Hey sorry everyone! Things have been very hectic and PF has taken a backseat. My mother-in-law moved in with us about two months ago as we are selling our house to her. Then, about 2 weeks ago, my sister-in-law moved in with her three kids as she's going through a messy divorce. Needless to say, a 2 bedroom house is very small for 4 adults and 4 kids, and free time is pretty much non existent right now.
I always told myself I would never be the GM to disappear without finding my own replacement, but it seems it has happened. Thanks a lot Chie for rescuing my game and moving it along. Once again, apologies to all of you!
Hey sorry everyone! Things have been very hectic and PF has taken a backseat. My mother-in-law moved in with us about two months ago as we are selling our house to her. Then, about 2 weeks ago, my sister-in-law moved in with her three kids as she's going through a messy divorce. Needless to say, a 2 bedroom house is very small for 4 adults and 4 kids, and free time is pretty much non existent right now.
You guys are basically done with the scenario at this point so I just need to wrap it up and do chronicles. I have all day Friday off from work and will get them done then.
As for continuing on, I would like to give it a shot to run the rest of the series. But it's really up to you guys, since my posting may be a bit sporadic. However, since you aren't really locking up a character, at least it doesn't hold you back from other games. Let me know what you all think.
The goblins catch Cuddles off guard and quickly begin attacking before the hound can react. Mogmurch tosses a flask of acid that goes wide, but strikes the wall with enough force to spray the corrosive liquid onto the creature. Reta, Poog, and Chuffy all put their dogslicers to use doing what they do best, and leave several deep gashes on the pooch. Cuddles lets loose a blood curdling roar, sending chills down anyone near, before sinking its teeth deep into Poog's leg while pulling him to the ground.
Mutagen would still be active, but all other buffs are probably gone unless they lasted 10 min or more. You could try to topple the cauldron if you wanted to. I'll take a Str or Bull rush attempt.
Looking out across the pool, you are able to makeout the nearest structure. This long hall extends outward from the shallow pool that has formed from the thin cascade falling from the fountain room high above. It is as dilapidated as the rest of the city and partially flooded. Engaged columns, molded and cracked from long years, line the walls. Soaked and mildewed prayer rugs are placed in various spots on the floor, all facing a broken pillar in the center of the hall.
Four men dressed in desert adventuring gear kneel on the rugs, prostrate before the column, ignoring your approach. A stunningly beautiful, white-robed woman stands tied to the marble column, arms stretched above her, unmoving, her head hanging loosely against her chest.
Before carrying the load of fireworks back to the village, the goblins decide to make sure there aren't any more hidden about the boat. They head up the ladder to the second level to explore the other room. This room is a blood-splattered chamber of horror. Dead rodents, snakes, and birds have been variously nailed, tied, and hung around the walls. At the far end of the room, a large cauldron bubbles over an iron stove set against the aft wall, its stovepipe chimney extending up through the ceiling. A bloody burlap sack sits on the floor next to the stove. The center of the room contains a long, rickety table surrounded by chairs that contain several grisly decorations—a whole family of skeletal goblins, their bones bleached white and bound together by reeds and twine. In one cauldron is a heart and the left arm of a goblin stewing and sticking out of a burlap sack in the corner is a uniquely branded face of none other than Scribbleface.
But the more pressing issue is the creature Standing in the center of the room growling and barking. A hulking, rheumy-eyed, lumbering cur bigger than most goblins! From the stories told of Vorka, this must be none other then her vicious pet, Cuddles!
Hope everyone had a good holiday season. With the craziness all over, my posting rate should pick back up to normal. Sorry for all the delays the past month!
Nope, not magical. OOC, it's a wild elemental storm that's along the roof of the caverns.
