Kai Makani's page

Player name/handle: Nomadical
Character's Name: Kai Makani
PFS #: 151562-14
PC Faction: Concordance
Played or GM'd this?: Played

Anything else about your PC you would like the GM or the players know: Merfolk! Concordance! Ocean's Echo oracle which means he's a full-caster with Inspire Courage and Inspire Competence. Talks like a surfer, dude. This is my final PF1 character, and getting to play a merfolk in a water-based scenario is a rarity. Do note that it's a replay, and he's level 4, though would happily play down to go swimming.

@Kai, are you OK if I submit the “foxtrot_charlie(at)” address I have for you?

Yes, that's the one I use for my Paizo account. Thanks for checking.

"Duuude, enough of the aggro. Skelg ain't no grommet. By the time we bailed, he was stoked to be chargin' that curl. And you did. not. see. that ice witch."

"Wait, she was a witch?" he asks the others, obviously just now realizing this fact. "Cool."

"But, honestly, Cap'n, I dunno what it is you're all crashin' about, and seems like you've gone shubie on us. So .... I'm out. Peeeeace!" the merman says with a smile as he waddles out the door flashing shaka at the VC and singing his new epic song.

Chronicle looks good, as far as I can tell. Hard to see with all the sun in my eyes and the "scenery" that keeps sashaying past my beach chair.

I gotta hand it to you for giving me inspiration for future chronicles. I'm gonna have to start adding the little image of the faction instead of the name. I already use an image for my signature, so it'll be easy to do. Thanks for the idea! And of course, thanks for the fun game, mate.

See you at PaizoCon in May!

Thanks for the spoiler! The Season 8 part is kind of thematic for Kai as a Concodance and elemental magic guy. And I'm pretty sure I already qualify for the Elite boon for Season 8. Nice.

Boon, oh boooon, where are you?: 1d20 ⇒ 20

which one?: 1d3 ⇒ 2

And another!

For what it's worth, #2 is "Season Explorer" and #3 is "Daring Traveler." Anyone know the text of those?

Kai composes and performs a song about star-crossed lovers trapped in the ice and cursed by an evil warlord. He may take some artistic license, well, okay, a lot. But the beach-front crowd of undines and long-haired hippie vudranis seem to like it.

Day job, perform (sing) : 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29

For the Concordance faction card, would this count as either:

"Recover a valuable magic item that produces an effect that is strongly tied to air, earth fire or water. ... Must be worth 400 gp + 100 gp / level."

or

"Restore balance to an area by closing a planar portal or removing a significant elemental disturbance." I presume not the portal, but was her ship trapped by the effect of the horn in an elemental disturbance?

"I dunno, dudes. Skelg's a Pathfinder, too. I think it's fair to let him and the fiiiine lady keep the thing. You really think Adril's gonna ding us for leavin' it with his best bro? How's he gonna feel if they die in the journey up the coast so some magic lamp could go sit in a vault?"

"And we're not empty handed. We got that freaky-deaky mask from Bengeirr. That's gotta count for something."

"Milady, it's been an awwwesome pleasure," Kai says while trying not to ogle the scantily clad ice-queen. Catching himself, he tries to recover with humor, "You 'chill out' (hehe) here, while we go get Skëlg." Though he likely fails at that, too.

Aiding Khorshid : 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (6) + 11 = 17

"What an epic story! I'm writing a song about this. Condemned to die, saved by an unrequited love, trapped in magical ice. Truly epic."

He starts humming a tune as he ponders both lyrics and the situation. Which seems simple enough.

"Natalya, you think Skëlg would want to travel with you? I mean, I think any man would be honored to, but I don't know Ulfens and their traditions and rules and such very well."

He turns to his companions to consult. "I say we give her the lamp and go talk to Skëlg. (Cause what kind of a man wouldn't want to travel with her?)"

But then he pauses as something occurs to him, and he turns back to Natalya. "Uhh, how do we do the whole "freedom from the ice" part?"

