Heyo, just checking in. Still at work converting all of my write-ups into a better organized library in a google drive. Probably going overboard but oh well! I'm aiming to provide a resource for as much lore and background and setting info as I can. I'd like to kick off a game that is really centered around and focused on the players and characters. I'm not really planning an overarching story or plotline. I'd like to work with all the would-be players to get some very world-ingrained characters made up with goals and motivations and purposes and all that and really let the story and campaign as a whole grow around that. Slightly sandbox (desert sandbox, har har!) in the sense that it will be the characters' aims, decisions, desires that will create the plot and push it along.
Appreciate the patience, looking forward to getting into it.
(Thought I already posted a response but I guess only in my head!)
Sound good. I'm working on getting some things together with the setting and potential campaign info that I can compile in a doc/drive and share and we can move on from there with figuring out the rest. Thanks for sticking around!
No decisions made yet, I'm more apt to make a game that all would be gung-ho for; granted the 'all' right now is just us!
Rekkar-Sarrat is loosely inspired by the Nile region at its core, with the surrounding regions being more akin to deserts. For a very, very truncated background -
The Pharosi people, led by the Pharaohs, flee their ancient homeland of the Empires of Pharos for a now-unknown reason. They make a decades-long sojourn through the Dunes of Empty Sun and emerge into the floodplain of the great river Do'ol set Maradha. They immediately begin to conquest/colonize it, displacing, destroying, or assimilating the peoples they encounter - the Shuka (a small race of shamans and druids) are at first enslaved and then driven out, while the Nomadi (another race of humans) are treated more warmly, though most of the nomads simply move out of the way, some are assimilated. The Pharosi start building their kingdoms, introducing their controlled irrigation and sustained agriculture, eventually forming a series of kingdoms along the river and building a new civilization (Rekkar-Sarrat). There is great growth and expansion but also infighting as Pharaohs contest with one another. Gnomes arrive on trading vessels down the river from far to the north and eventually bring Rekkar-Sarrat into a more expansive network of trade and the region gradually becomes a major hub of commerce. This leads to a great influx of different goods, cultures, religions, philosophies, and people start to turn their backs on the Pharaohs that they have served for thousands of years and turn to the almighty gold piece, creating a more mercantile society, with the power of the Pharaohs waning considerable and the power of mercantile guilds and trade princes rising. Though some dynasties/Pharaohs still exist, this current period is seen as the very end of the so-called Age of Pharaohs.
There's a lot more to it then that but that's kind of a very general overview of the core region. I have a lot of lore written that I can work to brush up and link if interested. There's three major human races - Pharosi, Dwahani, Nomadi - each with their own distinct cultures and all. Gnomes, Halflings, Dwarves make up the most common of the common races (Gnomes and halfling tweaked slightly from core - Dwarves are very different; vested much more in the arcane and arranged into Houses that constantly plot against one another...more like drow society than typical Dwarven). The region is very cosmopolitan in current times, however, so you have full-blooded Orcs from the Scablands, Goblinoid and Gnoll slavers that do business in the kingdoms, Solari elven (more like core elves, from afar) traders, painted elves (a kind of spin on wild elves) from the Shimmering Sea, a sect of which has opened trade with humans, half-orc and half-elves that have migrated or stayed behind off merchant vessels to set up shop, plus a number of other ethnic human groups including the northern pirates from Xeng Qui and the mountain mercenaries of Lanpei, and traders from beyond.
I've got stuff written up for most of the regions and races.
I also have a fairly fully-fleshed out continent elsewhere that features more traditional fare. It has the Empire of Eliendor formed by the conquest/assimilation of petty kingdoms currently led by another imperialistic queen hungry for more. Eliendor is made up of smaller baronies, the most recent of which is Varuna's Chase, a region very culturally different than the rest of the empire (think Franks and Norse). South of them is Cethlennean which has so far resisted repeated Elindean incursion due to their heavily forested and boggy homeland advantage and the close alliance with the elves of Setal Solaris across the sea. East of Eliendor is Arc, a now backwoods former-kingdom made up of small principalities that rose up after the ruling family died out after a series of malign mishaps. Arc is a bit of a superstitious land and viewed as cursed by outsiders (and by many insiders). North of Arc across the mountains is Spiria, an expanse of tundra and taiga and frozen shores, notable for its most prominent city of Glysten that is ruled by a rather metropolitan white dragon. South of Arc is Jerdala which is a great steppe of Orcish horselord nomads. Basically orc mongolia. Just south of this continent is a series of island city states collectively called Sarkrosa; mercantile, maritime society.
