Palandri's page

When Marine mentions Gnomeo and Juliette, a pained expression crosses Jayma's face.

"Ah… yes. Gnomeo and Juliette. I remember it all too well. I was of course cast as Juliette, though I assure you not by virtue of my range. No, they cast me chiefly because I am, well, obviously,a gnome. Practical choice, really. Less fuss with costuming. It wasn’t the sort of play where one stretches one’s soul; more the sort where someone’s trousers fall down every third scene. The audience howled, of course. Garden gnome jokes in abundance; one about a watering can still haunts me. Still, the theatre was heated, the cast was kind, and I had… certain financial limitations at the time. We don’t all get to start with starlight and monologues, you know."

"But over time, my prospects improved, if only slightly. I played one of the moon spirits in The Queen of Thistles at the Sandpoint Theater when I was sojourning in Varisia. No lines, but I did a fair bit of glowing. It's a tale about a hedge-witch who falls in love with a ghost and then, rather sensibly, turns into a tree. There’s a song in it called Moss Grows on the Heart. Sweet and sad, like a memory you’ve forgotten you loved. I still find myself humming it on occasion."

"More recently, I starred in The Foxwife’s Dowry. I played Lady Hallow, a noblewoman cursed to speak only in riddles, which delighted the critics and confused the matinee crowds. I adored her; she was sharp as frost and twice as pretty. They gave me roses on closing night, real ones, not paper, and someone in the balcony wept so loudly I nearly broke character. A plum part, truly. I still have her veil tucked away somewhere, scented faintly of stage dust and lavender."

Action: Influence using Theater Lore

Influence (Theater Lore) vs DC ??: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (19) + 20 = 39

After their final battle against Swirly the Spiral Summoner and his minions, Jayma was happy to return to her beloved Absalom where she once again took possession of her cozy little apartment in the Arbor Ward neighborhood of the Ivy District. The illusion and protective rituals she had placed on the apartment had held firm during her long absence and it was just a small matter of a little tidying-up magic to return it to its former glory.

Her life quickly fell back into its old routines. She rekindled her friendship with Alain Always, master thespian and head of the Street Performers and Actors’ Guild, and rejoined his troupe at the Ivy Playhouse. She had since played supporting roles in some of Alain's productions to generally good reviews. She hoped to someday get the lead role in a production, but unfortunately, Emma Sadik was still the star of the theater and usually got the plum parts.

Jayma also restarted her side business using her extensive genealogical (and gossip) skills to secretly research family trees for some of the most important personages of the city. She was known for her accuracy and strict discretion, and was thus not wanting for work. She also wrote weekly articles under a nom de plume for the Sennight Star covering the theater scene in detail and always managing to slip in some juicy bit of gossip to pique her readers' attentions. After all, keeping up with the latest fashions and frequenting the best establishments in Absalom was not an inexpensive pastime, and the loot she'd collected from her recently completed adventures had only gone so far.

So it was with a little trepidation that she received word that her old colleagues wanted to have a get together while they were in town. Some ancestral fey sense told her that no good would come of such a meeting and that it would only be a matter of time before her comfortable life as a social butterfly in the big city was put on hold again by another adventure. She messaged the Mithril Chef and reserved one of their private rooms. She specifically asked for the larger one knowing that Marine would need the extra room.

She almost stood the others up in the hopes that they would leave her alone to her comfortable life, but in the end decided otherwise. Jayma was quite curious as to what the others had been up to in the months since they parted ways. Plus, she'd heard that the head chef, Claudette Butterfoot, had recently revamped the menu with some incredible new dishes that were the talk of the town.

Arriving fashionably late, she sees Marine in the distance looking through the windows of the restaurant. Before Jayma can call out to her, the centaur strides into the Mithril Chef. "I see nothing much has changed with Marine. Still as impetuous as always."

Upon entering the restaurant, the Galtan maître d' recognizes her immediately and rushes up to greet her unctuously. "Jaymaaa! Un plaisir as always for you to honneur our humble établissement with your exaltéd présence." Jayma pats him on the arm and puts on her best socialite persona. "Oh, Auguste, you are too kind. It has been far too long since I was last here. I hope Claudette was not too upset by my absence." Auguste waves away her faux concern as he leads Jayma to the private room she'd reserved. "Now that you have retourné, Madame Claudette's happiness knows no bounds. She told me in person that she cannot wait to hear what you think of the new menu." It was Jayma's turn to wave away Auguste's remark. "I am certain that it will be another tour de force. I look forward to an excellent meal."

Arriving at the door to the private dining room, August lowers his voice. "Your collègues are already here. Your friend Marine made quite the entrance." He then opens the door for Jayma, and she steps through.

With a smile and slight bow of her head, she greets her fellow guests. "Welcome, my good friends. I hope I did not keep you waiting overmuch. Now that I have arrived, the party may begin." She makes her way to her seat. Once seated, leans forward eagerly. "Now tell me everything. What excitement have you all been up to since we last parted?"

For what it's worth, I think Farol would make a great replacement player. He's always been great to play with and is also an excellent GM.

GM Kwinten relayed my thoughts accurately, and, yes, for the record, I (the player) am male.

For several levels now, the feeling of burnout for this adventure has been creeping up on me and I've been slogging on hoping that it might take a turn for the better (or at least not get worse), but that hasn't happened. I appreciated the changes made by the GM a level or two back to try and improve the situation, but in the end it didn't make enough of a difference; the dungeon-crawl nature of the AP and the increasing lack of enthusiasm and interest from the players with every passing month (me included), have finally and definitively tipped the scales from enjoyment to chore.

At this point, I don't think there's anything that would make me want to continue with this adventure. My druthers is to just call it a day and relieve us all of the burden of continuing. The fun I get from Pathfinder isn't in the mechanics of the encounters but in the role-playing and character development, so the thought of finishing up this adventure with a string of battles is not appealing in the least. Changing up GMs doesn't seem like a viable solution either as my issues have nothing to do with the GM, who has done a great job and continues to do so against all odds.

