"Agrimmosh! The Hammer of Unmaking!" The ancient slag giant continues.
“In times now lost, my ancestors built the sacred forge in the cathedral above to honor He Who Makes and Unmakes. Minderhal’s Forge is a repository of awesome power, but long have its fires lain cold. Only with Minderhal’s great hammer, Agrimmosh can the effects of long ages be unmade and
the flames restored."
“I, Etena, am Keeper of the Forge. I inherited my position from those who walked this world before me, and those before them. I am the guardian of the sacred forge, but I am not its creator. Were that the case, I would have long ago renewed its fire, but this task is beyond my ability. You, however—you, the bearers of the Hammer of Unmaking—you have the power to relight the forge. But first, you must learn its history and what must be done.”
"I am the last living descendant of the ancient slag giants who immigrated to this valley after converting to the worship of Minderhal. Long ago, the elder priests of the cathedral appointed me to the revered position of Keeper of the Forge, a post I have held for centuries, even after the giants abandoned the valley and the cathedral above. It has been so quiet here for so long, until all these giants started gathering here."
She looks sad, as she continues her tail. "So long I was the cathedral’s sole inhabitant, and every day since the forge went cold, I lit candles and laid prayer symbols in the dust to honor Minderhal and bless the forge. In the hundreds of years that have come and gone, I came to believe that should Agrimmosh, the Hammer of Unmaking ever be returned to the cathedral, the sacred forge will once more roar into life, heralding a new age of glory for the cathedral and the worship of Minderhal! You are here to fulfill this destiny!"
Waiting briefly to make sure you are still listening, she continues with her history lesson. “According to the sacred texts, four ancient heroes first brought Minderhal’s Forge to life. "
“The first was Mymrith the Maker, priestess of Fandarra, who prepared fallen warriors for the afterlife by anointing their bodies with sacred clay. She lined the forge with the clay to contain the fire within."
“The second was Aduromi, the Priestess of Crystals, whose veins ran hot with molten metal and who could temper steel to a hardness that would cut diamonds. She brought with her the secrets of the fire geodes, which once ignited would burn for a century."
“The third was Jogrothir the Hunter, guardian of the sacred horn Drakesbane, which he used to call the ancient drakes native to the surrounding peaks. Jogrothir brought the forge to life, for he alone was able to capture the dragon’s breath, the only flame hot enough to ignite the fire geodes."
“The last was Rosag, the Preserver of the Forge. A great priestess of Minderhal, Rosag held the secrets of water—both its ability to temper metal as well as its capacity to quench the sacred flames. She performed the Blessing of Rosag, the final incantation that stoked the fires and sanctified the forge."
“Only by following in the footsteps of the blessed ancients, by repeating those acts which have been undone, shall the fires of Minderhal’s Forge once again blossom.”
'Mr. Pink'|LoH: 2/5|Male Human (Chelaxian) Paladin of Iomedae 4|HP: 29/35|AC: 17/10/17|Saves: +8 Fort, +3 Ref, +5 Will|Init: +2|Perc: +6
I understand - I had the same thing happen to me, although that was 30 years ago. I am still amazed how much it affected me, and some days still does. Take your time and talk with others - the talking really can help, I think.
No worries! This should be a source of release not anxiety so it you need some time away, please take it. We’ll cover for you (bot) as needed. Good luck with everything!
Male Dwarf Cleric 4| HP: 35/35 | AC: 19 (11 Tch, 18 Fl) | CMD: 15 | F: +6, R: +2, W: +7 | Init: +5/+7 if can act in surprise | Perc: +4 / +6 Eagle, SM: +7 | Active conditions: none
I would suggest the following distribution, but feel free to object!
Edo:
+1 glamered full plate armor (your the only one that can use it)
Ring of Major Acid Resistance
Wyrmsmite - a famous +2 dragonbane transformative longsword
Brandor:
+3 breastplate of Luck (as Banded Mail of Luck)
Liam:
Amulet of Natural Armor +1
Slippers of Spider Climbing.