There's more I could ramble on about but that's a brief overview of a couple places anyway!
Sounds good! Now just to figure out what to run, haha.
Any sort of theme or style you guys are wanting to engage in? Ye olde classic adventuring? Horror? War? Urban? Intrigue? Sandboxy start something and see how it develops? I've got ideas and locales that could fit any of it.
My favorite part about homebrew is really centering its development around the PCs motivations and stories, so figuring the setting and campaign type/genre, then working to get characters made that can really feel invested in the world around them and like they are breathing parts of it so I can build off of those interactions, motivations, goals, etc.
For example, for a change of pace from the arctic I do have a desert-themed and flavored region called Rekkar-Sarrat and its surrounding environs that could be a fun and adaptive backdrop. I had ideas once to run a sort of sandbox style campaign there where PCs could basically live their lives and carve out whatever paths they wanted (whether it be adventuring, running a business or serving in some profession, guild politics, anything really) but could still naturally run a more standard party-based structure there too. I have a lot of history and culture built up around here as well.
But as said I've places to fit most types of games so let me know if there's anything you have a penchant or current hunger for.
Thanks for the feedback, and the support. I think I am leaning towards a shift to a new game. I just think injecting another 2-3 PCs in at this juncture is just really hard to fit into the narrative and I feel like newcomers would feel a bit lost and not have as much investment into the whole storyline.
That said, instead of a new AP, I'm thinking about maybe doing some homebrew if you guys would be down for it. I think I'm a much better GM in homebrew campaigns and I have my own world I have been building for my entire D&D / pathfinder career of near 25 years. Multiple continents, cultures, maps, and so on. Lots of options and there's a few places I've been wanting to set a game in. Let me know what you think.
Haven't heard back from Byakko in a couple of weeks since I reached out. Hope he is faring well and it's just a tangle of real life stuff that's pulled 'im away.
Either way, not sure where that leaves us at this juncture. We've cycled through quite a few players in this venture over the past.. 11! years (thanks for being here since Day 1 Geedra!) and I fear the adventure path is kind of out of steam for introducing new ones. There's no riders left to pass a mantle and I kind of think that things are so deep in it's hard to introduce new players to the storyline and all. Not that I want to draw the curtain on things but I'm not sure trudging on with a mostly new party is quite so engaging. Open to both of your thoughts though, mates.
Certainly don't want to cease playing with you, either, if things do end up coming to a close here. Maybe a fresh start is in order. Reflecting, I can kind of realize how the characters cycling in and out and the loss of pulse on the story in this campaign (I think this path is a rough one to run in this format) could have definitely affected my own gusto and motivation, so maybe a new beginning could be a nice shot of invigoration.
Anyways, just mulling things over at present. All ears for your weigh-ins!
How goes it for everyone? Just checkin in and seeing who all is back in the sphere and all. We can get the wheels turning again whenever everyone is good!
It's one of my favorites as well. The first half of my 5E game was RHoD and when it concluded we just continued the adventures in Elsir Vale. I liked it better running it in 3rd Edition / PF1e though. I don't think 5E is rough and gritty enough to hammer home the long, exhausting slogs.
I know we are a bit stalled here waiting for Byakko and Skäne but just wanted to say no rush, we'll keep truckin when you are all back. I'm more keen to wait for everyone rather than DMPC 90% of the encounter, lol.