Guang tests the dark, stormy cloud with a rope, pulling it back up to find parts are frozen solid while others are singed with fire, or dripping with acid. The Pathfinders decide that flight is their best option and all head down the hole, and into the roiling storm. The thick, acrid cloud makes sight quite difficult, and the four adventurers soon lose sight of each other. One of the bolts of electricity manages to strike Lurgh on the leg as he descends, leaving a smoldering hole in his clothing. 6 electric damage, DC 15 Reflex for half
Beyond the eldritch clouds you get a breathtaking view of the cavern and what lies within. The buildings of the citadel are made of sootscarred marble, though many of them now lie in ruins, shattered by their tumble into the earth millennia ago. The elemental forces that plague the city have also manifested in the form of geothermal vents and geysers of magma that pierce the walls and floors of the cavern in certain places, releasing shimmering waves of heat and occasional explosions of molten rock. As a result of these volcanic fissures, the ambient temperature within the citadel’s cavern is 100 degrees.
Does everyone have a way to deal with the heat? You need to make Fortitude saves each hour if you don't.
Milo also senses something quite different in the magical auras of the place, noting that spellcasting may be easier or more difficult depending on the school of origin.
Conjuration (summoning) spells manifest at +1 Caster Level, while conjuration (teleportation) spells must succeed at a caster level check or lose the spell
The entire cavern is cast in dim light due to the constant flickering of the elemental storm and the ominous red glow of the volcanic vents
The new map is just a general overview of the area, and you can use the Glyph of the Open Road as the party marker as you explore. There are more detailed, zoomed in maps for certain areas. I'll let you all get your bearings first and do any prep before we continue.
I'm going to call it, just has a couple HP left after that last round and is out of useful spells, so only has her weak martial attacks.
Reta tries quite unsuccessfully to climb the wall, while Poog tosses a javelin that scored a direct hit. Chuffy strikes Vorka yet again with his blade, but has obviously angered the gods as he can't seem to find a vital organ. Mogmurch hits the goblin menace with his bomb, the explosion causing her clothes to catch on fire. She tries one more weak attempt to swing her blade, but the flames prove to be too much and she falls off the wall with a crackling thud.
Out of combat!
The man-things—objects that once belonged to the crew of Kaijitsu’s Star but were left behind when the crew abandoned ship—are certainly worth something. The majority of these objects are filthy and broken, but 10 minutes or so of sorting and scavenging turns up some interesting finds. All of these items (broken and functional alike) are strangely decorative, depicting colorful serpentine dragons, towering cliffs, delicate humanoid figures, and strange pagodas—not that a goblin would know a pagoda from a tool shed. Even the filthy or broken clutter here could be worth about 600 gp to the right collector, but as they are mostly made of bamboo, exotic wood, and in some cases paper, they’re probably more fun to burn. Among the more obviously valuable objects are 140 gp, a bejeweled silver and jade lantern built to look like a coiled dragon worth 150 gp, a dozen masterwork shuriken, an ivory and gold fan depicting a gecko walking amid cherry blossoms worth 80 gp (the reverse side of this fan has been used by Vorka to draw a crude map of Brinestump, not unlike the one Scribbleface created, and contains a secret that the goblins are unlikely to decipher anytime soon), a long hairpin with a red pearl at one end worth 150 gp, a wand of create food and water with only 2 charges left, and an elixir of love in a crystal vial shaped like a heart (the vial itself is worth 50 gp).
The red chest, though, is the object of the PCs’ quest. Unlocked, it contains several fireworks. The chest itself is heavy and worth 150 gp, and there were obviously once many more fireworks within (Scribbleface managed to steal many of them by sneaking into this room while Vorka was out hunting), but those that remain should be more than enough to satisfy the chief for at least a few days. The fireworks in the chest consist of 14 Desnan candles, 20 paper candles, and seven skyrockets
Looking down into the hole reveals that the sides of the hole extend 15 feet down and then stop abruptly, the water simply falling into empty space below. Occasional flashes of light briefly illuminate the pitch-darkness, and it appears to be quite foggy, like a large cloud.
Hanig strolls up next to Glen and peers down "Long ways I think. Hundred feets, may'e more, may'e less. Watch for nasty lightnin' too."