Maximize Metamagic Rod
The savage Kellid peoples of prehistoric Ustalav have long since withdrawn before the tide of advancing civilization, but rumors persist
of queer ceremonies and obscene rites that have survived to the modern day in isolated fishing villages and remote farming hamlets throughout this shadowed land. For aeons, the eldritch powers and beings from beyond once venerated by those ancient barbarians have been content to simply wait and observe, but the time is nigh for them to make their return, and the whole of Golarion will soon shudder to the tread of their alien footsteps.
—Galicius Thwaite, The Unnatural History of Ustalav and the North
When the necromancer dies, the magic powering the poisonous cloud dies with him, causing it to quickly dissipate.
The quarterstaff is just a +1 weapon. His focus was a homunculus named Fleshwort that wasn't otherwise listed in the combat stats or tactics, so I left him out of it.
Also on his decayed remains, you find a lesser silent metamagic rod, wand of animate dead (10 charges); amulet of natural armor +1, cloak of resistance +2, ring of protection +1, spellbook (contains all prepared spells, all 0-level spells, plus arcane eye, create undead, mirror image, and 1d6 random spells of levels 1–5), spell component pouch, Whispering
Way amulet.
The dispel magic on the fly was key to winning this battle! He had quite an arsenal at his disposal, but without his undead minions to act as blockers, he simply got sacked!
A locked chest sits nearby.
DC 30 Disable Device check to open:
It contains 50 pounds of silver dust (worth 250 gp), 2,000 gp worth of onyx gemstones, and a scroll of control undead in a plain leather scroll case. Pontia recognizes the silver dust and onyxes as material components for desecrate and animate dead spells.
You also find a leather satchel beneath the table, which contains several pages of cryptic notes and an elaborately carved bone scroll tube. The scroll tube contains an enigmatically macabre poem. The notes are written in a strange code.
Upon the ashen pathways tread
Softly, as the whispered dead.
As mortal flesh doth rot and fail
To leech and maggot, ebbing frail.
Unhallowed words cannot be spoken,
With whispered oath, death lies broken.
Shed fear, shed life, shed pain, shed time,
Eternity seized shall soon be thine.
First spirit torn from Grave-Lady’s grasp
Be rent and sown as soured ash.
Soft the spiral song reverses,
Judgment lost, damnation surges.
Keeper of the damned’s soul take,
With packlord’s heart the beast shall wake
And flesh be wrought in disarray—
Stillborn cocoon, to blessed decay.
A hundred slain lie innocent,
Grind bone and marrow to cement.
Craft now a skull of splintered graves,
Unmake life, unmake the slave.
Where history churns dream to blister,
Necrophagous secrets whisper
Through chronicles of Raven’s tongue—
A legacy of fear unspun.
Blood spilt atop the Iron Thorn
Invokes that which cannot be born.
Arise the Tyrant now unbound,
Bearer of the Carrion Crown!
DC 30 Linguistics check:
You decipher enough of them to determine that they concern some sort of instructions to Auren Vrood from an unnamed superior. The orders instruct Vrood to steal the heart of the Shudderwood’s packlord, as well as construct a skull from the bones of corpses buried in Feldgrau. They also direct him to send the Seasage Eff igy to the town of Thrushmoor as part of a trade for a second object whose nature remains undisclosed. Finally, Vrood is commanded to raise an undead army in the Furrows for later use.
This concludes this book of the adventure path! So, a few things to discuss in the discussion thread, but for one thing, you should all now level up to level 9.
I do believe an accordion would be the perfect effect for you! Nothing like a good accordion dirge for a cloudy, werewolf laden moonlit night. Maybe a slow underlying polka would be nice?
Hello all - sorry for going silent with no warning. My wife's mother passed away this weekend, and between that and the holiday season, we are scrambling to get everything in order. I am posting this same note to all of my groups, so some of you will likely see it more than once.