If the rest of the players wish to see this through in some manner, then I am happy for Kka to be killed off, replaced, or botted by someone else.

In a few short hours, I will be getting on a flight to Spain and quite likely won't be able to post anything until later tomorrow CET (UTC/GMT+1). I will remain in Europe until mid-April, so you may find that during that time, the times of the day that I post will change accordingly.

Kka holds her breath as she carefully lifts the glowing jewel from the fixated gug's hand. She's surprised by how easy it was; the gug was apparently super mesmerized by Borbo and beyond caring. Once she has it in her possession, she throws Borbo a silent salute and mouths, "Good luck" before leaving the area.

Once back with the others, she shows them the jewel and examines it to figure out what it might be.

Religion vs DC 26: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (18) + 13 = 31

"Holy smokes! This is a Crimson Fulcrum Lens." She hands it over to Lough. "I think it haas something to do with Nhimbaaloth. What do you make of it big maan?"

Added it to the loot sheet. Apparently when you have the lens invested, you seethe with malevolent fury you can barely contain." The +2 saves vs fear effects and the +2 damage to Strike damage are nice though. Looks like it might be up Lough's alley.

She examines its shape. "I think it might fit in the indentation we saw in thaat secret door earlier. Whaat do you guys think? Should we go baack and give it a try?"

Kka holds the unblinking gazes of the Caligni for what seems like a lifetime, then lowers the arm holding up the Gloom Blade. Clearly her threats had hit home so hard that their brains had frozen solid in fear. She considers taking advantage of their petrified state to finish them off before they came back to their senses.

She glances towards Lough to see if he's thinking along the same lines and notices that the big man's eye is twitching strangely. Not for the first time, she wonders if maybe he wasn't more of a danger to her than any of the creatures they were likely to bump into down here. Well, except maybe for Belcorra herself, assuming they ever ran into her.

I don’t have a problem with Lough changing classes; whatever makes him happy is fine by me.

I quite enjoyed this last level. I got to RP more than usual and it was nice to figure out ways of getting through encounters without having to get into a slugfest. I really like it when I can lean into Kka’s Intimidation abilities.

My personal situation has also changed quite a bit over the past year. I met a wonderful woman and after dating for a while, we moved in together. The only downside is that I have far less free time nowadays, which means that I can no longer play the 4-6 games I used to previously. If I can’t give a game the time it deserves to properly RP my character, I’d rather not play. Right now I am playing in two APs: Abomination Vaults and Stolen Fate. It is all I’ve got time for.

Bottom line is that if everyone else is still gung-ho to continue with this AP, then count me in as well. Because of the dungeon crawl nature of the AP, I don’t expect a lot of variation between chapters (same story; different monsters), but if things go more like the level we just finished, that should make up for some of it a little.

Kka’s leveling up and chronicle stuff will have to wait until Monday when I’m back home and have the time to deal with it. It shouldn’t take long as I’ve pretty much built Kka out to 10th level on Pathbuilder so it’s just a matter of double-checking my feat choices. There is also some deciding on what stuff to buy, which means going through a loot processing cycle. If everyone can wait until Monday, I’ll take care of that then as well.

As everyone works together to arrange the items on the altar and redirect the portal to a watery source, Kka keeps up a constant chatter of prevarication to try and keep the Erinys from suspecting what they're doing.

"Looks like they almost haad it right, but this shell thingy isn't quite in the right place. If we move it over here and take this blaack button and twist it 42 degrees clockwise, we'll hit Avernus pretty much baang on. Thaat might work out fine, but if instead we slide this chess piece three squares to the left and put it on its side, it'll better stabilize the planar coordinates and shift the portaal to Phlegethon, removing any chaance of accidently hitting the Maelstrom, the sewers of Dis, or watery Stygia..."

She occasionally glances over to the flying devils to see if they are buying what she's trying to sell them.

"... Still, there's a danger that Beliaal won't like us popping open a portal in his baackyard, but I've always found that asking for absolution is easier than pleading for permission, if you know what I mean, <Ark!, ark!>"

Activity: Lie with Ventriloquist's Ring vs Erinys

Deception (Lie): 1d20 + 14 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 14 + 1 = 29

Kka raises her hands up and takes a slight step away from Kvit."Whoa there, Kvit. Whaat's with all the agro? Lough here may be an idiot, but if so, he's our idiot." She whispers an aside to Lough. "No offense intended."

Returning her attention to Kvit. "Also, I caan't help but agree with the big maan. This place is clearly in full prep mode for Belcorraa's return, and if thaat haappens, we, and the rest of Otaari, are toast." She waves her hands at the bones around them. "This, this, is just business as usual down here. I'm surprised you haavn't gotten used to it by now."

She shrugs and smiles. "And, the odd bit of tearing apart never killed anyone. yet. <Ark!, ark!>" The adrenaline of the last two fights is still coursing through her veins, and it feels good.

As the gug finally expires under her sword strokes, Kka slumps to the ground in a mixture of exhaustion and exhilaration. The spikes push into her, but she's too tired to care. On the floor nearby, she spots what appears to be one of her kidneys. "Oops! I think I'm going to need thaat." She picks it up and pushes it through the gaping wound in her side. "Thaat's more or less the right spot for it."

After catching her breath, she begins the now habitual process of patching everyone up. She then gives the gug's body and the room a quick search and is disappointed by the result. "Thaat's just great. Thaat thing nearly kills us all and we've got nothing to show for it." She frowns. "Whaat was it doing here anyway?" She resigns herself to the fact that she'll probably never know. "Doesn't maatter. This plaace is full of weird things."

Once everyone is ready to move on, Kka moves back out into the large hallway and checks the other doors.

Activity: Search with (Perception +16) - SECRET

"Let's do it!" Kka takes the fireball bead from Kvit and waits for Kvit to cast his spell. No sooner has he done so, that she flicks the bead through the latch hole and flattens herself against the wall, regripping her sword and waiting for the explosions to subside.

