Laafdahni Riverrun's page

There were multiple points in this series where our team's builds didn't mesh well with what the game put in our path, but we always found some way around it. I like the story of this trilogy, as well. Not every mission has to have a neat, happy ending. This series has given Laafdahni ample opportunity for character development. I've enjoyed playing with all of you. See you around!

My Chronicle looks good. Thanks a ton for running this trilogy for us, GM Badblood. I really enjoy getting my characters deeper into a story than one scenario allows. It was a pleasure playing with everyone!

Throughout the debriefing, Laafdahni has remained pensively silent so far. Eventually, though, she speaks mournfully: "Sharrowsmith did so much damage, caused so much pain and death, not only in his immediate vicinity, but in the various communities of a large area of the jungle. I can't...understand why he was so destructive. 'Explore, Cooperate, Report'... Cooperation would've produced better results with far less bloodshed and anger." She drops her eyes with a heavy sigh.

Spellcraft DC 17: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

Whenever she catches Zaril staring at her, Laafdahni has to try mightily to resist the urge to cast Color Spray on him. Of course, she knows that if she did, he'd be able to count the number of times she did it to have a good guess of the limits of her power. She can easily see him planning an escape for when she's run out of spells. Instead, she positions herself so that he has to maintain an uncomfortable position to stare at her. I can't wait until he's out of our hands! What a creep!

She's disappointed that they can't leave their prisoners at Fort Bandu, but understands why the Praetor has made that decision. She sighs, anticipating having to keep watch over him all the way back to Absalom.

Laafdahni's limpid eyes narrow in thought as the party debates bringing along the Aspis agents. Mercy is good, but surviving is also good. Despite her worries about their prisoners' cooperation, she agrees that killing them now, or leaving them to be killed, would be just the sort of thing the Aspis would do. The high road is a hard one sometimes.

Upon the not-so-subtle urging of the kobolds, she bows her head to them respectfully and replies: "Yes, you are right. We are preparing to leave, but we need to be confident that we've secured our prisoners well enough first." To the party she adds: "Perhaps the Captain at Fort Bandu will be interested in holding these two. It's worth asking."

Upon finding Sharrowsmith's body, Laafdahni stands over him and solemnly shakes her head. Why did he cause so much damage and harm? These kobolds are not mindless animals; he should have bargained or reasoned with them. He and too many others lost their lives...over what? All we had to do was talk to people, and it turned out fine. She is deeply perplexed and ashamed of what Sharrowsmith has done.

Honestly, it almost looks like he went full vigilante murder hobo on the kobolds. Does anyone else get that impression?

Laafdahni shrugs at Guy's response to her wand. Healing is healing to her, and it's not as if she's agreed to any contract by using it. When the kobolds stagger back, she offers it to them, but her words need to be translated for those who don't understand Common.

I assume the Comprehend Languages spell cast on her when we first entered the large cavern with the Golden Guardian has worn off by now. (10 minutes)

After being tapped by two healing wands, Laafdahni gasps and bolts into a sitting position and glances around for danger. "Oh! Ahhh! <gasp! gasp!> Thanks, guys! Are they gone?" She pops the Wand of Infernal Healing out of its sheath and hits herself with it before standing and offering it to Guy, who looks a little worse for the wear. "Want some Infernal Healing?"

As Laafdahni is at -4 hp:

DC 10 CON w/ Bear's Endurance: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

Success; stabilized

Dashing around one corner, Laafdahni comes to a stop at the edge of the next. Peeking around, she sees a female Aspis agent facing down Salim. Throwing out her hand, she sends a bolt of freezing energy at the Aspis's back.

Cold Ray: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 61d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Unfortunately, she hasn't moved far enough out of the side hallway to get a clear shot.

Realizing that the battle is unlikely to reach her unless all her comrades fall, Laafdahni dashes out to follow Sinaryn.

Double move.

Are the yellow dashed circles Silence?

Silence?! Rats! Looks like I'll be using my ray today. She holds her ground, like Bocke and Bask.

Laafdahni - Delaying?

She's mostly just waiting to see what comes through that door at this point.