I suspect I won't be only until after Christmas, and maybe not even until after the new year. I will try to catch up on games where I can, but I don't expect to be very successful. If I am a player, please feel free to bot me or drop me as needed. If you bot me, all resources are available to you - I am not worried.
For those I am running, I certainly won't me able to organize combat as I will be remote. But feel free to continue RP if available and I can answer questions as I get a chance.
Thank you for your patience and understanding, and for those of you that celebrate, Hanukkah Sameach, Happy Kwanzaa, and Merry Christmas!
Also, keep in mind that while maybe not all that realistic, you can re-work your PFS character until they play as a level 2. So if you aren't happy at the end of level 1, you can adjust.
Having said that, each level is written by a different author, so I wouldn't make too many assumptions about the rest of the dungeon based on this first level.
Looks like we are waiting on two more, and maybe a character switch for bgib. I have posted a Google Slides link and filled in data for everyone - please check your own to make sure I got it right.
Looks like we still have some die-hard 1e players here, and while I have dipped my toes into 2e, it just isn't clicking with me. I am also a big fan of CORE, so... perhaps against my better judgement... I am willing to run a mega-dungeon with Core rules!
I will leave the chronicles up for a while, but I will likely close this group in a few days to pare down my campaign page. If anyone needs anything after, always feel free to PM me.
The creature has clearly been the one causing all of the problems in the school. As the creature hops out of one book, you are able to catch it briefly before it hops in another, with the secret pages acting as portals to each other. During one such hop, the Scholar of Secrets' bracelet of bells chimes and falls to the ground. The bells are artfully crafted, though the chaotic energy of the Maelstrom means that the sound they emit is always the wrong tone and volume than expected.
Elfino realizes that the bracelet you found in the bathroom could also be used to banish the creature back to his own plane. Eaterina distracts the creature as Thevernin uses the planar focus bracelet to open a rift. With the Carnellan Signet and Termia working together to push the creature into the rift, it screams "No! My work here is not done!"
The rift closes, and the school goes quiet.
With your work done, you are able to rest and even get a good night's sleep. The next day, you are summoned to the Grand Lodge to report
on the mysteries and their conclusions. J Dacilane meets with you in a well-appointed tearoom and listens carefully to the full account. J mutters, “What strange luck. At least the pupils are safe now. Thank you for ensuring Dacilane Academy’s safety!"
You solved every mystery, netting you 4 reputation points with your faction as well as a full compliment of treasure bundles (10!). The book Elfino asked about was in fact the abandoned book of translation (Mahwek). J gives you a copy (on chronicle).
Male N Tengu Bard(Maestro) 1 | HP 12/12 AC 17 | F +4 R +5 W +6 | Perc. +6 (lowlight)
"I guess adventuring is not for the faint of heart. What was his name? Sir Robyn?"
Akka-Dak follows the others, a few feet behind. Feeling a bit disturbed by the condition of the place, and the fleeing compatriot, the birdman swings his lute around from his back, and starts to strum a little tune, trying to lighten the mood.
"♪♪ Brave, brave Sir Hammid, ♫ so bravely ran away...♫"
Sorry folks - both work and family slammed me hard this week!
Unrelated note - I found that Elfino's Pursue the Lead can apply to all of these mysteries as 1 designated subject. So no need to change your target here.
Finally, there is a formal approach to these investigations. Each PC gets 1 (and only 1) skill check appropriate for the mystery. If you get enough successes, it determines what you learn. Critical successes count double. Critical failures do count against. In this case, you can use crafting to examine the statues, or perception to check out the ground. I have Perception rolls from The Carnelian Signet and Qen.
Thevenin doesn't find any magic radiating from the statues.
Parnel is staring at SCary Gourd. After a bit, he finally blinks. "You are an interesting one, my leshy friend. I have seen humans carving squash similar to your appearance in some odd attempt to scare aware harmful spirits. I sincerely doubt it has any effect, but I would be happy for your company on the off chance it does!"