Kind of readjusting things in my life from a hobby standpoint and I've discovered that I really want to shift RPGs back to being the nucleus. I've been running into snags trying to divide my attention to too many different things and probably letting my creativity get dejected in the process. Recently been looking over old worldbuilding stuff and campaigns (I was even doing a nighttime reread of our old Red Hand of Doom campaign, Gerald!) and it's kind of snapped me back. I think falling into a forever DM role in my offline games had been beleaguering me a bit (hence taking a break from the homebrew 5e game) and that probably spilled over a bit. Anyway, hoping to inject a bit more vitality into my posting, and hopefully find some more roleplaying opportunities to layer in to our game here. I think that's the primary issue I have with some of the adventures in this AP (this adventure in particular) - just a lot of dotted lines of combat encounters and less roleplaying opportunities since 99% of what you are coming across is hostile, lol. Might also try to find a better way to handle the map thing. Should probably just utilize the Google suite to cut down on map editing and all, so I'll look into that.
Yeah, that's my initial thought. So far 2E seems like a lot to wrap my head around, but 25 years of 3rd/3.5/Pathfinder 1E experience is pulling rank there perhaps.
Feels like certain aspects of needlessly layered and complicated. The proficiency stuff in particular; having to track multiple levels of proficiency bonuses for multiple things seems like a nightmare. Like, Fighter Weapon Specialization is "you deal +2 damage with weapons with expert, +3 if master, +4 if legendary" and that's on top of the weapon master giving you different levels of proficiency of weapons within the same weapon group depending on its..rarity, I guess?
I'm guessing "oops everything is Feats" is kinda the same as class/racial features but you just get more than one choice and can pick different stuff.
The main reason we are starting up a PF game is so I can run an AP I don't have to do much prep work for so I can spend my downtime prepping the latter half of the 5E game because I have a lot to write and prep for everyone's personal character arcs/stories, but cracking into Pathfinder 2e might be a bit counterintuitive to that, lol. Seems like a lot to learn.
I've heard the encounter quality is better and more fluid and all which was my main reason for wanting to try it, but we shall see.
No worries all, whenever time is good. We'll keep truckin'
As an aside, any of you tried Pathfinder 2E? My in-person group I run is taking a break from our homebrew 5E campaign and we are thinking of starting up a Pathfinder 2 one. I've skimmed the books a bit and it looks interesting (though part of me still wants to run 1E to utilize my entire bookshelf of P1 and D&D 3e books, haha).
Yeah, it was Byakko. In my head I was just going with the narrative that he had been repeatedly attacked to no avail to this point and now realize in hindsight that it was confusing since Skäne is the shield-man, lol.
The bolt hits home, puncturing the fey just beneath the ribs. She lets out a sudden scream, unprepared for such an intrusion, and quickly clutches at the wound. Despite not being comprised of cold iron, the puncture seems to have wounded her.
Silas attempts to quickly hide away again from his sniping position.
Stealth:1d20 + 25 ⇒ (12) + 25 = 37
Heeding Krosh's words, Byakko draws the wakizashi acquired from the Centaur blacksmith Voran Veig. The odious firelight in the room catches the metal and the deep-hammered pattern of the cold iron shimmers within. The wretched nymph hisses as she sees it too, and Byakko seizes the opportunity.
The wakizashi finds home on the first slash, opening a sickly wound on the nymph's upper arm. The blood flows free as the cold iron edge bites deep, forcing another pained hiss from her bloody lips. Enii roars and attacks with her oracle companion.
The claws connect, and while her resilient flesh seems to absorb most of the blows, some scratches do appear.
Krosh holds his action, preparing to intervene and assist as needed.
The nymph screams in rage, frustration, pain, and anger. If she had any concept of a strategy, it seems to be cast to the wind as she explodes her anger onto Byakko, near leaping on to him as she lashes out once more with her claws. Again the first swipe meets his stalwart shield, but she is able to pull it down and finally her second strike slips through the defenses and her dark, bloody, talon-like fingers stab into him. The claws themselves don't seem to have much effect in the way of pain, but the wound they leave instantly blackens the flesh around it and it bleeds profusely.. 3 points of damage by the attack, but Byakko is now bleeding for 5 damage per turn. Also, make a Fort save once more or suffer 1d6 ⇒ 4 charisma damage.