Laafdahni holds her ground, mentally dithering between casting Freezing Hands or Color Spray on the Aspis once they get around to converging on the door. The deaths of the Aspis agents that she caused when being chased by the T-rex not long ago weigh heavily on her heart. Her eyes flicker as a mournful realization dawns on her. If I use Color Spray, everyone else will kill them anyway. The only mercy I can give them is a quick death. Her heart breaks a little bit at that thought, but she doesn't have time to be sad about it. Steeling herself, she thrusts back her shoulders, sets her jaw, and awaits the onslaught.

And then she notices that Guy has stepped right into her line of fire. Oh. Well... And she begins over thinking her spell selection all over again.

Laafdahni frets: "Oh, but the kobolds are taking the brunt of it out there! Ohhh!" Despite her misgivings, she knows full well that she's not a front-liner, so she backs into the cavernous room with her team, ready to cast a spell on whatever Apsis agents come through the doors.

Laafdahni dashes forward, through the doors. "Come on! That can't be all of them! She said there were twenty! We need to control the hallways so they don't surround us!" She strains her ears to hear any sounds of approaching feet.

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

Laafdahni pads to the bottom of the stairs and presses herself against the wall. She prepares herself to cast Color Spray on the Apsis as soon as they come through the doors and get within range. Just in case, she holds her breath.

If there's no reason to hold her breath by next round, she'll continue breathing as usual.

Laafdahni strides forward and stops near the top of the stairs. She calls out in a voice evocative of deep, inexorable ocean currents: "You foul destroyers will fall!"

Intimidate: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15

Did she--but she--? Laafdahni was so sure that the woman they saved earlier wouldn't have given them away to the Apsis. Were they waiting for the Pathfinders to clear the way so they could come in and steal everything after the Pathfinders were weakened? Did she go tell them? Did they hurt her? Did she slip away? All these thoughts zip through her mind as she picks her way across the walkway.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17

Oh, wow. *This* is why my parents became Pathfinders. To discover and share rich histories such as this. Amazing...

@GM Badblood: Should there be DCs listed on the spoilers above?

Laafdahni's footsteps flow toward the head of the hammer. She gazes silently at the images, trying her best to understand their meanings.

Aid Knowledge (history): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

Aid Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 = 19

Consternation floods Laafdahni's expression. She muses to herself: "Why would Sharrowsmith keep coming back after they told him to stay out of their home? And why would he keep destroying it? That's...it goes against every bit of behavior guidance training I've had in the Pathfinder society. We defend ourselves when attacked, yes, but... This goes too far." She shakes her head in confusion and sadness, wondering if his methods were leaning too close to those of the Apsis for her comfort. No wonder the kobolds were angry at the settlers of the fort and the miners.

"Which cave-in was the last one? Perhaps we could help search for bodies. We may not all be strong, but with teamwork we could make some progress. I'm sure you'd rather not have Sharrowsmith's remains buried under the same pile of rubble as your missing people." Her suggestions has a two-fold purpose: better relations with the kobolds and verifying Sharrowsmith's death.

The blind kobold stands up stiffly. "I will accept your apology for unlawfully entering our territory and interfering with the justice that we were about to administer on the other interlopers; as long as you promise not to ever trespass on our territory again" the elder says curtly.

"I can answer for those of us standing here that your offer sounds fair. We will pass it on to those at the fort. The captain there is a reasonable man, so I don't see any reason he'd refuse. It might be a good idea to tell us what your borders are, so we can make sure they have the correct information. --Oh, by the way. Where is Sharrowsmith?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

@GM Badblood: Did Laafdahni see any sign of anyone or thing in the rest of the room when she looked?

The agitated pitch and volume of the kobolds' words snaps Laafdahni's focus to the verbal confrontation before her. Okay, this is getting out of hand.

One of the other kobolds then shouts out, "How did they get past our pet, Stinkeye? I bet they murdered him too! Just like they killed my sister in that cave in!"