The elf's demeanor is so dry, you cannot tell if he was trying to make a joke or not.
"Big football fan, are ya? Yah, I used to play. Seems like forever ago. You want an autograph? I don't get much call for those anymore, but always happy to meet a fan..."
Lady Martella basically employed the group from the very beginning. She is the illegitimate daughter of the prestigious Lotheed noble family. Bartelby Lotheed is her half-brother.
The wealthy Lotheed family has been a strong supporter of the Stavians for almost 100 years. They have a long family tradition of arcane magic, adding to their wealth and prestige.
Martella is the black sheep of her family, being a result of an extramarital dalliance with a Qadiran diplomat. She lacks her family’s gift for magic as well, adding to their resentment.
Despite her family’s disdain, Martella still commands some wealth and has extensive contacts, having attended the Sinora Academia, Taldor’s most exclusive girls’ school.
Her goal is to "restore" Princess Eutropia to power in the land.
Princess Eutropia is the adult daughter of Grand Prince Stavian III and has a scandalous reputation for making trouble and fighting in the streets. Eutropia is a social reformer, eager to establish schools and other public resources for the poor, and remove political or family restrictions for women and various minorities. Rumors have circulated for a decade that her ultimate goal is to overturn primogeniture—Taldor’s ancient law stating that only male heirs may inherit the Lion Throne—and become the first empress of Taldor.
The princess’s reputation for “fighting in the streets” largely hails from her skill as a fencer, a sport she excelled at during her schooling at the Sinora Academia. Many times in her twenties she matched blades with chauvinistic politicians who would otherwise refuse to let her speak or act within political circles, and those early public duels helped her win unexpected support for her later social reforms—as well as a
reputation as an impolite, unladylike brute.
In book 1, Stavian tries to quell any rebellion but in the process starts a civil war that claims his own life. Eleven major claims have been made for the throne by various nobles claiming relations to the Stavian line. Two candidates in particular—Princess Eutropia and High Strategos Maxillar Pythareus—stand above the rest, and various nobles and polities have already begun arguing that their chosen scion is the true inheritor of the Primogen Crown.
Princess Eutropia has asked you to help her gain power, or at least prevent the war-mongering Pythareus from gaining it. (Also, many of you have personal reasons for wanting Pythareus punished). Martella is her confidant, and your benefactor. in book 2, you were to try and help bring allies and resources to your cause, and now we have progressed to the point where you (collectively) believe you can give the Princess more credibility by restoring the Palace of Birdsong to her control.
I am not sure why I am listed as WIP - but I did see that my profile was an unformatted mess. Not too sure what happened there, but I have now cleaned it up.
If there is anything else I am missing that I should include, please let me know!
I would love to join you on this. I am just getting into 2e myself - a couple short scenarios under my belt, but still much to learn. How about I bring a goblin sorcerer who doubles as the cook, keeping the party fed by frying up whatever deep dark delicacies we may find? He could also be a gnome, but I think goblins have become more mainstream in 2e, so it could be fun to try it out.
I am updating the loot sheet, and you can look up all items there. I am taking off the "value" for these relics, because they really skew the WBL values, and there is already built in some balance for you to share the relic wealth.
The relics you have are:
Dignity's Barb. 3 triumphs. Held by Sara.
Barb reduces miss chances from concealment by 5%.
First Triumph: Dignity’s Barb is a +1 darkwood light crossbow and reduces miss chances from concealment by 10%. In addition, once per day when the weapon threatens a critical hit, the wielder can roll twice to confirm the critical and take the better result.
Second Triumph: Dignity’s Barb is a +1 seeking darkwood light crossbow.