"First time? Nah, not by a long shot. But first time with someone as beautiful as you."

Diplomacy : 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (15) + 11 = 26

Perception : 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

The merman does indeed gawk a little bit, but not at the nearly naked woman or her strange bird, but rather at how small the living space is.

Not wearing much clothes. Maybe she needs someone to keep her warm. Oh, wait, she lives here like this. Guess she's used to it. Still....

"I'm Kai. You? Those dudes downstairs work for you or something?"

"Dudes, nicely done!" Kai declares enthusiastically as he slaps his fluke on the floor in triumph. He hops around the gore and slushy bits of rotten and frozen Ulfen toward the next ladder leading up.

As he passes Khorshid, he notices the would on the gnome's shoulder. "You okay there, dude? Need a hit from the happy stick?" he asks brandishing the wand he drew earlier with a little flourish.

"Who's gonna go first?" he asks, though he makes space for Lucky and Kolris to lead the way.

If Khorshid wants a hit off a CLW wand, there's no point in rolling it since it's the min result anyway. Just mark the charge if he has a wand for Kai to use.

"Cha, little dude, let Lucky do the smashin'," Kai seconds Lucky's advice to Korshid. The next stanza of the song is about a lovely young lassie he met on the shores of Broomtralia. A beautiful, bronze-skinned gal, but he could barely understand her because of how strangely she spoke the Common tongue. Of course, some things transcend the need for words.

As he sings of her, he focuses on a piece of rotten wood nearby and flings it at the remaining foe.

telekinetic profile, IC, into melee : 1d20 + 5 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (6) + 5 + 1 - 4 = 8
damage?: 1d6 ⇒ 5

But instead of hitting it, the ice-encrusted plank almost hits Khorshid instead.

"Maybe I should take my own advice," the merman laments as he returns his focus to the song.

Sing us a song of tropical Aussie lasses!

I'll be in Barbados for 2 weeks starting on the 30th! We should raise a Mai Tai toast from across the planet!

"Sorry about givin' up on the drums, there, dude. Not really my thing," Kai apologizes to Lucky in between humming stanzas of his song about buxom light-brown lassies. "Looks like you took care of all the rowers anyway."

He moseys forward, resuming the verses as he goes, then weaves magical words into the song. It conjures forth the heat of the tropical sun and send it forth in a cone to wash over the two undead, hopefully giving them more than a nice sunburn.

Free act to continue bard song, move forward, standard to cast burning hands enhanced with alchemical reagent of saltpeter for +1 damage

Reflex save DC 15 for half of fire dmg: 3d4 + 1 ⇒ (2, 1, 4) + 1 = 8

Kai taps the drum in a rapid staccato beat and begins a lively song about warm tropical isles and the beautiful women that inhabit them. It certainly inspires him to think about something other than the biting cold and the bitey undead below.

He peers skeptically at the ladder and decides to shimmy down instead of trying something fancy. As he maneuvers his flukes across the deck, he slips his wand of healing from his belt, too.

Standard action to start Inspiring Courage song, (+1 attack and weapon damage, and versus Fear); move action and draw with 10' accounted for to enter the hold.

FWIW, he has burning hands, which could be good in Round 2 if the tactical positioning allows for it.

Awwww... I flew all the way to Sydney just to reduce latency.

I am actually stuck here in hotel quarantine for 3 days in SYD.

But seriously, as everyone seems to say down here, "No worries, mate!" Take your time. :)

Kai finishes drumming and turns around in a circle trying to hear the moaning.

"So, something down below. Cha, dudes, guess we gotta go face it. That the hatch there?" he asks as he points to the grating in the middle of the deck by Lucky's feet. "Who's gonna open it, and who goes first?"

Kai follows Òxọ́lé down the stairs onto the main deck. He taps out a short rhythm on the the drum head and looks around for any other instruments.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

"Huh, where's the rest of the band's gear?" he wonders.

