Hey all, I've sent a PM to Kirth saying this already, but I'm going to drop this game. It's been fun, but I think it's my time to go. Enjoy your adventuring!
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"Are those e's on purpose or are they just flourishes?" Korynne wonders aloud as she fiddles with the wand. She points out at the wall and wills it to function, hoping for the best.
Korynne looks over the bounty, running a hand over the coins with barely concealed pining. She tries to figure out the magic in the wand and pays only passing attention to the jade coffer, having no idea whether it could be worth anything. "Any of those potions seem useful for getting this stuff out of here?"
"Could be something to help us move these inside. Or we could just take the best stuff and get out. Wil, do you think you could move these underwater?"
Korynne slips in past the sagging door, and stands before the chests with a smile spreading over her face until she's beaming. She checks the chests for traps as well before she starts dragging them out of the room, carefully moving around the late Penkus.
"I don't think I've been particularly explicit about this before, but are you all very familiar with Olidammara?" she asks as she drags a chest to the water's edge before stretching out her back. "In any case, thank old Oli for this one! I really hope this is one of Vanthus' personal caches..." she says idly with barely contained delight as she goes back in for another chest. "Poor Penkus. I should give him some last rites at least for everything he's helped us out with, post mortem."
Korynne sits clutching her stomach for a bit, staying as far away from Penkus and his rotting smell as she can. When the riot in her gut settles down, she takes a deep breath and stands. She adjusts her hat and shakes out her wet sleeves. She raises her holy symbol and blasts out some healing to dull the pain of the urchins and hitting her head on the stone.
"Just one thing I wanna check before we go..." She stands in the doorway, hesitant to enter, and so retrieves her holy symbol. She casts a spell, scanning the room with focused intent. "Hmm. Los like we've got a hidden surprise back there." She sidles around the edge of the room to the secret door on the back wall. She pulls out her thieves' tools, checking the portal for traps before attempting to open it.
"Well... it sounds like... we should pay a... visit," Korynne manages to get out between pained expressions and pungent burps. "How long... does this... last...? The *hurk*... poison...?" Vanthus is going to pay for everything he's put me - well, us, I suppose - through.
Korynne, already queasy from the urchin venom - Poison? Venom? Eurgh, who cares... - winces at the blast of stench that pours out of the next room. The taste of bile rises in her throat, and she staggers over to the water's edge, squatting. She takes a few deep breaths and seems about to stand up, but then empties her stomach's contents into the water. After a little bit, when she's finished, she scoots along the edge to a clear section of the water to clean off her face, and rinses out her mouth with salt water. Rejoining the group with a wet sleeve covering her nose, she offers a strained "Sorry." Peeking into the room, Korynne eyes the body warily. "Hm. I guess the tattoo means they were a Lotus Dragon. A bit on the nose with the design. Could be Penkus. Looks like this one's just dead. Who wants to go first?"
Korynne rubs the newly forming lumps on her head from hitting the tunnel wall, meeting little curses and wincing. She turns over one hand and sees the urchin punctures in her skin, just as her head trauma becomes a dull ache. "Uh oh."
Korynne hesitates at the waters edge, but takes a deep breath and steels herself for the trip through the submerged tunnels. "Wil, I'm not... the strongest swimmer. A little help?" She ensures that the reading light spell on her hat is refreshed before entering the water and doing her best to swim with assistance, rather than just being a deadweight for Gwlybwr to lug.
"There was that room full of pillars... I'd like to stay dry for as long as possible, so let's take a look over there first," Korynne suggests. She makes a magnanimous sweeping gesture at the unexplored side of the halls with a polite bow toward Uro and Gwlybwr. "After you!"
"Wil, if you'd be so kind as to investigate these tunnels further, we can keep watch on our side for any more zombies. Maybe Penkus will visit us while you're away," Korynne suggests. This last part is obviously an attempted joke to lighten the mood and lessen her own tension, at least. Her smirk fades quickly as she nervously glances around, her gambit proving minimally effective. She clutches her knife closely in preparation.
Round 2 At the smell of the rot and salt spray as Wil bites into a zombie, the fine hairs on the back of Korynne's neck stand out as she flashes back to the last time they were all here. She starts to panic, but manages to calm herself down with a deep (but a little ragged) breath. She holds her knife at the ready as she stands behind Wil, ready to fend off undead limbs as they swing in.
Round 1
Having tapped her hat and activated its reading light, Korynne stands behind the beefy Uro and the newly sharp toothed Wil, her knife in one hand and her new golden holy symbol in the other. "Time for a little clean up and revenge, wouldn't you say, friends?" With that, she raises her symbol in the air, casting a spell to invigorate her companions.