I'm picturing Kka pulling the pin on a grenade and stuffing it through the slot of an old WW2 bunker, followed by a muffled explosion and a lot of dying nazis.

The Witchfire's bolts come in too fast for Kka to dodge and they slam full into her. "Owwww! Maan! Those are no fun at all." She mentally beats at the psychic flames to try and put them out before they burn any further into her soul...

Will Save vs DC 26 with bonus: 1d20 + 14 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 14 + 1 = 34
Will Save vs DC 26 with bonus: 1d20 + 14 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 14 + 1 = 32

...with some success. Looks like she's getting the hang of how to handle the Witchfire's flames.

Nevertheless, the Witchfire's attacks are taking a toll on her and she's not sure how much more she can take before going down.

One downside of a Dual-Weapon build that I hadn't anticipated, is that it doesn't leave a free hand with which to do Battle Medicine. Kka would happily drop her non-Ghost-Touch shortsword to free a hand for BM, except that it has the +1 Striking runes on it that are getting Doubled onto her Ghost Touch shortsword. Dropping that weapon will not only lose her the +1 Striking, but also the Ghost Touch effect due of the loss of the +1 potency rune. Dropping her Ghost-Touch shortsword means that the resistance 10 of the Witchfire comes into play reducing her damage potential to almost nil. The only way she can use BM and remain combat effective is to make sure she has an extra action to pick up her dropped sword after the BM, essentially turning it into a 2-action activity.

Seeing as Lough was not closing with the Witchfire, he wasn't going to need Kka to distract the ghost this time around. He was also conveniently next to her, so dropping her weapon momentarily, she quickly patches first Lough's and then her own wounds before pickup up her weapon once more and using the big man as a human shield against the coming onslaught.

Action (◇): Release: +1 Striking Wounding Shortsword.

Action 1 (◆): Battle Medicine (Medic Dedication & Assurance:Medicine) on Lough vs DC 20 (Expert)

Assurance: Medicine (Battle Medicine) expert vs DC 20: 10 + 13 = 23
Battle Medicine Healing vs DC 15: 2d8 + 10 + 5 ⇒ (3, 1) + 10 + 5 = 19 hit points healed

Action 2 (◆): Battle Medicine (Medic Dedication & Assurance:Medicine) on Kka vs DC 20 (Expert)

Assurance: Medicine (Battle Medicine) expert vs DC 20: 10 + 13 = 23
Battle Medicine Healing vs DC 15: 2d8 + 10 + 5 ⇒ (4, 5) + 10 + 5 = 24 hit points healed

Action 3 (◆): Interact - Pick up +1 Striking Wounding Shortsword.

Kka gives Lough a little beady red side-eye when he talks about taking the gem back to his workshop to "destroy" it. "Riiiiiiight. Suuuuure you are. Whaatever! It's your funeral big maan."

Kka pockets the silver and chakrams for later resale. "Better thaan nothing I suppose." She hopes that Urevian had Carman's bounty nearby, or the haul from this level was going to be pretty sad if things continued as they were.

Average expected result of 21d6 is 73.5. The odds of rolling 56 or less is about 1.5%. Pretty impressive :). Loot sheet updated.

When Kvit suggests they try the secret door first, Kka shakes her head. "Nah. Better to clear things out as we come to them or we risk our retreat being cut off." She sidles up quietly to the first visible door and checks it for traps and locks.

Activity: Search with (Perception +16) - SECRET

Kka looks over Barcumbuk. This guy wouldn't be the pushover that the zebub was, but Kka was up for the challenge. "I take it Azvaalvigaander waas the name of the zebub we just chased off? She didn't give us a name before checking out. Anyhooo, we're looking for another one of these..." She points to the partial amulet. "...and we were told you haad one. The sooner you haand it over, the faster we'll get out of your hair, but we haaven't got all day, so chop-chop."

Action: Coerce with Demon Mask vs Barcumbuk

Intimidation (Coerce): 1d20 + 14 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 14 + 1 = 16 vs Barcumbuk Will DC

That could have gone better. Let's see if we can improve things with a Hero Point reroll.

Intimidation (Coerce): 1d20 + 14 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 14 + 1 = 17 vs Barcumbuk Will DC

An improvement, but not much of one.

Seeing that Barcumbuk was not taking her request well, she decides to double down. "Oh, one more thing. Urevian called off the invasion of Otaari. You need to stop making more weapons and destroy all the one's you've already made."

Activity: Lie with Ventriloquist's Ring vs Barcumbuk

Deception (Lie): 1d20 + 14 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 14 + 1 = 32 vs Barcumbuk Perception DC

She grips her swords tightly expecting trouble to break out at any moment. Maybe they should have come into the room and closed the door behind them before confronting this new and improved devil. "Oh well. Too late to worry about that now."

Kka joins the amulet pieces and with a faint "<click>" they snap together. "Uh, thanks, I guess." She's faintly disappointed that the situation didn't turn ugly.

When Lough inquires about how many pieces were still missing, Kka replies. "We're still short three of them, but with just two more I caan probably get us through thaat door." When Lough turns back to the zebub and demands to know where the remaining pieces can be found, Kka secretly hopes that things turn violent, and as it seemed they'd gotten all the information they were likely to get from the zebub, she decides to try and force the issue.

"Yeah, zebub, you better tell us where we caan find the rest. We're busy people; we haaven't got all day to go traacking them down." She then points to the double doors at the end of the room. "Aand whaat's behind those doors over there?"

Action: Coerce with Demon Mask vs Zebub

Intimidation (Coerce): 1d20 + 14 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 14 + 1 = 30 vs Zebub Will DC

That's just great (/s)! I was hoping to roll a nat-1 in hopes of provoking a reaction. There's no way Kka is leaving this level without destroying those weapons.

I'll ditto the going on with just the four of us for the rest of this level. It'll be just like the good (bad?) old days. Who knows, Kka might get to visit with Libitina again soon; something to look forward to.