Ah, okay. Got it now! I hate the standard writing technique of including the door (or portal in this case) in the general room description and not denoting that it's the door you came in through. I thought there was "another" portal, even though you hadn't actually said that there were two. All good, mate, thanks for the extra slides.

Having garbed himself in whatever heavy wools and coats that Tyros would loan him, Kai follows the others into the frigid tapestry. He slips and slides on his tail down the tunnel, and reaching the deck, he moves to examine the wall of ice.

"Damn, dudes, it is toooo cold. How do folks even live here?" he wonders aloud.

To the east, a shimmering circular portal, perhaps 5 feet in diameter, has manifested on the longship’s main mast, which is currently embedded in the ice. Following the mast downward, you can barely make out the blurry outline of a ship’s deck some 20 feet below.

Sorry, mate, but I'm totally confused by this part. I get all the rest about the tunnel. But where's the mast on the slide? There's a portal in the mast? Aren't we on the deck after going down the tunnel? I'm just having trouble reconciling the tunnel and the portal and the mast and the deck.

Kai stands staring at the tapestry considering Khorshid's observation.

"Looks cold, dudes. Like Antarkos cold. Not sure we're dressed for that," he says looking down at his tropical pattern shirt and leather armor.

"We know the lantern opens a portal in the tapestry. I haven't been with the Pathfinders long, but even I know, we're going through the portal, cha."

He follows the team and the trail of blood for now, but makes a note to ask Tyros if they can borrow some Ulfen cold weather gear before they go through the portal. Though he's pretty sure they'll be able to find something, he makes a back-up plan to go get a wand of endure elements if not.

Kai smiles at Khorshid's change of heart - regardless of the reasoning - and happily applies the gnome's own wand to their four-legged teammate.

"Cha, dude, we've all been made tougher. In one way or another."

He leans way down to scratch Ghermez behind the ears with one blackened and papery skinned hand, smiling at the happy doggy in spite of the discomfort in his hand.

"Onos gives, and Onos takes, keeping the Elements and Life in balance." he intones as if repeating a mantra.

He pauses for what seems a little too long.

"I met It, you know. Onos. The primal god of Elements. It was ... well ... amazing. And life changing." He pauses again as he looks at his hands.

"I was out hunting for urchins and abalones. I found some kinda crazy elemental vortex instead. I watched, mesmerized as fire morphed into dirt that then dissolved into bubbles of aerated water. Then lava would appear out of salt water before becoming fresh water. All the elements were there, but it was all chaos."

"Then I heard a voice speaking in all the elemental languages at once. I could only follow the Aquan parts, but when the entity noticed me, It switched to my language. Onos introduced Itself as the god of the Elements and Keeper of the Balance."

"It asked for my help to contain the vortex. My help. A god asked me for help." He chuckles at the memory and the irony. "What else was I gonna do?"

"Onos told me what to do, and I ... well ... let's just say it worked, but I didn't come out unscathed. Or unchanged."

The merman takes a deep shuddering breath.

"Merfolk are a traditional culture, and now I was a little too 'deviant' to them." He shrugs a thin shoulder. "I needed to get in touch with the elemental powers that Onos gave me, anyway. So I left. Best thing that ever happened to me, too. I'd've never had the chance to see all of this," he indicates with a sweep of his arm. "Okay, well, not this warehouse, obv's. But all the cool places and things up here out of the sea."

His normal cheery disposition returned, he pats Ghermez on the head with a smile. Then he pats Khorshid on the head, once too, before ambling away to check out the lantern.

In accordance with Khorshid's wishes, Kai doesn't heal the riding dog, even in the face of the big puppy eyes it gives him.

"Duuuude," he asks Khorshid skeptically, "you sure about that? I mean for one thing that's kinda evil*. For another, he goes into the next fight already wounded means we lose a pod-mate quicker, and that could mean we lose the battle."

He then tucks his wand away and proceeds to stabilize any of the fallen Ulfens.