"So you ARE Pathfinders I see. Shouldn't you be knowin' who we are then?" The three warrior introduce themselves as Hanig, Semfar, and Elastrissa, experienced mercenaries hailing from Sothis. They claim to have been hired by the Pathfinders, and were led here by a robed, elderly man with an Osirian accent. And though the man never mentioned his name, you are quite sure that it can be none other than Amenopheus based on his description. When they arrived in this chamber, the old man cast a series of spells on four of their other allies, then the five of them jumped down through the hole. He then told Hanig, Semfar, and Elastrissa to wait in the rope trick until he returned, and that if he wasn’t back before the spell expired, he would not be returning and they should head back to Manaket without him.
"...and so that's what we plan ta do. We gunna wait til this hidey hole ends, and then get out of here. Said we 'ud get paid, long as we followed his 'structions."
Glen is quite that while they may not appear to be the most trustworthy lot, they are not telling you any tales.
Chuffy surprises everyone and begins climbing up the wall with ease, and takes Vorka by surprise, digging his blade into her. Somehow, he just misses hitting a vital organ! Mogmurch tosses a bomb that causes shrapnel to strike both her and the climbing rogue, and the spell fizzles out of her mind as she dodges the flaming pieces. Poog heals more of Reta's wounds, who decides to try her luck with her bow but misses and almost hits Chuffy. The crazed goblin pulls out a rusty blade and swings it wildly at Chuffy as he clings to the wall.
I apologize for my absence, but the last few weeks ended up being much busier than I could have anticipated. Although in this game it doesn't seem that I've really missed much. I'll get Sam updated in the next day or two so he'll be ready to go once Qwerty is back.
I'm here, and things are finally calming down a bit. I apologize for my absence, but the last few weeks ended up being much busier than I could have anticipated. I'll get us going again tonight, already told my wife to leave me alone for a bit :)
I'm here, and things are finally calming down a bit. I apologize for my absence, but the last few weeks ended up being much busier than I could have anticipated. I'll get us going again tonight, already told my wife to leave me alone for a bit :)
@ Mogmurch: With the special abilities it can maintain the grapple and attack in the same round, which caused me to forget that maintaining grapples is normally a standard. So since it failed, I would say you're right, and wouldn't have been able to attack again. So you're not grappled going into the round.
Chuffy continues to struggle with his weapon, with a big swing and miss at the frog. But the blade causes enough of a distraction that it can't move out of the way of Reta's blow, and it collapses to the deck in a pool of blood. Mogmurch takes a step back and quaffs a potion, fully healing his wounds, while Poog tosses a javelin into a wall. Vorka scream out "Ahhhhhhh, will pay for dat!!! Now will have to eat pet frog for dinner. Stuffed with goblin lips!" She begins whispering odd words that seem magical.
The man's face perks up at the offer of drink, "Hold on, let me discuss this." and before you can respond his he disappears back into the rope trick. Not long after, the man returns and begins climbing down the rope, followed by another male and a female. All three appear well armed and armored, and carry themselves in a manner that shows they have experienced quite a few battles in their time.
They welcome the ale and wine Glen offers and indulge with gusto, passing around the mug. "Pathfinders ye say? Huh, can you prove it? Seems we may be workin for tha same team then. Ya group pays good money, it does!"
A scraggly head of blonde hair and a braided beard pops out of thin air and looks around at you. "Who ya be? We was warned to be on looksout for mercs. Ya be mercs? If ya lookin' fer a fight, we defend ourselves if needed." He then scratches his head a moment. "What's a Asspiss?"
Attitude improved one step, you can attempt more Diplomacy if you'd like.
The battle continues to not go very well for the group of intrepid goblins, as Reta and Chuffy both miss terribly with their attacks as Mogmurch curls into a ball. Poog goes ahead and heals his own wounds, putting him back at full strength. Vorka pulls out a small dart and hurls it at the cleric, but it misses and embeds into the wall. The frog loses its grip on Mogmurch's leg, but manages to get it back on a second try.