Third Triumph: Dignity’s Barb is a +2 seeking darkwood light crossbow. The wielder can use its ability to roll twice to confirm a critical hit twice per day (though he can use it only once on a given critical threat). In addition, the wielder can attempt a lucky shot to foil a ranged attack. Once per day when a ranged weapon attack targets a creature within 30 feet of the wielder, the wielder can shoot Dignity’s Barb at the projectile as an immediate action. He rolls a ranged attack, and if the result exceeds the attacker’s roll, that attack is negated. This ability can be used only if Dignity’s Barb is loaded or if the wielder can use Rapid Reload or a similar ability.
Koriana's Blade is the relic, and I believe we modified it to be a Falcata. It currently has 0 triumphs. Held by Eregos.
Koriana’s Blade is a +2 defending longsword. It’s strangely curved, betraying its origins, and has five gemstones in its pommel. Four are broken, but the white gem in the center is intact. Once per day, the wielder can trigger this gemstone as an immediate action to absorb and negate all darts targeting her from a magic missile spell. When the wielder transfers at least 1 point of the weapon’s enhancement bonus to her AC using the defending special ability, she also chooses one creature other than herself within 10 feet to gain a +1 bonus to AC until the wielder’s next turn. This bonus is always +1, regardless of how much of the weapon’s bonus the wielder transfers to her AC.
Subtle Mask 0 Triumphs. Not sure who had it.
Fashioned to surround the wearer’s eyes and cover the forehead and cheekbones, this mask is made of
porcelain inset with blue and green gems and decorated with golden filigree. When donned, the mask seems to disappear, leaving its golden patterns as tattoos on the wearer’s face and coloring one of the wearer’s eyes green and the other blue. The wearer can remove the mask normally, causing it to appear as a porcelain mask once again.
The wearer gains a +2 competence bonus on Sense Motive hecks and can use comprehend languages once per day.
Envoy Ring 3 triumphs. Worn by Valeria
This golden ring appears pristine on the outside, but the inside shows centuries of wear, leaving the inner band perpetually polished to a lighter hue than that of the ring’s outer surfaces. A family crest adorns the front, depicting olive branches encircling two crowns, seemingly indicating a house dedicated to ambassadorship and diplomacy.
The ring grants its wearer a +2 competence bonus on Diplomacy, Linguistics, and Perform checks. Once per day, the wearer can speak a command word to transform her appearance and clothing, as per disguise self. The appearance of her clothing automatically matches the customs of the dominant culture around her, typically that of the local nobility or ruling class. Her physical features don’t match those of the local people, but features that would make her stand out—such as elf ears in a settlement where no elves live—diminish. This lasts up to 24 hours but can be dismissed at any time. The caster level of any spell effect generated by the ring is 1 + 2 per triumph attained.
First Triumph: The ring can be activated to use charm person (DC = 15 + 1 per additional triumph attained) and comprehend languages, each once per day.
Second Triumph: The ring’s competence bonus on Diplomacy, Linguistics, and Perform check is +3. When the wearer activates the ring’s disguise, she can read, speak, and understand the most common language in the area that she doesn’t already know for as long as the duration persists.
Third Triumph: The wearer can activate the ring to use charm person at will, though if a creature succeeds at its save, it can’t be targeted again for 24 hours. The ring can also be activated to use charm monster (DC = 20 + 1 per additional triumph attained) once per day.
This sounds fun - I would normally submit a hard-boiled detective type, but I see a few great submissions so far. What I don’t see is a femme fatale, so I humbly submit Scarlett.
Scarlett Carlotta was born in the slums of Absalom, raised by a drunk father who couldn’t deal with the fact that her elven mother has left him and a young daughter under mysterious circumstances. Survival on the streets involved street performing, and often scams of one nature or another. Scarlett learned early how to manipulate the emotions of others, and was always looking for an angle. Her life was hard, but not unbearable… that is until she got pinched for trying to fleece the wrong politician.
Luckily, one of the guards noticed how she worked her skills even in prison, and recruited a young Scarlett into the Lotus Guards as an undercover agent. She did her best to infiltrate criminal organizations, and in truth she often fit in quite naturally. Feeding her handlers information in exchange for her freedom, she found she really was not terribly free. As such, she developed a knack for running her own side deals, sometimes for profit, but often just to see what she could get away with.