"Hehe, nah, dude, the Ballad I was singing ended with the Prince's death. It didn't say what they did with his body. Sorry."

*GM's call, but purposefully leaving a combat trained animal wounded when healing is available and no-cost is likely on the Evil end of the spectrum and forbidden in Society play.

Kai finishes the Ballad of Prince Volstank on a long sad note in keeping with the denouement wherein the Prince pays the ultimate price for his treachery.

"As they did, too..." he observes of his foes.

"You dudes wanna look around for that lantern? And get that freaky-deaky mask of ol' Bengeirr, too, please."

As his colleagues set about searching the place, stripping loot from the fallen, and restraining any survivors, Kai pulls out his wand of healing and taps each of the injured Pathfinders with it.

CLW Kolris : 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
CLW Khorshid: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
CLW Ghermez: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
"Eh, that didn't work so good, huh, doggy? Let's try again."
CLW Ghermez: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Lucky, Bengeirr is shadow trapped and can't follow you if you step outside his reach.

Kai keeps up the Ballad, though the repetitive nature of Ulfen songs means that he's been saying "Volstank" a lot, and it's starting to make him giggle a little.

To distract himself for the silliness of the poor Prince's name, he hobbles over behind Papa Òxọ́lé. From there he can see Bengeirr, so he flings another of the watermelons toward the Ulfen.

telekinetic melon ball, IC, bless : 1d20 + 5 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 5 + 1 + 1 = 19
damage, IC: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

Free action to keep singing, move behind Papa Òxọ́lé, standard action to cast telekinetic projectile.

Kai feels like he's missing all the fun, so inspired by Papa Òxọ́lé's leap from the water, he imitates the feat. He dips down just a few feet to get some momentum before bursting through the surface like a breaching manta to land on the dock.

Swim, Take 10 with Swim speed: 10 + 8 - 1 = 17

On the dock, he keeps singing the Ballad while weaving in mystical words to aid his allies even further.

Move action to leap onto the dock. Maintain Performance as free action. Cast Bless as standard.

The haunting sound of a melody begins to fill the warehouse. It's an Ulfen song, learned from a marooned Ulfen ship's cook that Kai met on a deserted island. He's since modified the song to be more his laid back style, but the song is still recognizable. The Ballad of Prince Volstank tells the tale of the unfortunately named spoiled brat of a prince and how he betrayed his own people for money and power. Eventually, he learned his lesson, but not before his entire domain had been slaughtered by the very linnorm that he had tried to bargain with.

Bardic song is up: +1 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls. But not for you Ulfen sons of a Volstank!

Kai decides to keep Bengirr from joining the fight quite yet. He calls forth the shadows from the corners of the room and they intertwine with the big Ulfen’s own shadow. It pins him in place, keeping him from moving.

Shadow trap DC 15 Will negates

With Papa Òxọ́lé holding on tightly, Kai pumps his fluke and tows the tiefling along, making sure to keep their heads above water initially. At the big double doors, he signals to remind his passenger to take a good breath, then dips below the surface and arises just between the dock and the ship. He looks around and spots a mooring line for Òxọ́lé to grab onto, then moves a few more feet away.

Just a little more than a single move to get inside, so using two move actions. Leaving Òxọ́lé by the door, so he can easily dip under and out if things go badly.

Just to clarify, Kai went back to the group and would not have left with Papa Òxọ́lé without informing at least one of the others of their plan. Kolris and Khorshid were busy with the Tengu, so presumably Lucky and/or Drellandaust would have known that they were going into the water.

And certainly the tengu took the time for a beer. What respectable Aussie Ulfen with a fist full of gold would go into a bar and not have a pint?

So I'd presume at least someone knew Kai and Papa's plan.

@Òxọ́lé: Maybe just piggy-back on Kai in the water. Sure, you could use the spell, not likely another chance to will come up, but maybe not needed if we just dip in under the door.