Reta swings and misses once again with her blade, unable to connect with the frog. Chuffy and Mogmurch prove to have a bit more luck, and both of their attacks connect, but the frog proves to be quite resilient and is still standing. Meanwhile, Poog is able to heal some of the burns covering his body. Vorka chucks yet another fire ball, this time at Reta and it hits her right in the chest, and thankfully, another ball doesn't materialize in her hand. The frog maintains its grip on the alchemists leg, and finally manages to sink its teeth into flesh.
Climbing down the hole proves easy enough and you find yourselves in a 10-foot-wide passage of carved stone. After 50 feet, the passage ends at a steep staircase leading down. The stairs are made of polished gold and veined marble, and the sandstone walls and ceiling are decorated with exquisite, colorful mosaics of ancient Jistka.
Knowledge Dungeoneering or Engineering DC 20:
You recognize that a hidden door was recently slid into a recess in the wall at the top of the stairs. There is no visible method to close the doorway.
The short steps of this narrow sandstone tunnel lead steeply downward. The mosaics covering the walls and ceiling depict the history of Jistka: the construction of grand cities beneath cloudless skies, armies of golems and genies marching to war, the slaughter of enemies, and the crowning of regal kings.
At the foot of the stairs, the passage opens into a circular room, its walls and ceiling enameled a midnight blue. A narrow hole lies in the center of the white-tiled floor, ringed by shining brass. A fountain lies across from the stairway. Water spills from it, runs across the floor, and disappears down the hole.
A piece of rope rises up the western wall of the chamber to a height of 10 feet, where it abruptly ends. The rope is not fastened to anything but does not move from its location.
Spellcraft DC 22:
It's an active rope trick spell.
You can place yourselves where you like on the map.
I take the blame for not keeping this moving. This new job and the house hunting is taking up all of my time right now. On top of that, both my wife and son are sick so I'm having to do everything around the house.
Minimum Damage: If penalties reduce the damage result to less than 1, a hit still deals 1 point of nonlethal damage.
Unfortunately, that doesn't apply in this case. The additional damage from a critical hit, just means you're rolling your damage again, but it's still all the same attack, and the extra damage rolled is just added to the base damage roll.
CRB wrote:
A critical hit means that you roll your damage more than once, with all your usual bonuses, and add the rolls together.
Reta finally gets in on the action, but her extra muscles don;t seem to help much and she whiffs with her dogslicer. Chuffy has more luck with his though, strike the frog right along it's back, cracking a few vertebrae in the process. Poog continues to call on Zarongel for more firey bolts, and Mogmurch decides to pull out a club, whacking the frog across the head. Vorka seems to actually enjoy being hit with the fire and cries it in glee. "Yesssss, it burns! Can't wait to roast your eyeballs over fire til they start to melt, then rub on horse flesh!" She tosses another ball of fire, striking the cleric right in the face, and it takes all his effort not to collapse in pain. The frog tries once again to bite Mog, but isn't able to sink its teeth in.
Red Reflex:1d20 ⇒ 5 Orange Reflex:1d20 ⇒ 12 Blue Reflex:1d20 ⇒ 4
Milo does his usual thing, blasting the huge creatures with fire and flame, and they both let out a high pitched screech, leaving behind nothing more than charred husks. The last dust digger emerges from the sand, only to be immediately met with more fire from Lurgh, and blade for Glen, ending the threat.
Out of combat!
Inspecting the center of the crater where you expected to find the portal, you find a smooth tunnel that drops straight down 10 ft before leveling out with a sharp turn.
Now worries, I'm going to be pretty busy as well for the foreseeable future. I start a new job on Monday, and we also have a ton of meetings with the builder for our house. And holiday stuff of course.
Reta chugs a potion down making her muscles swell in an unnatural way. Chuffy tumbles by the frog, and though it doesn't look very graceful, he manages to get by and swing his blade but it goes wide. Poog blasts Vorka with a pair of flaming bolts, and Mogmurch hurls a bomb, sending shrapnel everywhere. Vorka returns the favor, hurling a ball of flame at Poog that just misses and hits the wall of the cabin. Meanwhile, the frog is able to maintain its grip on Mogmurch's leg, pulling him close enough to take a bite of flesh, though the thickened skin provided by the extract keeps him safe.