When the zebub indicates that she has an amulet piece on her person, Kka looks sideways at Lough to see how he wants to play it. After all, they were dealing with an evil devil and four murderous morlocks; these weren't just innocent bystanders. Plus, Kka wasn't exactly the sweet talking type and manners weren't really her thing. She holds back for the time being, hoping to get more info out of the little flying fiend, specifically about this Urevian guy she mentioned.

"Soooo, whaat does Urevian waant with all these arrows? I don't see a lot of demaand for thaat many arrows down here."

Kka is a little stunned by Lough's diatribe against Fuìn. Not because she disagreed with anything he said, but mainly because Lough managed to string together more than two short sentences at a time. "Huh! Maybe he's starting to rejoin us here in the real world."

She turns to Fuìn. "I'm gonna haave to agree with Lough on this one. Probaably best if you sit this one out until we kill off the denizen. With luck you'll become less toxic after thaat and caan go show your face in public again. Take care." She quickly trots after Lough.

Back in Otari, Kka once again slips into her usual role at the Crook's Nook: Waitress in the bar by day, training with Yaz at the Osprey Club at night. Though her guard was rarely down while in town, it was nice not to be looking over her shoulder all the time to make sure no weird aberrations were sneaking up on her.

When she hears that Carman is back on the streets after a cursory stay in jail, she's not surprised. There were two types of law in Otari; one for the well-connected old families of the town; and another for people like Kka and the other misfits with no one to look out for them. If she'd been the one caught burning down the library, stealing a priceless artifact, and then attempting to murder several Otari residents, the only streets she'd be wandering around right now would be those of the Boneyard.

When Carman greets them and laments his fate, Kka scoffs. "I'm not so sure your political caareer is as dead as you think. I'm guessing you wouldn't be the first reprobate to become mayor of this town. Give it time; pretty soon everyone will forget or ignore the faact that you're totaally unfit for office and vote you in." With a few notable exceptions, Kka's opinion of her fellow Otarians was not very high and was only getting worse with time.

Sorry I've been a bit quiet recently, but leveling-up/remastering Kka and the loot accounting, took all the Pathfinder time I had and then some; my partner was beginning to notice and comment on my hyperfocus, so I took my foot off the game post accelerator.

I quite enjoy reading the other posts that delve into the inner life of the different PCs. I also have a general arc in mind for Kka, but I have to admit to coasting a little on character development during this level.

We're 2.5 years into this AP and my level of interest and enthusiasm for the project has waxed and waned over time. This is natural and I've noticed the same thing from the other players and the GM. At the end of every level, I always ask myself whether it's worth going on... is the enjoyment I'm getting out of it matching the time and effort I put into it (usually an hour or so per post). So far the answer has been yes, but I'm not as certain about it as I was before.

I try to play off the other player posts when possible; when I have the time; and when I'm in the mood. Despite the time it takes, I enjoy putting my RP posts together and some give-and-take with the other PCs can increase that enjoyment. Hopefully the freshness of starting a new level will help reenergize me, but repetitiveness and a lack of novelty is the nature of a dungeon crawl and there's no real way around that.

When it comes to patching everyone up after combat, I usually make a comment to acknowledge the hand-waving away of healing we agreed to early on. Kka is so loaded up with healing feats and skills that I sometimes think she's a doctor cosplaying as a thief rather than the other way around. As such, I tend to skim over and not register any mention of healing outside of combat because in my mind it's already been taken care of.

If I have knowledge that can help someone with their questions about PC development, I'll provide whatever input I can. Fact is that I do not really like playing prepared casters, clerics or alchemists, and my knowledge of these classes is minimal to nonexistent. If I can't help, then either I will say so (as I did with Kvit) or I'll say nothing.

@Kka Can sell off the alchemist's tools, Formula Book, Formulas? (Purchased 2x rank 1, and 1x rank 2, 5x rank 3 over the course of the adventure). Purchasing a scroll of "Bind Undead" and learning it will be 46gp.

Done.

GRAND TOTAL is now $918.02.

I was updating my templates when I remembered that I have a Striking Rune on my wishlist for Kka's +1 Handwraps (for when she has to punch something if the bad guys are resistant to piercing and slashing damage, or weak to bludgeoning). I see that we have a +1 Striking Rapier on the loot list, so since the Striking Rune in question is half-price, it seems a pity to let it go to waste. Now that her dex-to-damage applies to unarmed finesse attacks, Kka should be able to do some serious damage with her fist and beak.

I've replaced the +1 Striking Rapier in the Selling list with a plain +1 Rapier, and added the transfer cost of the Striking Rune to the Purchase list. The net cost to us is 65/2 + 6.5 = 39gp. I hope that's okay with everyone.

I am remastering Kka.

I think I did math and rules right?

=)

Not quite :) Lough already had +1 Splint Mail and we found some +1 Resilient Scale Mail.

Transferring the Resilient rune to Lough's Splint Mail results in Lough having +1 Resilient Splint Mail. What will be left is some +1 Scale Mail, which we can sell for 160/2 = 80gp. When dealing with magical armor, the base cost of the armor is irrelevant. Even if that were not the case, Scale Mail is only 4gp, not 13gp (which is what Splint costs).

Including the purchase of a Reinforcing rune, the Resilient rune transfer cost, and the sale of the +1 Scale Mail; the purchase of a Wounding Rune, 2 Allow Orbs and a Snapleaf Talisman for Kka; and the purchase of Slippers of Spider Climbing for Fuìn, that leaves us with:

Stuff We're Keeping
Resilient Rune [Lough]

A: Cash or equivalent
...
A TOTAL: 684.05

B: Equipment that we're cashing in at 50%
...
B TOTAL = 1452.97 (2905.94 @ 50%)

C: Purchases
300.0 Reinforcing Rune (Lesser) [Lough]
34.0 Resilient Rune Transfer Cost [Lough]
325.0 Slippers of Spider Climbing [Fuìn]
340.0 Wounding Rune [Kka]
20.0 Alloy Orb (Low-Grade) [Kaa] (2)
9.0 Snapleaf Talisman [Kka]
C TOTAL = 1028.0

GRAND TOTAL = 1109.02 (A:684.05 + B:1452.97 - C:1028.0)

If Cherry wants a +1 Wooden Breasplate, that will be 160gp. I haven't heard anything from Kvit yet.