"I suppose it's better than drowning. Time for some payback against those shambling corpses. "...Nice new outfit, by the way, Gil. It certainly looks comfortable, anyway. I'll prepare to leave in the morning."
Korynne makes it clear to her religious contacts that she appreciates the offer of an expedition, but she'll hold off for now. Mostly she's interested in whether anyone can identify the huecuva's golden holy symbol.
"I think it's definitely worth a shot. I don't particularly want to, you know, ever go back there, but I think it's our best option to find some clues to point to Vanthus. By the way, have either of you seen Wil? Jym, I assume you helped him procure a suitable new outfit?"
"Well this is surprising. I wasn't expecting a threatening note - I would have thought we would receive this kind of warning in a more... violent way, I suppose?"
Korynne thinks for a moment, before snapping her fingers as an answer comes to her. "You're absolutely right, Lady Vanderboren! He mentioned someone named Penkus, who I believe also had the dubious pleasure of spending time in the bowels of Parrot Island. My Lady, Jym, have either of you heard that name before?"
Pretty great! It snowed in Portland yesterday and actually stuck, which only happens every two to four years here. It's equal parts magical and terrifying, the latter because no one here knows how to drive on snow and ice, and the city doesn't own any snow plows nor salt the roads.
Hope you all had a good holiday!
Korynne replies, "Yes, that is precisely why you've hired us on. Vanthus has eluded us so far, but it sounds like he's got a nasty thieves guild at his back. If your lady were to beseech the Seekers for help, I think it might level the playing field, so to speak. Your brother is a dangerous man, and we want to find him - and your rightful inheritance - before he can cause anymore trouble. Would you be willing to ask for their aid? "Uro, help me out here. Does this sound like a good idea?"
"Well I'm glad to hear you don't have much trouble," Korynne says politely, trying to hide her frustration that this conversation isn't getting them any closer to finding Vanthus. "That said, we could still use your help. Can't you offer Lady Vanderboren anything, at least, as a favor to her parents' memory?" Hit by a thought, Korynne turns to her employer with a quizzical look. "Actually, Lady Vanderboren, may I ask why you haven't joined the Seekers yourself? They seem like all right sorts, and it sounds like you've got a legacy invitation."
"Hm. Quite troubling..." Korynne muses. She seems lost in thought for a moment, but quickly snaps back to the conversation. "My apologies. A pleasure to meet you, Drisella. Are you worried he'll carry through on his threat? These Lotus Dragons sound like bad news. And if Vanthus has any real pull with them, that makes him an even greater threat. Have the Seekers had any interaction with the Lotus Dragons before?"
Looking around the hall as she sips her beer, Korynne nods appreciatively. "Honestly, I thought it would be a bit more stuffy in here. But these folks are a regular bunch of revelers with some organization," Korynne mutters to Uro, obviously impressed. "District High Venture Trek Executor Barnabas - may I call you Barnabas? - my name is Korynne and I, along with my colleague Uro here, are retainers of Lady Vanderboren's. We were hoping you could help us out, given our Lady's parents' connection to the Seekers. We're in search of the family's other child, Vanthus. You see, he has absconded with our Lady's inheritance. On a lesser note, he has also attempted to murder my colleagues and me. Could you offer us any aid?"
Feel better soon! (That's a demand, not a sympathetic pleasantry.) I acquiesce to your demands. Thanks for the well wishes, friends. :)
"Sounds like a plan. Jym, Wil, we'll meet you back at the inn. Uro, good call on bringing Lady Vanderboren. All we really have is our word that we have any connection there, and since Jym is most of our words, having Lavinia will make up for the quantity we lack with... heritage," Korynne says, finding the right word. "I wouldn't worry too much about being out of place with the Seekers, Uro. I hear that they're kind of weirdos anyway."
Hey y'all, I'm feeling sick tonight, and I don't think I'll be able to manage a post. Hopefully I'll be better by tomorrow. Thanks for your patience.
"I'm with you on finding Vanthus, first, though. We could try asking around the market again, but I'd rather not end up trapped in another hole. Maybe we could ask at the Seekers' Lodge? If the late Vanderborens were in good standing with the Seekers, they might be willing to help us out with some information.""Why don't I take Gwlybwr out to the market to see what sort of clothing we can find, and we'll ask around while we're out and about. In the meantime (or nicetime), why don't you and Uro head to the Seekers' Lodge?