"One of your sisters died in a cave in? Oh, I'm so sorry! We saw that there were some cave ins. I'm really sorry for your loss." Laafdahni pauses to take a slow breath. "I will try to answer some of your earlier questions and explain some of our responses. We were hired to find a dwarven man named Sharrowsmith, who's been missing for some time. We've never met him, so none of us can personally attest to his character. As we got into our search, it became clear that he did something to upset your people, though we found no evidence to tell us what, exactly, he did. Perhaps you could fill that in for us, actually. Now as to the reason we mentioned the Apsis: that group has been dogging our steps on this mission, and we just recently un-petrified one of their members in the hallway out there. She said there were quite a lot of them here. That is why we're so confused as to why you say you haven't seen them. Now, I'm happy to answer your other questions, but perhaps first you'd like to respond to what I've said so far."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

As she speaks, Laafdahni can tell her words aren't coming out as honeyed as she'd like, which is frustrating. That frustration makes it harder to be diplomatic, which spins her into a negative feedback loop that only ends when she finally manages to stop speaking.

Everyone is talking to the kobolds, but Laafdahni is staring at the Golden Guardian, utterly flabbergasted at its sudden domesticity.

At the mention of the Apsis, she begins wildly glancing around for all the Apsis agents that were supposedly ahead of the Pathfinders.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12
She ought to be able to see almost the whole room south of the walkway with her darkvision.

Laafdahni finishes dashing up the stairs and pops out onto the bridge. And the scary thing flies right up to her! "Aaiieee!" Instinctively, she throws out her hands to shower it with a blast of freezing cold air.

Freezing Hands: 3d4 ⇒ (3, 3, 2) = 8
This works the same as Burning Hands, but is turned to cold damage due to her Bloodline.

Yikes! Moving stinks like unwashed socks. Good luck with everything.

Mother Bogwyne's exact words wrote:

"The talisman’s power is hidden within, and it must be unsealed in the beast’s presence. To do so too soon would expend its energy needlessly or even invoke a terrible disaster. We have entrusted you with this relic of our people; use it wisely.”

Yeah, but Laafdahni is scared and desperate to avoid failure. She's not thinking clearly.

Okay. I can't do anything against that big thing. And there are kobolds chanting somewhere, but we can't see them! What can I do what can I do? In a flash, Laafdahni dashes through the doors, along the wall, and up the stairs in the hopes of being able to get a better view of everything they're dealing with here. As she runs, she screams: "Toral! Do it! Break the egg!"

Double move; this out to get her high enough to see if there's anything at the top of that landing.

Laafdahni's small, plaintive voice barely registers in the din of the battle: "Uh, guyys... I don't think Color Spray will work on it."

I'll wait to post her actions once we know whether or not it makes its will save.

"Oooh! Guy! Can you hit me with that too?" Laafdahni doesn't want to be left out, and is intensely curious (in an anxious way) about what the chanters are saying.

Those extra points are lost first, right?

Taking a deep, steadying breath, Laafdahni puts on her determinedly brave face and declares: "Well, let's go!"

I think a good distribution of the loot would be as follows:
Toral: wand of bear's endurance
Bocke: wand of Lesser Restoration
Bask: potion of Cure Moderate Wounds, potion of Spider Climbing (a celestial lion climbing all over the walls and ceiling would be epic!)
Sinaryn: potion of Cure Moderate Wounds
Guy: wand of cure light wounds, potion of Spider Climbing

Feel free to change it up as you like.

Laafdahni remembers her wounds, and asks one of the guys to use the newly found wand of Cure Light Wounds on her.

wand of CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
wand of CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

Now she's up to full and the wand has 12 charges left.

And now for the last two:

Spellcraft DC 16: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21
Spellcraft DC 18: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

I did it! Oh my gosh! Gleefully, Laafdahni holds up the treasures that she was able to identify, even after three others couldn't. The warm feeling of pride in being useful swells within her.

"This one is a wand of Cure Light Wounds with 14 charges, and this is a wand of Bear's Endurance, also with 14 charges. Wow. It's a good thing we came back and checked."