Whatever money we don't spend will carry over to the next level, just like last time.

As usual, here is the accounting for the stuff we found on level 6. Also as usual, we will be "selling" everything by default. If there is something on the loot list someone wants to keep, then we can move it to the "Stuff We're Keeping" list.

Time to check over our wishlists to make sure they're up to date so we can fill the C section.

Stuff We're Keeping
TBD

A: Cash or equivalent
534.05 Starting Gold
20.0 Platinum Medal
40.0 Emerald Ring
70.0 Ruby-Encrusted Dagger
20.0 Mithral Bracelet

A TOTAL: 684.05

B: Equipment that we're cashing in at 50%
5.0 Chain Shirt
2.0 Steel Shield
0.6 Dagger [3]
1.0 Longsword
0.7 Pick
0.3 Caltrops
20.0 Professional Fishing Tackle
20.0 Spyglass
0.14 Pitons [14]
12.0 Chain [3]
160.0 Magic Wand (L2): See Invisibility
500.0 Scale Mail +1 Resilient
25.0 Research Notes
230.0 Clandestine Cloak
50.0 Healing Potion (Moderate)
70.0 Glaive +1 [2]
340.0 Cold Iron Shield (Standard-Grade)
30.0 Acid Flask (Moderate) [3]
240.0 Bloodletting Kukri
220.0 Ghoul Hide
150.0 Serpent Dagger
225.0 Cloud Pouch
100.0 Rapier +1 Striking
160.0 Magic Wand (L2): Peaceful Rest
160.0 Magic Wand (L2): Force Barrage
55.0 Alchemist's Lab (Expanded)
1.0 Glaive
35.0 Composite Longbow +1
0.2 Arrows [2]
25.0 Repair Kit (Superb)
50.0 Healer's Toolkit (Expanded)
70.0 Antiplague (Moderate) [2]
60.0 Crafter's Eyepiece
30.0 Emerald Grasshopper
50.0 Charlatan's Gloves
50.0 Iron Cube
48.0 Ichthyosis Mutagen [2]

B TOTAL = 1622.97 (3245.94 @ 50%)

C: Purchases

C TOTAL = 0.0
TBD

GRAND TOTAL = 2307.02 (A:684.05 + B:1622.97 - C:0.0)

Kka scoffs at the thought of letting this clearly dangerous and untrustworthy individual pass them by. In his place, Kka would happily trip that lever as she slipped out the door, leaving them to deal with whatever was in those cells.

She stands in his way. "I don't think so bub. Laast thing I need is for you to go letting those uglies baack there loose for us to deal with. Why don't we all just all sit down and enjoy ourselves in here for a while... together. Maybe we could get to know each other a little better." Her tone of voice suggests strongly that the gray-skinned man is not being given a choice here. She then frowns as she remembers something. "Heeeey! you aren't by any chaance that Murschen guy that the spider lady in the taavern talked about? If so, I should tell you that she really doesn't think much of you."

As best as I can tell, according to RAW, the fleshy sap tentacle is not separately targetable from the main body of the creature, and I suspect there is no mention of the tentacle taking damage and releasing its prey short of an Escape or the creature being moved. This means that Fuìn and Lough would not be able to reach the creature (tentacle or otherwise) from their current position. Seems a little strange to me that there's a tentacle wrapped around Fuìn but no one can do anything to it, so perhaps the GM will allow it, and treat the tentacle as a 3-square extension from the main body of the creature up to and including Fuìn's square. That would thus mean that If Kka moves adjacent to Fuìn that her Gang Up feat would make the creature off-guard to everyone's attacks.

The following turn assumes this is the case. If it isn't, then I will redo the turn with the GM's decision on the situation in mind.

Kka watches the behemoth slap Fuìn silly and then wrap its fleshy extrusion around his body. "Thaat's just wonderful! Our best bet to finish off this monster is out of commission." She slides forward and takes a punch at the grabbing tentacle to try and encourage it to release its captive before saying "protect me," and bringing up a magical pink shield to try and blunt the impact of any counterattack.

Action 1 (◆): Stride (35 feet)

Action 2 (◆): Strike (+1 Fist) with Thief Racket and Sneak Attack with Gang Up vs Off-Guard Behemoth Tentacle.

Fist Attack: 1d20 + 14 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 14 + 1 = 32 vs Off-Guard
Fist Damage: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5 bludgeoning damage with DEX to damage
Sneak Attack Damage: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 3) = 4 precision bludgeoning damage

Concentrating on the aeon stone in her wayfinder, she says the words, "protect me," and the space around her shimmers a light pink.

Action 3 (◆): Activate an Item: Wayfinder & Aeon Stone: Dusty Rose Prism - Cast: Shield - AC 25/26 (Nimble Dodge); Hardness 10

Kka, there's one more unknown area, to the far southeast of the map. It was covered by clutter of NPC images. I moved a few around so it's more visible now. Sorry about that.

No prob. Turns out Kka forgot about that area as well :) She remembers now though.

Kka frowns as she remembers something. "Hold on. There's also a bunch of doors we haaven't looked behind to the east of the arena. Still think we should take care of the area north of the arena first though, then head west."

Kka freezes momentarily when she spots the gruesome figure sitting behind a desk. When the figure spots her at the door and yells at her, Kka isn't sure what to do. "Oops. I guess that was one door too many. Not sure how I'm going to play this." Diplomacy was not her best suit; instead, Kka decides on Intimidation and transforms herself into a Kkaren.