"Sure, dude, sounds like a plan. Let the others know we'll be in the water. If things go south, us two'll join the fight with spells from there."

Kai then waits for Papa to rejoin him. He lets the tiefling get a good grip on his shoulders and tows him along in the water under the garage door and back to his original hiding spot.

Kai rejoins the others by sauntering up casually and asking Òxọ́lé if he could speak to him off to the side. Out of the tengu's earshot, he informs his tiefling friend and anyone else that joins them** of what he found. "There's five Ulfens plus Bengeirr. Bengeirr's wearing some freaky mask-cum-helm, maybe that mask of Loki we heard about. They've got a ship inside the warehouse, but it might be damaged cause they've got lots of wood and other parts."

** Obviously not the tengu, and presumably Kolris and Khorshid need to keep talking to her based on what I see in the un-spoilered posts.

Remaining submerged, Kai does indeed swim underneath the garage doors and takes a look around.

If there's an obvious spot to remain hidden, like underneath dock decking or behind a ship or buoy, he'll surface to get his bearings and listen. Being as cautious as possible since he's by himself.

As they near the docks and get an initial view of the warehouse, Kai can't help but wander off to get a better look. "Dude, I'm goin' for a swim. Be back in a bit," he whispers to Òxọ́lé before slipping away from the group.

He finds old section of seawall covered in algae and barnacles out of sight from Lady Tengu and quickly enters the calm bay waters.

Staying submerged, the merman cautiously approaches the Ulfen's warehouse and surveys the layout initially without surfacing.

Stealth: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Perception : 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

Note that he's staying submerged until he gets a better sense of whether he can peek up into the dock or warehouse or whatever's up there. I made his token semi-transparent to reflect that.

"Yeah, Bro, you do that. We'll head to the Puddles and check out Bengeirr's warehouse."

"But first, I'd like to take a look at that tapestry," Kai states as he heads back inside.

"Where I'm from, we don't like puttin' blood in the water. Brings the sharks and sometimes even other worse things," he adds with a grimace.

"So let's the shake the merfolk way, and use the Ulfen words." He waits for Zimmer to agree before sheepishly adding one last thing. "Oh, and be gentle with your grip, friend, my hands are... well, you see..." He holds his hands up showing the blackened and papery skin before gently taking the Ulfen's hand in an arm-wrester's grip.

Without betraying the slight pain he feels at the contact, he brings the big man's meaty fist to his own forehead. He waits for Zimmer to touch his forehead to the back of Kai's ruined hand then swears the oath in unison.

"You are my Blood Brother. From this day forth, we shall share of our bounty, hearth and women!”

Releasing his new Brother's hand, he smiles in satisfaction. "Righteous, Dude! And now that you've sworn the oath, there's no reason not to give you your weapon back."

Kai ponders the question of what to do with Zimmer, but either way isn't keen on just knocking him out again.

"Zimmer, you said a few of Skelg's men joined Bengeirr after the raid. So loyalty isn't critical, as long as you fight well. Could we convince you to switch over to the Ripper's side? You did fight well, but you can't really go back to Bengeirr and admit that you lost, right?"

Diplomacy : 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23

Now that the sharks have had their turn, Kai takes his turn to play the seal.

"We're sorry about Lagertha, ... uh, what's your name, dude?"

"So it's an old feud, made worse by some woman (Dude, don't they just always make things more complicated?) Where is Bengeirr now? Or at least where was he last you knew of? Can you tell me about the rest of the crew?"

Kai considers the answers and asks a follow up addressing the Ulfen by his name, of course. "Did Bengeirr know that the old lantern was magical before it cursed the Ripper and opened the portal?"

"Cha, dude, for sure," Kai replies to Tyros while putting his wand away. "It just sounded like you'd been trapped in here for a while."

He wanders around the room looking at the various pieces of furniture and other items as the others talk to the halfling servant. "We should check out that tapestry, too, before we go jetting off."