"Lucky for you," Korynne starts, only mildly freaked out by Gwlybwr's new form, "I have a soft spot for orphans and people who help me escape from certain doom. That journal of yours was a holy text of Zuoken. One of those self-perfection kind of deities - the journal's full of meditation stuff and disciplined fighting techniques, that sort of thing. It's written in Baklunish, and I took some notes, but I couldn't do a full translation before my spell ran out. I can probably get back to the Daventry's estate and snag a language dictionary for you. Guaranteed to be in good condition! I'm pretty sure Lord Daventry owns most of the books in there for decoration, so they're all pretty much pristine. "I'm with you on finding Vanthus, first, though. We could try asking around the market again, but I'd rather not end up trapped in another hole. Maybe we could ask at the Seekers' Lodge? If the late Vanderborens were in good standing with the Seekers, they might be willing to help us out with some information."
I'm not sure how I would calculate it, but isn't a constant resistance spell essentially a cloak of resistance +1? If you made it x times per day, you could probably bring it down from the usual 1000 gp price. But maybe things work differently in KF since there are more saves.
I'm not sure we ever negotiated an explicit amount in text. Just that we would pay him. Do we want to restart our search for Vanthus before the next day?
So what steps do we want to take next, once Wil is feeling less unconscious-from-bodily-horror? We probably found Shefton's murdered body when we left Parrot Island. Since that lead is cold, and the murder unlikely to be investigated very thoroughly in Shadowshore, I was thinking we might try the Seekers' Lodge. Hopefully the parents Vanderboren left on good terms...
I do really like the numen/mojo rules. It's convenient like a magic mart but basing it on being cool instead of shopping feels better. Plus it means we can afford more parties!
I'll mark off an even 25 for tips, damages, lost change, and some upfront pay for the room. So our saves won't go up, because now we're CR 1 creatures, but they'll all increase by 1 next level?
murderous command + unwitting ally = HILARITY I'll try to work on getting my save DCs up. :D Speaking of blowing our gold on parties and drugs, what's the gold cost for a drunken night of celebrating being not dead and eaten by zombies?
Korynne nurses a cup of coffee as she finishes scribbling down some notes on some useful scrolls that she's picked up. She winces at a pain behind her eye and pinches the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. I guess celebrating barely surviving by trying to kill myself with alcohol was...in retrospect not a great idea. As the fish monster bursts into the room, she yelps and accidentally knocks over her coffee, although luckily her scrolls only become damp around the edges. "What?!-- But Jym's banjo soothes her panic, though, and she just gives a pained look at Wil. I guess he had a bigger rager than I did... "Poor fellow," Korynne observes, snatching a napkin and blotting her spilled coffee. "Uro, put him back to bed. I'll come by later to check on his bruises. Once this headache subsides..."
Level up completed! Max HP: half hit die + favored class = +4 BAB: +1 Saving throws: +1 Intuition and Will ...? Spell capacity: 2nd; new 1st level spell added to prayerbook: Murderous Command Archivist bonus feat: Selective Channeling Numen:
I'll have my level up completed tonight. Thanks for the suggestions! I'm debating whether I should use numen to give my hat an at-will light orison, rather than just stocking up on sunrods. Or do I need Imbue Item for custom things like that? Has Korynne had a chance to look over Wil's journal?
So, as a 2nd level Archivist, I get a bonus feat! However, the Kirthfinder feats are pretty substantially different from the Pathfinder ones I'm used to. I'm also not super familiar with playing full casters yet either. Anyone got any suggestions? Any neat Divine feats? Is it too early for Imbue Item or metamagic?
"Now!" she begins enthusiastically, "once Wil gets back, let's murder Vanthus!" "Sorry, all that time in the dark left me feeling a bit revenge-y. I'm sure we can come to some sort of satisfying compromise." Korynne listens to Gwlybwr's tale sympathetically, and nodding answers, "Of course! I owe you my life, and besides, you seemed like a decent sort even before that. I'll take a look - if I can't read it either, I know a spell that can help."
We did it! Thanks for your patience, Kirth. It's not easy to GM something this complex at a table, let alone in PbP. I appreciate you helping us figure out how to not die!
As Korynne and Jym crest the top of the trapdoor, the librarian crawls over the top and lies down on the ground, tired from sprinting and trying to calm her terrified nerves. The light of the sun and the smell of fresh sea air revive her quickly, and she jumps up to throw her arms around Uro. "Ha ha ha! We're alive! You're a literal life saver, Uro!" Giddy with her state of not being dead, she beams at her teammates and looks to the horizon, glad to be in an open space again. "Now!" she begins enthusiastically, "once Wil gets back, let's murder Vanthus!"
Seeing Jym struggle to catch up and the darkness ahead, Korynne takes a deep breath to steady herself before casting another spell for light on her hat. Oly, I hope you're getting me out of this one alive...
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