With a sneer on her face, Kka stands up straight and rails against the woman. "Are you the maanager of this terrible excuse for a taavern? If so, I'd like to lodge a complaint against one of your staaff. The baartender refused to serve me despite several sternly worded requests. I find this behaviour reprehensible and demaand that you either instruct him to serve me a drink or fire him on the spot. I will not accept anything less."

Having said her piece, Kka doesn't wait for a reaction. Instead, she turns on her hoof and heads back to the bar where she seats herself at a table to await the delivery of her drink. She picks a table close to the exit in case the blue-skinned woman's reaction requires a quick getaway.

Action: Coerce with Demon Mask vs Blue Woman

Intimidation (Coerce): 1d20 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 13 + 1 = 23 vs Blue Woman Will DC

Slick looks down with some surprise as Reginald starts talking. "Huh! A talking rat. Will wonders never cease." He'd never been much of an animal lover and leaves most of the ratty interactions to Billy and Pinebrush.

When Billy mentions Harrowheart, Slick nods. "Yeah, Harrowheart is definitely some nice digs. We get our own rooms and all the food we can eat. Best of all, Baines takes care of all the cleanup after our outings. No more staying up late trying to remove all the entrails and brains from our armor." He pauses in thought for a moment. "I just wish the other..." He raises his hands to do air quotes. "...'people' there were actual people, but you can't have everything I guess."

Addressing Sigourney directly, "If, as it appears, you've been chosen by the Deck like the rest of us, then you'll find that you already know how to use the cards to travel to the Harrow Court and back. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it."

When Billy asks about Slick's wages, the half-elf looks down at his friend with gratitude. "Yeah! Thanks to you apparently. Not sure what you said to him, but Fronsac suddenly seems very eager to have me hanging out at the Griffin as much as possible." He shrugs. "Whatever the reason, I'm not complaining. I can always use the extra pocket money."

After a vicious and extended battle against the Sarlagon, in which Kka's quick-wittedness and expert use of sharp blades proved the deciding factor, she pulls the weird piece of metal from the grasp of the dead creature. "Looks like a piece of some bigger bit of jewelry. I bet if we look around down here we'll find the other bits as well." She gives it one last look and tucks it into a pocket.

Then, after fishing the corpse from the pool and checking the runes on its armor, Kka whistles. "This here's a Resilient Rune. Nice caatch" She frowns. "Too baad it's on scale mail and I caan't use it." She looks over at Fuìn and Lough. "Caan either of you guys use it until we figure out whaat to do with it?"

I'm back in the US. Loot sheet updated. Looks like Fuìn has +1 Studded Leather, and Lough has +1 Splint Mail. If Lough switches it out, then he will drop 1 AC. If Fuìn switches out, then his AC remains the same. So unless I'm missing something, it looks like it would behoove Fuìn to replace his current armor with the +1 Resilient Scale Mail.

Once the armor distribution situation is resolved, Kka searches the cave throroughly, taking special care examining the strangely our-of-place 5x5 foot alcove.

Activity: Search with (Perception +13) - SECRET

Kka shifts through the detritus left behind by the jellies and lifts what appears to be a wand to look it over...

Religion vs DC 20: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31

...and identifies it immediately. "Looks like those pesky invisible types won't be able to hide from us so good no more." She hands the wand off to Cherry. "You hold onto this, Cherry. You and Kvit caan fight over it if you like. <Ark, ark!>" The rest of the loot is packed away for resale.

Loot sheet updated.

Once everyone is satisfied that the room contains no more secrets, Kka looks out into the hallway and heads down to the doors at the end to look them over.

Activity: Search with (Perception +13) - SECRET

When they've decided on some sort of plan, Kka turns to the mayor. "Okay Mr Mayor. Looks like Lough here is going to try and traack down this Motley Maan person in the flesh while Fuìn and I here try to see if we caan get any more info from the ruby. In the meantime, Kvit and/or Cherry will stay here to keep an eye on your daughter."

When it seems that everyone is in general agreement, Kka says, ”Alrighty then. Looks like we’re a go on the whole kill Mr Motley plaan. Unfortunately it’s a bit haard to kill someone when we don’t even know where he is. Maybe if we haang out near the girl long enough he’ll come to us?”

Sorry for the recent silence, but big stuff has been happening in my life recently and I am being a little distracted. After the death of my wife some 2.5 years ago, I had pretty much resigned myself to living out my life on my own. I am naturally an introvert and a loner, so this was by no means a disagreeable outcome. But just as I was getting used to this prospect, it seems I am going to have to rethink my future again almost from scratch. About a month ago I met a wonderful woman and to say we've hit it off would be an understatement. We've been seeing a lot of each other and even spent last week together in New York (thus explaining my spotty posting during that time).

I will try to find some time today and tomorrow to catch up with stuff. Looks like Kvit picked up my dropped baton on the loot stuff, but I still have to officially upgrade Kka to 6th. On top of it all, I will be traveling again starting next week which may take me off the boards for a day here and there while I'm in the air. I'll then be spending all of November is Australia before reversing the process and returning to California at the start of December.

Thanks for bearing with me while I work through all these changes in my life. Once the dust settles and I put together a new routine, my posting should return to its previous rate.

Maaan! Wake up a little late and the scenario is almost over.

[I'm glad we managed to get the townsfolk back on the barricades]
{Our task will be made easier with their assistance}
[What do you think of these dretches the Venture Captain mentioned?]
{More demons. Not particularly dangerous ones though}
[Given your natural height advantage maybe you could climb up one of these buildings to see if you can spot them]
[Whoops, Never mind. Looks like someone else found one]
{How unfortunate. I was so looking forward to clambering up onto a roof}
[That sounds a little like verbal irony to me]
{I believe it falls into the category of sarcasm}
[Pretty much the same thing really]
{I beg to differ}
[I guess we better head over there and try to knock the cart over]
{I believe you are using the wrong pronouns again}
[WE're a team here dearest. I'm just being inclusive]
{This inclusivity of yours appears to end when the work actually begins}
[Aaaand once gain we're late to the party. Seems Mork and Emdi scared off the dretches]
{I wonder if our presence here is even needed. The others appear able to handle the situation without us}
[Whaaat? Nonsense. We are an integral part of this operation. Without us the whole endeavor would fall apart]
{Is this more of your verbal irony?}
[Hmph! I am being deadly serious. Now, let's have a look inside this crate]

Mandoo heads over to the cart and examines the contents trying to figure out why the demons were so intent on bringing all this garbage into town.