No map changes again, so this one is still good. Back to You all!
Geedra wriggles her way out of the curse's nagging hold once more, both pushing her crackling sphere of lightning and conjuring a sudden detonation of sonic force around the fey's head. She nimbly evades the lightning but then staggers for a moment, wincing and slapping the side of her head, but seems to shake loose of the worst of the second spell. Saved vs both but still takes the half damage from the scream. Unfortunately this wily fey has some nasty saving throws :(
Skäne bullies through the nymph's aura with pure rage and resolve, bringing his shield up for a series of strikes. He smashes into her lithe form once, twice, each blow delivering a resounding crack...as well as the spectral roar coming from the bear head emblem on the shield! She hisses and screams at the sound of the roar and the cold iron battering against her body.
"No, no, no! I hate that!" she screams.
I think we glossed over this quickly in the fight with the torturers in a previous room, but don't forget the newfound ability of your shield - it deals an additional 1d6 sonic damage against fey creatures ! :) you can roll it. A solid 30 damage thus far from those blows.
I'll let Byakko go and then finish off the round..Skane technically goes after the enemy but that's ok. I'll just switch them to make the order a little easier. Also thinking Silas might have underestimated his busyness when he came aboard, so I'll take him up for the battle and then see where he is with things.
Back from a short vacation and feeling refreshed after a trying week, so should be able to focus down on things here finally.
Round 2
Skäne delivers a pair of skewering strikes on the malevolent fey, with one pushing into her corrupted flesh, splitting it against the tip of the spear. She doesn't seem too bothered by it, though, leaning in close to the stern warrior and hissing before playfully pushing him away as the wound remains blood free. "Come now, you can do better than that."
Round 3
The frenzy of the melee continues with Skäne's mighty stabs interlacing with Byakko and Enii's swipes, but this adversary is possessed of impressive mettle and she dodges the thrusts in a wickedly beautiful dance. As the vikingr roars his threat, she leans back from him, hunching down and hissing once more, but it is difficult to say if it is our of fear, rage, or some combination... You did hit that DC right on the nose, so shaken for 1 round :)
Hey Skäne you still get your action for the end of round 2 :) I'll fill in for Silas.
Round 2
Silas darts around from behind the menhir and fires off a shot at the nymph, but her agility is truly otherworldly and she nimble shifts out of the way of another strike. Silas yelps a bit and ducks back around the menhir, disappearing from sight once more.
Round 3
Geedra surveys the melee and readies herself to weave another spell or hex into the fray, opportunist as she is.
Silas pops out again and tries another shot, this one succeeding in biting into the fey's inner elbow, a well-struck sneack attack. She winces and grimaces slightly, calling out to her assailant. "No no little mouse, I'll have you as a snack..." The bolt was a direct shot to the joint, but other than a slow drip of sickly black-purple blood, the strike does not seem to bother her overmuch.. Silas doesn't much like the sound of that, and ducks around again. Sniper stealth successful again. The sneak attck also did successfully lower the nymph's AC for the next round via Debilitating injury
Byakko and Enii once more work in tandem to flank the debased fey, and while the unfortunately blinded tigress fails to find any fey flesh, Byakko's bladework proves more fruitful. The blade cuts twice across her green-grey flesh! ...but no blood or wound to show. As the oracle's fangs snap down out of reach of the woman, she laughs.
"Lovely try! And oh, I didn't know you liked to bite!" she licks her own sharpened teeth.
Krosh's voice comes forth. "Nay. Moonsweft - cold iron. The blade given by the centaur.. use it!" As he intones this wisdom, he fiddles with a hanging trinket and touches Enii. The darkness fades from her eyes and her sight is regained.
The nymph raises an eye to the orcish shaman. "Spilling secrets are we?"
She turns to Byakko and gives him a tsk tsk. "Not so fast, love," she coos, coming at him again with another rapid strike of claws...that both batter against armor and shield. She howls. "You are NO fun!"a pair of bad rolls for her to be sure.