"Oh! We missed something? Hmm. Well, I guess we didn't wander all the halls, but I thought we'd entered every room. Okay, let's double check. It wouldn't do to have a hidden Apsis come at us from behind." Okay. Let's just double check. Not stalling; double checking. Laafdahni isn't foolish enough to go alone, so she follows the first person to start walking off for further investigations.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18

Well, I feel like a coward. Full of shame, Laafdahni slinks toward the tail end of the group when she hears the guys talking about the basilisk as if it's dead. She keeps her eyes down, but not out of fear of petrification. After several seconds of standing there silently, her grandmother's voice shoots through her head: "Quit sulking, girl! You'll never do well if you do nothing!" ...Right. Right! Okay... Taking a deep, calming breath, she puts on a warm smile. "Good job, gentlemen. I'm glad you're all right." Then, once everyone is ready, she leads the way to the double doors, ears and eyes pricked for signs of trouble.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

"What's going on, guys?" Anxious, Laafdahni leans back in the alcove, waiting to hear the verdict.

She's going to delay until she sees that at least two people in that bunch are stone.

Fortitude: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19

Linguistics: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Wow. I...don't see it. The pit of inadequacy forms in Laafdahni's stomach, a falling sensation of being consumed by a void. She stares blankly at the pillar, saying nothing, until the group turns to leave. She then trails behind as she claws her way back to some semblance of confidence so she can complete this mission without being a burden.

"...Oh! Haha!" Shaking her head at herself, Laafdahni can't help but chuckle. "I was so busy looking for loot that I completely missed the pillar!" Lightly stepping forward, she examines the runes.

Laafdahni is fluent in Common, Aquan, Elven, Infernal, and Dwarven. If they're in Dwarven, she won't say anything until Toral's had a chance to examine them.

"Well, looks like there's nothing here. I...guess it's time to head deeper in." The sorcerer glances in the direction she thinks lies the passage to the next area with a hint of trepidation leaking through her normally serene demeanor.

"Store room? I wonder what they're storing." Laafdahni begins to poke around. Maybe I'll find something special. You never know.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12

"... Fetch? Somebody has been training a basilisk...to fetch. That sounds...either ridiculously cute or terrifyingly ominous." Laafdahni gives a shudder, before continuing in a rush. "Well, this exploring won't get done by itself! Let's continue, shall we?"

Survival DC 12: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13

"Phew! What kind of creature poops rocks, and how do they smell so strong!" Wrinkling her nose, Laafdahni inches closer to inspect the leather bag.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

"Ooo, no. I can't do it!" She bolts from the room before getting a clear look at it, the smell clearly being too much for her.

"I think she's all right; she wouldn't." Laafdahni weakly protests, but meekly follows.

Before we leave the area, we should check out the room with the green rectangle. I think it's right by where Vanei was a statue.

Meeting Vanei's eyes, Laafdahni can sense the urgency to escape within her. Relieved that the group's choice is very unlikely to harm them and that Vanei seems to be a good enough person, she interjects: "Finish your questions quickly. We don't want the Apsis agents to hear us and come attack our flank. I'll go keep watch. ... Good luck, Vanei." She turns and pads quietly back to the area with the crying statue to keep watch for any approaching foe.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12

As little as she is happy about this situation, Laafdahni realizes that this woman needs a bit of time to get her thoughts in order. It must be truly discombobulating to be on the receiving end of petrification and depetrification. With a low, calming voice, she addresses the group: "Guys. Give her a minute. This must be very bewildering for her." Though I don't trust her for a minute!

Torn between self-preservation and compassion, Laafdahni hesitates to add her two coppers to the decision. On the one hand, the Apsis agent will definitely undermine her team in some awful, life-threatening way. On the other hand, she still feels guilty for basically feeding the other Apsis agent(s) to the raging dinosaur recently. Grimacing in discomfort, she finally chimes in. "Do it. Try it on her. But get ready with some rope to bind her, just in case. If it works, she'll be a ton of trouble. It'll also tell us that the creature that did this is still here, and probably close." If it doesn't work, it still could be.

Before they close up the room, Laafdahni screws up her courage. "Wait! Let's search the room first. We only really glanced in there." Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she forces herself to lead the way, searching each nook and cranny as quickly as she can and keeping half an eye on the bodies, just in case.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18

After that, she's ready to barricade the door and move on to the next area. "Let's check out the section close to where we came in."