Mandoo Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (15) + 14 = 29

The main thing that I like about PbP is the opportunity it affords for role-playing and character development; even more so that in-person play where the pressure to keep things moving does not encourage this.

As such, the difficulty of encounters is not a concern of mine except in that an increase in uncertainty of the outcome and an increase in the risk of death might provide slightly more drama and thus slightly more role-playing opportunities. Figuring out the best strategy and tactics to use in encounters is an interesting mechanical exercise but not what brings me to RPGing.

As to having the GM roll for the players under certain circumstances? Again, not sure I care either way: Dice have to be rolled and who rolls them shouldn't matter. So if the GM feels like rolling certain saves to speed things up, that's fine with me. If a player wants to Hero Point a reroll, then let them do so; it shouldn't happen that often that the weirdness becomes an issue.

When Eando finishes up with his exhortations, Mandoo claps politely. "Well, that certainly was a rousing speech." He pauses and looks more closely at Venture-Captain Ciobanu...

Mandoo Action: Recall Knowledge (Diplomacy) with Diplomat's Badge vs. Ciobanu

Mandoo Diplomacy (Recall Knowledge) vs DC 20: 1d20 + 12 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 12 + 1 = 32

..."I remember where I've heard that name now. Venture-Captain Ciobanu is from the town of Folien, and was the leader of the lodge in Kyonin, known as the Leaves of Talhindir. The Society had been making great headwinds in gathering information about the history of Kyonin prior to Earthfall when suddenly he disappeared while leading a covert operation with members of an elite team from his lodge. The stories say they were ambushed, with everyone in the group being assassinated by order of Queen Telandia. It's only recently that anyone even knew Ciobanu was still alive."

Mandoo Action: Recall Knowledge (Diplomacy) with Diplomat's Badge vs. Pathfinder Society's history with Kyonin

Mandoo Diplomacy (Recall Knowledge) vs DC 18: 1d20 + 12 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 12 + 1 = 28

He then snaps his fingers as another memory surfaces. "Kyonin and the Pathfinder Society have been on uneasy terms for many years. When the elves returned after Earthfall, they found many of their artifacts had been looted from their homes, and with the Society’s reputation for taking first and asking later the residents of Kyonin have trouble trusting them." He drops his voice slightly to a whisper. "Not many know this, but the reason the lodge in Kyonin was shut down wasn’t due to speculation, but evidence gathered by the Queen’s agents that they had been transporting Kyonin treasures out of the country to the Society’s vaults in Absalom and beyond. With the elven members of the lodge seen as traitors, they were silently shut down, seemingly overnight."

{You seem quite the expert on these areas all of a sudden}
[Yes. Sometimes I surprise even myself with what I know about the world]

Mork's order looks fine to me too

1) Forest Campsite (Combat)
2) Friends or Foes (Social Skills)
3) Missing Agents (Skills or Combat)

A handsome man with graying temples joins his assigned group. He appears a little haggard after his voyage to Kyonin. His youthful countenance is overlayed by a certain world-weariness that makes it difficult to guess at his actual age. His frame is rather spare and his somewhat pale sallow skin give an impression of fragility, which is belied by his dark penetrating eyes and strong voice. He is dressed in a dark gray wool suit whose coat hangs down to the back of his knees. He wears a white high-collared shirt with a royal blue formal cravat around the neck that is tucked into the top of his waistcoat. A prominent silver tie pin in the form of a spiraling comet secures the folds of the cravat. Hanging from his leather belt is a sheathed dagger and a short bronze rod with the form of a serpent coiled around it. A white marble staff with a stylized knight of Lastwall raising a wickedly pointed sword is strapped to his back.

As he arrives, he spots a familiar face. "Why, if it isn't Isaku Beru. It seems an age since we walked the Maze of the Open Road. How have you been old friend?" After exchanging greetings with Isaku, he turns to the rest of the group. "Greetings fellow Pathfinders. My name is Mandoo. I expect my, um, special friend Libitina to be along shortly. I shall warn you when her arrival is imminent"

Mandoo and his eidolon, Libitina, are in constant telepathic contact, even when she's not at his side. I will regularly transcribe their communications with each other as below, but these should be treated as private and unheard by the other PCs.

{Did you say my name?}
[Yes. I was merely preparing them for your arrival]
{So you do not require my immediate presence then?}
[No, not yet. We're about to start the mission briefing, so no need for you to stand around here bored when you can take it easy back in the Boneyard]
{Bored? Do not talk to me of boredom until you have witnessed the birth, life and death of several universes}
[Ah. Fair enough]
{Right now I am sorting through the souls of billions of dead bacteria trying to decide which afterlife each should go to}
[A plum assignment no doubt]
{Not exactly. I apparently remain in Ceyannan's doghouse}
[I'll call on you soon]
{Please do}

Any chance for a Heal spell from Cherry? I don't think Kka can take another hit and remain standing.

When Lough's rather ham-fisted attempt to talk Carman down fails, Kka is about to try and patch things up when Carman calls her a hatchling! The nerve! Her head snaps to face the blacksmith and her beady red eyes almost burn in her head as she prepares a retort that would have left a scorched crater of the man's brain. Lough reacts faster for once, and sends a rather more physical missile at Carman.

Noticing that Lough's attack meant business, Kka pauses. "Uh, we may waant to keep him alive guys. It may not look so good if we kill off the town blaacksmith and Roseguaard descendant."

I know that spells can't be made non-lethal, but how about we just knock him unconscious with nonlethal melee attacks, even if it does cost us a -2 to hit. I think it would look better if we dragged him back to town for punishment.