Back to Skäne for rounds 2 and 3. and then on to 4. No movements so map is the same as last post.
Damn, hope you made out alright with that tornado and didn't sustain any damage!
Sorry guys, it's been a week. Wife's grandfather passed and she got some other unrelated bad news as well. Should be able to get a post up tomorrow after work though as things are calming down.
As the rippling aura manifests around the horrid fey, Byakko and Skäne are steadfast in their resistance. The wretched power that seeks to take hold of their senses is rejected. Enii is not so fortunate, however, and her eyes go a full, blank white as the realm of sight is stolen away from her. Byakko continues his resistance, refusing to submit once more as the long-fingered hand maneuvers in its with its cruel caress. The woman bares bloodstained, sharpened teeth and hisses.
Skäne tenses, muscles tightening beneath of layers of metal, leather, fur, and flesh as ire wells within. With shield and spear in position he advances through the strange chamber with furious purpose. As he closes in on the fey, he feels the weight behind his eyes once more...but is again able to shake it off.
Round 2
The roiling electricity directed by Geedra weaves to strike the creature again, but even midst the gathered melee, her supernatural senses and movements aid her well as she twists and shifts to safety. Geedra then bests the Witch Tree's curse once more and invokes magic to tug once more on the strands of fate, filling her allies with a whetted resolve as the spell thrums through them.
As Byakko goes on the offensive, he can feel the strange sensation from the fey's form try to overcome him again...but he resists once more. He and Enii strike in tandem, coming at their target with a flurry of blades, fangs, and claws. Fortunately Enii's ability to track such a close target through scent at least lets her have guidance in the direction of her strikes. The corrupted fey, however, is no easy prey. She weaves and shifts in abstract movements, putting herself out of the path of each strike from the hunting companions.
Enii is blinded for the foreseeable future, though Krosh might be able to help with that ;) Scent allows Enii to pinpoint the 5 foot square the creature is in, but still will attack with a blindness/concealment miss chance; knows what spot to attack but still disadvantaged as she can't track the target within that spot, if that makes sense. Don't need to make perception checks for the scent within 5 feet, though, so full attacks are good unless she has to find the fey again.
Krosh cautiously enters the room, yelling out. "A nymph once, now something else. Don't look at her, or her flesh will take your eyes!"
I rolled for Byakko and Skäne on their turns and both saved again, but every round on your turn you'll need to make the save again (fort vs 21) if you are within 30 feet of the corrupted nymph. You can choose to avert your eyes while fighting her, but doing so will incur a 50% miss chance on any attacks against her.
The orc-blooded shaman advances through the room, taking his own advice and keeping his eyes trained on the floor as he moves into a position to assist.
The nymph shrieks with wild laughter. "Clever oaf!" she coos at Krosh. "But...why wouldn't you want to look?" her eyes dart to Byakko as she moves her form to better bare herself to him, biting her lip just before her face turns to a snarl and she attacks him. Her bloody claws lash out, but the oracle is just able to bring his shield up in time to turn the blows aside. A narrow miss! Furious, the nymph screams. "I want to feel your BLOOD!"
I'll let Silas get his action in but Skäne et all and go ahead and continue as well to top off round 2 and start the third.
Getting a post up today. For some reason this week I kept getting 404'd trying to post anything on the forums except on mobile? Wasn't about to try and type up a combat round on my phone (though I guess I could have typed it on the PC put it on Drive or something..hindsight) but looks like it is working again now!
Byakko and Enii move in concert to converge on the dark fey, flanking her as they lash out with sword and fang. This adversary seems to be as wily and agile as she is vile and mad, however, and with her strange, supernatural movements she shifts out of the way of both blows, laughing all the while.
Silas, lingering in the back, outright vanishes from view of the enemy, using the ample cover in the room to obfuscate his position.
Krosh focuses his gaze on the fey and a rippling silver energy flashes in his eyes before a similar aura shimmers across the creature's flesh before disappearing. He then readies his spear. Utilizes the Metal Curse hex granted by today's Wandering Hex..the fey now has a -2 penalty on AC against metallic weapons for 2 turns.