Milo hangs back a bit, preferring to be along and miserable as usual, while the others head towards the hole in the crater. As they near, a trio of tremendous starfish-like creatures emerges from the sand, their five long arms surrounding a circular toothy maw. As they burst from the ground, the sand shifts and slides and Guang gets tangled up in the debris. Before the Pathfinder are even able to react though, teeth and tentacles starts flailing about, catching Glen several times, and Guang once as he's tangled up in the debris. The creature furthest from the party burrows back into the sand and disappears temporarily. Blue is burrowed currently
They had two actions because none of you made the perception check when I rolled it, so it was a surprise round action when they burst through the ground.
Hmm, I've never had this come up before and I can honestly see both sides of the argument. I'm going to go with no though, based on the fact that the spell description specifically calls out allowing scrolls, but makes no mention of wands. That leads me to believe the intent was for a PC to cast the spell, while also allowing a specific exception for scrolls as well.
No issue at all allowing you to retcon a purchase though.
You're in the second part of round 1, and the beginning of round 2, the bad guys have just taken their first round actions. I'm just letting Poog retcon that first action as well since you weren't injured. Mogmurch has not taken any damage but is grappled and was pulled 5 ft.
Honestly, I have no idea what I did! Last week was insanely hectic and I was rushing to get my posts up, and it seems I somehow gave them an action after your surprise round. I'm going to say those first actions never happened then. So the Produce flame and initial tongue grab from the frog never happened.
What did happen then:
Vorka cast Spider Climb and is now 10 ft up the wall.
Using the attack roll for the tongue, Mogmurch is grappled and pulled 1 square closer, but not adjacent.
Sorry about all the confusion on this, I've yet to mess a combat up this bad so it was bound to happen eventually! So everyone can keep their actions the same, or change them, just let me know what you want to do. Poog gets two actions back in essence, since there was no need for the CLW.
My posting will be spotty at best, nonexistent at worse, over the next few days due to the holidays. I expect to be quite busy through Sunday afternoon, so bot me as needed.
The journey across the desert to the Citadel of the Weary Sky is harsh and taxing but uneventful. Eventually, the you arrive at the location where the puzzle-map says the citadel once stood and find yourselves at the edge of the wide desert depression. The crater lies like a pockmark on the blinding white of the desert floor. The sand in the depression is charred brittle-black, and strange, glassy smudges spread throughout the basin. A hot breeze slithers across the sand, doing nothing to relieve the intense heat. Through the windswept dust, the shape of a gaping underground passage stands in jarring contrast to the monotonous desert landscape.
Obo’s instructions indicated that you would need to open the Bleak Portal and uncover the pathway to the citadel, but you realize fairly quickly that someone has already done so, and you see a now-opened 20-footwide portal in the center of the crater floor.
Poog manages to heal some of Mogmurch's charred flesh, though it's not quite as effective as he had hoped. With a flaming ball still in hand, Vorka weaves another spell and then begins walking up the wall. Meanwhile, the frog is able to maintain its grip on Mogmurch's leg, pulling him close enough to take a bite of flesh, though the thickened skin provided by the extract is just enough to prevent any real damage.
While demons exist to destroy, devils yearn to corrupt and control, and daemons seek the death of all things, the foul beings known as divs strive to ruin and despoil all things created by mortals. Spawned from corrupted genies exiled to the accursed depths of Abaddon, divs harbor an ancient hatred against all mortalkind, doing all in their power not simply to destroy but also to torment all that lives. Patient and vicious, divs seek to spoil all things beautiful and joyous, dooming their victims to existences full of frustration and suffering before succumbing to lengthy, painful deaths.