He heads for the stairs back down to the foyer. "So, who's playing the seal and who's the shark when we question the guard?" At the blank looks of the others, he clarifies. "Oh, yeah, I think you land-folk call it 'good-cop-bad-cop."

"Yes, sir, we're the Pathfinders, sent by Adril himself," Kai answers the old man. Seeing that the Master is in no shape to talk, he turns his attention to Tyros.

"Dang, dude, you've had it rough here. So no one's been able to examine him? Have you done any healing on him?"

Kai's no physio, but he taps the Ripper with a charge of his healing wand just to be safe.

He then offers a charge to Tyros, "You doin' okay, man? Need healing?"

Kai follows the others as they head up the stairs. It takes him a bit longer as staircases, especially grandiose ones like this, are still a little new to him. His blackened hand briefly touches one immense piece of darkwood used in its construction just to see how it feels. The wood doesn't speak to him directly, but he almost feels as if it has stories to tell and deep, sonorous songs to sing.

"Do Ulfen's usually like this much heat?" He's pretty sure that's weird, but maybe it's a local thing.

Oops, sorry Papa, I should have caught that.

Kai waddles over to Papa Òxọ́lé and takes the wand from the tiefling's hand. "Here, dude, let me get that for you. Easy as ridin' a dolphin."

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

Kai wraps up his song on the chorus as he gently closes the eyes of the Ulfen woman. "Here's hoping that she doesn't come back as an undead." He then rechecks the bodies to make sure they don't have the key to the front door.

Whoever does the Disable Device on the door - Kolris, I presume - can add +1 from guidance.

Kai keeps singing about dancing with the undead of the great southern ocean as he shuffles closer to the fight. "I got this, D," he calls out to Drelluandast as he casts a spell to make sure the woman doesn't die on them.

Free action to maintain Inspiring Song, move closer, cast stabilize. Will rinse and repeat to stabilize the Yellow guy if Sir Lee drops him, too.

Works for me. Chrome Version 93.0.4577.63 on a Surface. Currently tethered to my phone via USB tethering and airplane wifi on a commercial flight.

"Southerners? Nah, dude, I'm not from the Antarkos. Too cold for me down there, bra'. But I know this cool tune about the undeads down there. Check it, mah dudes."

Kai starts singing in a powerful and melodic voice inspiring his friends to greater heroics.

Inspiring Song is up. Identical to a normal bard's Inspire Courage. +1 to attack and damage, +1 to saves vs fear. No other action

Hey, why is the N on this map backwards? Oh, wait NVM, I know. It's because you're in Australia, and maps are always upside-down-and-backwards down there below the equator. ;)

Kai trundles along beside Drelluandast, swapping stories of far away places they've each seen, from the depths of the Arcadian Ocean to the River Kingdoms and even Tien Xia. Though their pace is slower than the rest, it's a pleasant stroll to and through a nice part of town.

Diplo to Gather: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (14) + 11 = 25

He thanks the young au pair, pausing to chat her up and arranging to meet her on her next day off. He's already planning a day at the beach with the buxom lass when he rejoins the others at the manor gates.

"Cha, dudes, we were sent by Captain Hestram. We're from the Pathfinders," he adds to Khorshid's request.

… Agent Fish, is it not?”

"Hey, man, no need to be rude," Kai replies sorely. "My name is Kai Makani; Agent Makani if you wanna be formal. But callin' a merfolk 'Fish' just ain't cool. I mean, you wouldn't call him Sir Slip," he says with a polite nod towards Sir Lucky.

Damn Legs think we're all alike.

"And the 'crowd I run with' is Pathfinders, sir. Has been since I had to leave the Fever Sea."

The normally pleasant and happy merman stands and nods to his colleagues as they get their final instructions and the directions. "I think we're done here, dudes," he finishes with a sour look at the VC as he slowly makes his way to the door.

I know you're just playing around with names, my friend. All good, just being indignant in character, not for reals.