A different sort of aura then blazes around the fey as a supernatural veil ripples across her form, projecting her twisted beauty in the space around her.
Need those within 30 feet that can see the Nymph - looks like Skäne, Byakko, and Enii - to make a DC 21 Fortitude Save or be blinded.
She then turns her attention to Byakko and reaches as bloody, clawd hand out for a touch. Greenish light flows from her into the Oracle, further pushing her attempted campaign against his physicality. And Byakko give me a second Fortitude Save against DC 16
Geedra resists the curse that tugs at her tongue and conjures up a roiling cloud of nascent storm, loosing a strike of lightning from it to strike the cruel fey. With otherwordly grace, however, the creature bends and shifts out of the path of the bolts. The electricity cracks against the earth, sending a spray of stone and dirt into the air.
"Tsk tsk, litte one," she coos. "I've beheld witchcraft for many of your lifetimes. You'll have to try more than that." her sultry tease suddenly pivots to a wild cackle of unsettling laughter as she throws her head back in a mirthful display.
I'll give others another day or so to reply but I'll move us along tomorrow evening or so either way.
Byakko feels a sudden supernatural force ripple through his flesh, blood and bones, intent on seizing his every nerve. Just as this presence penetrates his form, however, the primal, moon-blessed instincts take hold and his body rejects the intrusion, just barely. Just made that save :)
We can say you bull's strength before the encounter, that's fine.
"Prey then..not play," the fey coos, though it is difficult to say if she is pleased or dismayed with the outcome. Her eyes snap to Skäne as he steps forward with his proclamation. "I've slain larger and stronger men than you, cub. So be it." she hisses and bares sharpened teeth, her bloodied claws seem to grow longer, and her hair begins to float about her body as if were an entity unto itself...
Byakko and Enni move forward to scout the room, set on edge by the gruesome display. Enni's senses are ravaged by the foul stenches here; the heaviness of the blood in the air, the disemboweled corpses, the half-rotted flowers.
The sound of shifting plants and displaced liquid softly calls out from the center of the room and a voice whispers out...darkly seductive but tinged with some sort of disjointed iciness.
"Tap tap, the tapping feet of mice in my chambers..." it coos. "Bigger rats came and bled for me a bath, what do these little mice come to gift...aside from words and whispers"
From behind one of the menhirs you spot a form half-appear, still mostly obscured by the large stone. A woman, naked, but covered heavily in dark, wet blood peers out. Her flesh beneath of the blood is a dark grey-green, her hair reaches the floor and is black as jet. Red eyes look out from angular features that are simultaneously beautiful and horrible. The tall, incredibly long ears suggest some sort of fey lineage, but the elongated fingers ending in cruel claws suggest something worse.
"Not a mouse, not a mouse," she says with a smirk. "A little kitten come to play. Will it hiss or purr?" She licks a smear of blood off of her lips. "Play or prey...choices..." her voice suddenly breaks into a short, bursting fit of cackling laughter that subsides as soon as it starts. "All of my hungers are endless, but which to sate?" She steps behind the menhir before peering out once more from the other side.
"I feel fickle today. I will let you decide, in a way..." She gives Byakko a slowly spreading smile as her eyes suddenly flash...
Go ahead and make me a Fortitude Save, Byakko. I'll also give a shot for other responses/reactions for everyone.
Your sleep is nothing luxurious, but it serves its purpose. Waking and gearing up for the next leg of your travel, Byakko moves to test the stone door that leads out of the room. After spending a few moments to search it, it doesn't appear to be trapped or locked. Pushing it open reveals a long hall of rough-cut stone stairs that lead down and curve away out of view.
Following the path sends you down further into this bizarre statue's interior, the steps gently curving to the left as you descent. After a hundred feet or so, the steps level out and open up into a chamber ahead, from which you can see some flickering light. As you gain the entrance, you see that said flickering light fills the whole 80-foot diameter chamber beyond, emanating from the empty eye sockets of nine skulls hanging from chains staked into the stone walls with iron spikes. Huge stone menhirs, seven in all, form a ring around the perimeter of the room, catching the candlelight and tearing it into swaths of wavering shadows.