The most ancient of myths claim that divs were the aides and architects of numerous magical and forgotten mortal empires in an age of wondrous and mysterious antiquity. During this unfathomably ancient time these masters of creation served as helpful genies, allied to thankful and gracious masters. However, this bond with mortals soon frayed, as generations of the shorter-lived races ebbed and flowed like ripples in a puddle, forgetting the oaths and respect their forbearers gave divs; some began to abuse and neglect their otherworldly allies, while others merely turned away from genies to rely upon and extol the creations of mortalkind. As the contributions of geniekind were ignored and the deities celebrated the rise of their mortal creations across the worlds, many of the ancient architects rose in rebellion against mortals and the ancient deities who shepherded them. In turning from the paths of inspiration and creation, these genie rebels fell under the sway of a power of destruction known as Ahriman, who granted them not only the vicious might to avenge themselves against mortalkind, but also twisted forms marking them as paragons of depredation, havoc, and ruin. Thus did first divs come into being.
Ever since, divs have arisen from the spirits of the most nefarious and spiteful evil genies. Rather than returning to the Elemental Planes upon their destruction, these foul genies find their way into the claws of Ahriman, a spirit of annihilation who has haunted geniekind since the earliest days of creation. Having forged a realm upon the ruined hinterlands of the foul plane of Abaddon, Ahriman uses the innate corruption of that realm along with his own immortal evil to inspire wickedness in the souls drawn to him, warping such profane spirits into div servitors of a variety of terrible forms. Indifferent to the genie race from which the soul hailed, the Lord of the Divs sees only the evil within and grants it an abhorrent shape particular to the vices that brought the genie to his domain. What emerges from Ahriman’s grip is a dreadful new fiend, an enemy of mortalkind and the deities of good, a hateful spirit given a form with which to wreak its revenge. The dark god’s touch leaves behind nothing of the individual genie that once was—only hatred, entitlement, and vengeance remain.
Although as varied in form as any of the more pervasive fiendish races, divs often demonstrate the pride, affectations, and tastes of geniekind, drawing them toward desert realms, ancient sites, and opulent displays of power. Yet for all their varied powers, most divs prefer using mortals to foster the dooms they envision, manipulating those they hate to become the masters of their own destruction. Nothing pleases a div as much as seeing a powerful mortal squander everything she’s built to end up poor, faithless, and resentful. Divs also treat genies with spite and hatred, eagerly slaying them or working them into their degenerate plans.
As a flaw of their spiritual reshaping, each type of div has a strange weakness that compels it to act in a certain way, such as always attacking the most beautiful opponent, bargaining to learn a secret, or avoiding the color red. Although the wisest know and tell of these weaknesses, every div is aware of its compulsions and avoids being entrapped by them while also plotting ways to exploit opponents who think it vulnerable.
Glen Fiddich wrote:
"What more can you tell us about the Citadel of the Weary Sky?"
"It seems Brother Guang here has studied the history of the Citadel much more than I have, and his knowledge is beyond my own."
Quote:
"What more can you tell us about the Bleak Portal and its key?"
"Unfortuantely, not much, but the notes did mention how to access it. three spells are required to unlock its secrets: gust of wind to sweep the sands away from the doorway, arcane sight to reveal the hidden entrance, and knock to gain access to the Bleak Portal itself."
Quote:
"What more can you tell us about the powerful ring Jistkan mages used to bend elementals to their wills?"
"Besides it being mentioned in a few obscure historical texts, we know absoultely nothing more than the fact that the wearer gains some sort of influence over those from the elemental planes."
Quote:
"What more can you tell us about the Shadow Lodge and the traitor or traitors in our midst?"
"Though I am a Venture Captain, that information isn't even shared with me. I'm told that such investigations are being handled at the highest levels of the Society, and very few are privy to the details."
Venture-Captain Obo has little else to offer you in way of information. He keeps the puzzle-map for transport to the Grand Lodge, but provides you with copies of the instructions and clues that have been discovered within it. The ruins of the citadel lie a week’s travel into the desert south of Manaket and the notes talk of how to find the haunted depression where the citadel is said to lie. He also offers you with camels and sufficient supplies to make the trek, with the lodge shouldering the cost of the expedition.