Unfortunately, she recently got outed by a corrupt officer in her detail, and so had to be quickly extracted from her assignment. For now, at least, she is working as a peacekeeper for the grand festival. Not being particularly tough, she uses her smooth tongue to try to deescalate situations, something she practiced often as a child with a drunk for a father. Some days, she wonders how he is doing… he is still living in a gutter somewhere, as far as she knows.
You pack up and everyone returns to Lady Paril.She is grateful for your quick work, and gives you the reward she promised.
In addition, the newly rescued Festo asks his Lady if he can join you in your endeavors to rebuild Stachys, and she agrees. His hard work on the temple earns you 5000gp towards that project, and 1 more loyalty point among the people.
When you return to the Betony Estate, there is a letter waiting.
Well met, loyal friends. Word even in Cassomir is that your
actions in Meratt have left a memorable impression on that
stodgy old county; I can’t wait to see what else you may
yet accomplish.
I have met with various contacts and settled
misunderstandings here in Cassomir, and I believe we have
come to an agreement with Grand Duchess Tiberan. She is
prepared to validate our seizure of the county but needs
certain conditions to be fulfilled. First, you must obtain the
original charter granting the Lotheed family stewardship
of the land. It will be kept in the library, near my brother’s
office on the second floor, and I believe Gul Gusairne would
carry the only key (or more likely, hide it near his room,
the weasel). Grand Duchess Tiberan also requires both Count
Lotheed and his acting seneschal to abandon the property.
She was nonspecific as to how.
Unrelated to Duchess Tiberan’s needs, I have also learned
my Great Uncle Panivar has established a teleportation
circle to come and go at will from the royal apartments in
the tower. Panivar is an extraordinarily gifted wizard and
a man utterly without remorse, and I cannot stress how
vital it is to destroy his access to the estate before word
of this seizure reaches him in the south. Once you begin
your attack, I doubt you will have more than a week before
he returns.
Good luck, agents. May Taldor endure!
Martella Lotheed
After Valeria reads the letter out loud, she looks lost in contemplation for a few minutes. Then she starts to speak her thoughts.
"Ok. This is going to be tricky, both politically and physically. My suggestion is that we form an insurgency team, while I stay here and keep a strong "loyal" facade and continue to run the estate and town improvements. Sveng and Bimble, you will stay with me and keep things organized. Festo will rebuild the temple, and that should bring us some needed religious support, as well as a town healer. Meanwhile, Eregos, Sara, and Capricia - you will gather some others to form the attack team. Get geared up, and go kick Lotheed out of the palace! But try to keep it quiet, make it fast, and of course, we will deny any involvement if you fail. I am afraid it has to be that way for the gains we have made to survive. Good luck, and godspeed!"
I think we may yet have one more joining us, and I think they were planning on a sorcerer, if that makes any difference. But I am a big fan of having you play what interests you the most - we can work around overlaps.
OK Bimble - sorry to see you go, but totally understand.
I did recruit a few others and I am asking them to join us here as they get their characters ready. Looking like a witch, a sorcerer and an oracle as of now. All are great players from other APs I am running, so I think they can hit the ground running.
Yes, I have not played any of the four scenarios yet. And Fuzzfoot does have a chronicle from Serpent's Rise (although that is just a bonus, not one of your criteria).
The tase of the ochre jelly is akin to moldy sweat socks, leaning towards raw sewage. It is nasty smelling as well as disgusting to taste. It doesn't seem worth any more than rotten garbage to you. Maybe a wizard might find it useful as a spell component, but not in any way any of you are aware of.
I am going to pause the game here for a couple weeks, folks. I am going to be mostly offline until June 10, and won't be able to GM appropriately during that time. Feel free to continue to roleplay and come up with a plan (although you don't need much of one).
When I come back on June 10, we can start your chase after the Whispering Way.
