirring up much of the recent trouble. I think it's fair to say with the way things have gone he's burnt his bridges. I wish we could now draw a line under things, but the cult of the twilight child troubles me still. It's popularity grows but I'm increasingly convinced it's a sham. You attended one of their ceremonies, tell me what did you make of it?"
The city watch turn up shortly after, responding to reports of violence in the streets. For a brief moment it looked like they were going to attempt to arrest you, but a runner from the Mercantile Council arrived with a warrant for Earl Yanders arrest, alive or dead. Several more members of the watch arrived, they spoke to the watch captain briefly before he spoke to you, "Sorry for the confusion, it turns out you've done us a big favor here. Some more of Yander's correspondence has been found, partially burnt in his hurry to leave. It's clear he was working under instructions from Pytharus. We'll have to see what happens at Yanders trial but if he's convicted he'll hang for sure." A while later a man you recognize as one of the acolytes from the temple of Abadar arrives with a message, "Chief Enumerator Abrun Palliettor extends his congratulations for Yander's capture! He cordially invites you for dinner this evening at his residence."
Without the commander holding things together, the remaining officers at Tallgrasses are rudderless, there'll almost certainly be infighting and recriminations - they totally failed at maintaining basic camp security. Morale was already not great, I expect as food and more critically alcohol supplies run low over the next few weeks there'll be a wave of desertions. Also you achieved the story objectives, going back there will take a good few months of real time to wrap up and I'm not sure that's such a good idea :)
Good to see you here, does anyone have any immediate actions they want to take in game? We're now about 2/3 of the way through this book, the major part left is getting to the bottom of what is going on at the encircling bower.
Lope's lightning empowered attack hits like a thunderclap and spalls off fragments of armour which hit the ground like metallic rain. But despite having a gaping hole in the breastplate, the animated armour remains active. Triphylla attacks the other animated armour, hitting it like a freight train and she exchanges the coppery gall of blood for a mouth full of metal shavings! Again the armour she was fighting looks battered, the sheet metal broken in places yet it too is still active. Diana's spell floods the area with slippery grease. The suit of armour fighting Lope and St John stand indomitably, but the other on battered by Triphylla nearly looses its footing!
The earl is unconscious but still breathing, and heeding Diana's words, St John steps away from the armor without any counter attack.
Loot: Cape of the Mountebank, potions of barkskin (2), scroll of cure serious wounds, wand of bear’s endurance (10 charges), wand of
shield (30 charges); Other Gear mithral shirt, mwk light crossbow, mwk rapier, cloak of resistance +1, ring of mind shielding, noble’s outfit, 150 gp.
St John's falcata slices the Earl's side and his buckler smacks him in the side of his head. Neither of these were the hardest of hits but together they where the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back. Earl Yander's eyes rotate up into their sockets and he falls in heap on the floor. With their master unconscious and dying, the pair of Animate Armours attempt to stand protectively over his body. One of them attacks St John, he manages to parry several attacks, but he gets cut by a particularly powerful blow that was impossible to fully deflect. <--- MISS
The other one attacks Triphylla, yet despite it's remarkable martial prowess it fails to land a blow on her. It's uncanny how she stood exactly wherever it's blade was not!
Kn: Arcarna DC 18:
If you back off now, they won't attack since their last order was to defend him not to avenge him, and after a while they'll wink out of existence.
Nudge nudge, time to finish this!
Earl Yander is on his last legs, time to finish him!
Lope manages to get his blade past the Animate Armour's guard, to score a solid hit, a considerable feat and one he wasn't sure he could repeat reliably... With Earl Yander surrounded, he was more or less at Triphylla's mercy and in an act of unbridled savagery she used her knife like claws to climb up his body (stabbing a kidney and his spleen on the way) only to viciously gore his shoulders and to rip a large chunk of his neck out with her teeth! Serenaded by the earl's panicked cries, and with the now familiar coppery gall of blood tantalising her tongue, she faced a momentous decision: to spit or to swallow? In the background various members of the public who had been milling around, started screaming and running away. Estinti pauses, shocked by the savagery.
Clearly in terribly pain and in mortal terror, Earl Yander tried desperately to concentrate on another spell but being literally eaten alive.
You felt him gathering power as his spell took form but before he could speak Diana opened her mouth wide as if to make a bloodcurdling scream, yet there was no noise at all! Horribly the Earl's face seemed to vibrate violently and specks of blood spall off his skin and one eye suddenly darkens with blood from an internal hemorrhage. Dazed he lost the spell.
Diana and St John are up (and Estinti can also post an action).
Not feeling motivated enough to bot Diana tonight, sorry! I hope Diana's player is OK but unless they come back before the end of this combat I'm going to have to retire them permanently.
Diana, hesitates. Empowered by the earl's spell, the Animate armours attack! The first one attacks St John. He manages to parry two of its attacks but so much force was behind the middle attack that there was no parrying that! It's blade left a nasty gash in his shoulder which bled freely.
The other one lowers it's shield and tries to batter Triphylla away again!
Lope, Triphylla, Estini and Valeria are up.
When St John moved, the sword of the nearest animate armours shot out with unerring accuracy. It would have hit if St John was an inch closer.
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