Mogmurch quickly tosses one of his precious bombs into the room, a direct hit on Vorka with some small shards of shrapnel hitting her frog as well. Reta and Poog both call on some magical enhancements for the combat, while Chuffy stands ready at the door to attack the first thing to approach. Vorka laughs histerically as she's hit by the bomb, where more excited than one who was just attacked should be. "Yayyyyyy! More goblin food here! No hunting on own now, food come to me! I start cooking you now, get you nice and burnt." A ball of flame appears in her hand which she tosses at Mogmurch, hitting him squarely in the face. The frog take a few steps closer and its tongue shoots out, wrapping around the alchemist's leg and dragging him closer.
The air in this cabin is thick and close, stinking of swamp and sweat, with a thick, glistening layer of mud on the floor and swaths of oily fungus clinging to the walls. Even more dangling decorations of goblin bone and animal-part fetishes hang from the ceiling on lengths of sinew here, and what appears to be a nest made of rags, sticks, mud, and castoff bits of clothing lies against the westernmost wall. But scattered amid the filth and clutter are several exotic-looking man-made objects—including a tantalizing red chest.
Inside you also find the terrifying Vorka herself, as well as a giant pet frog! Vorka is particularly frightening, especially to goblins who know of the stories that paint her in a cannibalistic light. Unfortunately for any goblins who might meet her, those stories, if anything, downplay her ferocity. Her mouth is her most fearsome feature—it's a bit too wide, even by goblin standards, and Vorka's habit of filing her already sharp teeth has resulted in a snaggletooth grin of mismatched teeth that leaves little doubt as to her preference for tough, stringy meat. Like goblin meat. She wears rags and bits of stained cloth—trophies harvested almost at random from her hapless victims, over her equally patchwork leather armor. While her exact outfit can change in this manner depending on who her latest meals may have been , the one part of her apparel that never changes is her floppy, pointy leather hat—a hat Vorka stole from a human traveller and made crude alterations to in order to make it fit her large, misshapen head.
Nope, you're completely fine. Nothing against building up a pile of GM/pregen credit. While there may not be any character to technically kill off, you would still lose thes rest of the stack of credit.
It's been a little over a week since your confrontation with Verdizaam Charad in the necropolis, and the overall mood has been somber. The Society lost 4 good agents and another, your companion Salubri, clings to life, having contracted the Night Plague from the Immolated Mirza himself. While he recovers from the illness back at the Grand Lodge, you have all been asked to remain in Manaket and are once again summoned to the local lodge by the Venture Captain.
Venture-Captain Obo holds a lit brass lamp over the table in his private study and peers closely at the odd clay and metal configuration that lies on the table-top: the Jistkan puzzlemap. Obo traces a finger across the ornate script that covers the map’s surface.
“Astounding,“ he says, a touch of wonder in his voice. “This artifact is thousands of years old. An impressive find to say the least. Our loremasters and linguistic experts had a difficult time uncovering its meaning, but their effort and perseverance paid off. The puzzle-map tells of a forbidden stronghold long hidden in the desert sands: the Citadel of the Weary Sky. A place accursed—or blessed, they are not quite certain—by Ahriman, the Lord of the Divs himself."
"The citadel is called ‘an oasis of spite to pierce the barren heart’ where ‘stormfronts apprehend profoundest depths of fury.’ The map tells of a door that grants passage to this wondrous city: the Bleak Portal. It gives the location of this portal and the key whereby entry is granted.”
Before continuing, Obo glances around and pulls the curtain closed, blotting out the sounds of the city streets below.
“That’s not all, though, friends. There is darker news indeed. This seven-thousand-year-old buried citadel of the Jistka Imperium is exactly the secret that the Pathfinders stationed in Wadi al-Hesr gave their lives to discover. I don’t have to tell you about the dangers involved,” he says with a meaningful look.