On a totally unrelated note, if we do accidently send him to Dying, any chance that Cherry can Stabilize him before he dies permanently?

Kka's about to launch herself at the man when a cage drops on him out of nowhere. "Whaat the f...? Is this your doing, Kvit?" Seeing that there's space for her to stick her shortsword through the bars, she runs around behind the cage and pokes him twice, lightly with her shortword.

Unfortunately, the cage removes the opportunity to catch Carman flat-footed. Thanks, Kvit! :)

Action 1 (◆): Stride (35 feet)

Action 2 (◆): Strike (+1 Striking Shortsword) with Thief Racket and Nonlethal vs Carman.

Shortsword Attack: 1d20 + 13 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (15) + 13 + 1 - 2 = 27
Shortsword Damage: 1d6 + 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + (1) + 4 = 10 Nonlethal slashing damage

Action 3 (◆): Strike (+1 Striking Shortsword) with Thief Racket, Nonlethal and MAP1 vs Carman.

Shortsword Attack: 1d20 + 13 + 1 - 4 - 2 ⇒ (19) + 13 + 1 - 4 - 2 = 27
Shortsword Damage: 1d6 + 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + (3) + 4 = 11 Nonlethal slashing damage

Once all the hullabaloo is taken care of and the lodge returns to its normal state, albeit with a full-on party in progress, Mimi rejoins the festivities. She doesn't see Casira bint Meji in the courtyard, so guesses correctly that she's probably back in the library where she feels most comfortable. As she enters the room, she catches the librarian talking about the dashing lady and immediately assumes that the halfling is referring to her. Putting on her winningest smile she approaches Casira and makes a more formal bow. "Ah, madame. I am so pleezed to see dat you 'ave recovered from your ordeal vithout any lingereeng effects. Vonce ve are don 'ere, perhaps you vill permeet me de 'onneur of escorteeng you 'ome. De streets are full of rascals who vill take advantage of a beautiful voman such as yourself." She finishes by raising an eyebrow in a way that suggests that perhaps not all the rascals were to be found on the streets.

I was waiting for someone to answer Cherry Berry, but it's been a few days. I just get the feeling people don't really respond to Cherry Berry that often.

Sorry. Didn't mean to ignore Cherry, it's just that I'd already checked that off in my mind as having been decided.

Kka gives Cherry a hard look when they balk at taking the brooch. "Uh, Cherry? This is literally a holy symbol of Eraastil that once belonged to a healer of Eraastil. I really think you should be the one to keep an eye on it." If they continue to refuse, then Kka will slip it into one of Cherry's pockets regardless of any opposition from the Leshy.

How's everyone on spells? I don't want to send you in completely drained. You can also go in the next morning, I don't mind.

You can sell and buy stuff, no worries. Don't want that to be an issue.

Okay, great!

In the absence of further feedback, I'll assume that everyone's okay with my last proposal. The result is that as a group, we're literally down to our last silver piece, but we can add the following to our respective equipment.

Kka:
Otari's Thieves' Tools (Infiltrator)
+1 Leather Armor
Shadow Rune for Leather armor

Fuìn:
+1 Studded Leather Armor
Lifting Belt

Lough:
Sturdy Shield (Minor)
Ghost Touch Rune for Handwraps

Cherry:
+1 Explorer's Clothing
Guardian Staff

Kvit:
+1 Explorer's Clothing
Staff of Evocation

I'll make an appropriate post in Gameplay.

The fight was good. It made the usual front line less effective which allowed the back line to shine a little.

Jeez. I take my eye off the ball for just a day and come back to 13+ unread postings. Yesterday was a very strange day for me and I'm afraid that PbP took a backseat. It's all good now... sort of.

Kka seems to space out for a second and by the time her eyes refocus, Kvit has finished off Volluk. She gives out a little cheer. "Yay! About time you pulled your weight around here, Kvit." But it's clear from her jocular manner that she's kidding.

Seeing that she was the only one that managed to get through that fight without a scratch (Whaaat? That's not right, is it?:) she breaks out her healing supplies and gets to work on everyone's leechy injuries. Once done, she looks over the stuff they found in the room.

Loot sheet updated. Comprehend Language scroll assigned to Cherry; Paralyze to Kvit; and Worm's Repast to Lough. The Lantern gets tossed in with the other loot in Kka's backpack.

Kka sees the humanoid stand up and turn to face them. "Ew! Thaat does not look healthy to me." When Borbo then mentions that they are finally face-to-face with Volluk Azrinae, Kka gets excited. "Really? This is Azrinae? Thaat's great! I can finaally get rid of this thing." Putting away her shortbow, she reaches into her backpack and retrieves the portrait she's been carrying around since they found it in Chandriu's room upstairs (almost a year ago IRL).

She holds it up with her free hand (the other still holds her shortsword) so that the leech man can see? it. "Hey! Azrinae! Is this you?"

Will Save vs Empty Death (DC 27): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15 Stupified 2 @ 24 hrs

Kka lands the perfect cut and slices through the belly of the wight, taking it out. Before it goes down though, the creature lashes out one last time, causing a nasty gash on Kka's leg that tries to drain her strength...

Fortitude Save vs DC 18: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

...but she hops back out of the way before it gets the chance.

When Lough takes out the remaining wight, Kka pumps her fist and says, "Yeah!".

Action 3 (◆): Interact - Celebratory fist pump

She then does her usual efficient patch-up job on their assorted injuries.

Loot sheet updated.

Kka notices Fuìn's odd reaction to the Evangelist and raising an eyebrow, peers at him with a beady red eye to see if she can figure out what the problem is. She toys with making a smart comment, but Lough intervenes and the moment passes. She shrugs. "What a bunch we are. Looks like we're all screwed up inside somehow; just one straw away from going completely bonkers... Well, except for Cherry maybe; nothing seems to faze them."

Kka checks the room over once more in case she missed anything the first time, then examines the other door for traps and locks.

Activity: Search with (Perception +10) - SECRET