“Texts on the Citadel of the Weary Sky speak of a powerful ring Jistkan mages used to bend elementals to their wills. I fear such a device falling into the wrong hands could mean the Society’s undoing. I’ve had word from Absalom this morning that a courier bearing a message from me was found knifed in an alley there. It seems that the Shadow Lodge is after this very citadel and the supposed secrets of omnipotent elemental power that it holds. We know they knew it’s what we were after because they tried to sabotage our mission to save the Wadi al-Hesr project, and we know they know we’ve found the citadel’s location with their interception of my message. So watch your backs at all times. We still don’t know who all is involved with the Shadow Lodge, but I believe we can trust you; the traitor in our midst did try to get you killed at Qassabah Heb Amar, after all. So good luck, Pathfinders. May the gods find their way to look down upon you in this gods-forsaken land and grant you good fortune.”
Knowledge History DC 25:
Originally called the Jaizun Citadel, the Citadel of the Weary Sky was once one of many grand Jistkan fortresses where elementalists and conjurers summoned a multitude of genies and elementals to bolster their armies. The great magic expended in drawing these creatures from the elemental planes interacted strangely with an unknown natural phenomenon, breaking reality around the citadel. The sky above the Jaizun Citadel constantly roiled with unfettered elemental energy and conjuration magic stopped working consistently. Unsure of the phenomenon’s cause or purpose, the Jistkan elementalists abandoned the newly renamed Citadel of the Weary Sky to another much like it, leaving only a small contingent behind to study the planar rift in the sky.
Unfortunately for the Jistkan mages, the raw destructive energy filling their citadel attracted the attentions of a foul enemy—Ahriman, Lord of the Divs. As the Osirian armies under the influence of sinister Usij cultists turned to the power of evil divs to battle Jistka’s genie troops, Ahriman himself directed his destructive rage at the Citadel of the Weary Sky, making an example of the most visible of his enemy’s extraplanar recruiting stations. With but a small nudge from his near-indescribable might, the rent in reality above the citadel became a tear, and from there a gash. Elemental chaos broke loose, and the formerly weary sky over the citadel became a raging torrent of acidic banks of fog, crackling electrical storms, hurricane blasts of furnace winds, and sudden downpours of black rain and pomegranate-sized hail.
The citadel was pummeled and beaten beneath the onslaught, and the very land around it withered in protest against Ahriman’s fury. The remaining wizards and conjurers turned all of their magical might to defend against this unworldly destruction, but after a week of black fogs and strange flashes of magical lightning, the sky cleared and the citadel was gone. Only a crater of battered and broken earth remained where the fortress once stood.
So when the new Organized play guide came out this year, it now states that you have to decide what character is getting credit before the game starts. They wanted to prevent players from playing pregens with no risk of their characters actually dying, since you could just kill off your -500 character that doesn't actually exist.
With that being said, I'm not going to be a big stickler about it. Part of it's my own fault for never asking for your character info right up front. Also keep in mind that all these scenarios were created for Free RPG day and designed to be fun to lure in new players. It would take a lot of really bad rolls for someone to actually die in any of these.
With the Immolated Mirzah’s tome in hand, you can easily use the information contained within to unlock the stone blocking your exit. By placing the map in a specific configuration and inserting it in the indentation in the stone, you release its magical lock and it slides silently away. The Pathfinder Society dispatches a new contingent of archaeologists to plumb the tomb for greater mysteries and treasures.
With Verdizaam Charad defeated and the source of the Night Plague eradicated, the remnants of the affliction soon pass, freeing Manaket from a growing threat. The deaths were not nearly as bad as they could have been had the plague spread further thanks to your efforts. You now possess a rare map that allegedly leads to a lost Jistkan citadel. Surely the Pathfinders will be interested in such an illustrious find.
As a token of her gratitude, the sphinx contributes considerable knowledge to the society in your names.
That's a wrap for this one. Like I said in the discussion yesterday, I plan on kicking the next one off at the start of next week, though it's not a huge deal if you don't have all your character updates done by then.
I want to give you all a heads up that my posting may become a bit sporadic over the next month or so. Obviously the holidays are a busy time for many of us, but on top of that, I start a new job at the beginning of December and we are also in the middle of house hunting. I plan on cutting back on the number of games I play in as well, and with only four people in this one, my hope is we don't slow down too much.