The gutted corpses of two frost giants hang from two of the menhirs, facing one another from the east and west. Bound to the massive stones with rusted chains, the giants are soaked with their own blood, which flows into the center of the room to disappear into a huge pile of of wilted wildflower blossoms. A strange and horrid sight to behold...
Just as you take stock of the room and decide to rest, the tiredness and fatigue of your long journey and many battles suddenly set in. Figuring this place is no worse or better than any other in this strange dungeon, you settle in for what rest you can.
Krosh can expend his healing hex, 2d8+8, on anyone who has not received benefit from it today. There are also hits from the Cure Light Wounds wand if anyone needs them.
After about an hour, you are given a start as the bodies of the slain fey begin to glow, but before you can muster a response, they simply burn away into cascades of glittering ashes that promptly vanish, leaving behind only their daggers.
Fortunately your rest comes undisturbed...whether you've dealt with many of the enemies in the area or this room is off the beaten path is unclear, but you take solace in getting rest as good as this place will allow.
Stripped of all of their tricks and supernatural advantages, the injured fey are pressed on their heels as the party surges forward. In a flurry of spear thrusts, sword slashes, claw swipes, and fangs the cruel backstabbers are cut down and left in ruin.
In the aftermath of the battle you find amidst this room the four daggers (masterwork) of the fey creatures but little else, until Geedra remembers her earlier detect magic spell and looks down at the hole in the floor her and Skäne were standing over. Within the hole, which is about two feet deep, is a lustrous, multifaceted prism about ten inches long. Magical analysis shows it to function as a gem of brightness with 25 charges. Other than this, the room is barren. A path leads to the right (from your entry point) out of the chamber, while a stone door sits in the wall to the left.
Full disclosure, coming back into things I couldn't find my doc where I was tracking HP and that sort of thing and rather than try to go through post by post and figure everything out I just nudged the bout to it's conclusion. Enemies were injured and I doubt you guys would have failed ;) . I figure we'll get off to a bit of a fresh start after the messiness of the month, sorry about that!
That said, it has been a while since you guys have rested - the last time was before you even got to Artrosa, still on the road with your centaur guide. Krosh is out of channels and nearly out of spells and I'm sure some of the rest of you are also down on resources, just to throw that out there, so if you are looking to hunker down now might be a good opportunity.
Hey guys, sorry for the silence as of late. Been dealing with some health issues, bouncing around between doctors and spent 8 hours in the ER on Wednesday getting a bunch of tests. I think things have calmed down for now until a follow up appointment Monday so I should be able to get back to it over the weekend. Thanks for bearing with me.
The strange, blurry creatures react with wild surprise upon being seen, letting out high-pitched squeals of frustration and anger as they continue to lash out with their razor-thin blades. The pair flanking Skäne leap forward, driving their daggers at the defensive Ulfen. One blow is once more deflected by the shield, but the second actually manages to find purchase, neatly finding the smallest of gaps in his defenses to slice into flesh. 14 points of damage to Skäne.
Elsewhere, Byakko continue squaring off against his opponent, his ability to see the enemy now lending its aid to his wily instincts and he deftly avoids the blade coming for him.
The final sprite, pinned by Enii, struggles again against the weight of the tigress but fails to wriggle free.
Skäne punches back hard at the enemy before him, connecting twice with his spear and sending more glowing golden blood spattering onto the floor. The wounded foe staggers back in a limp, still standing but barely.
Byakko slashes and bites at his opponent, but only the first swipe manages to land on the evasive, flickery form.
I think Enii has a +12 to attack (unless she was power attacking?) and since the enemy is prone she gets a +4 bonus for attacking it, so I do believe she hits each strike :)
Enii lays into her prey, fang and claws eviscerating the form beneath her. As the screams turn to gurgles and eventually silence, the golden light from the creature fades to reveal some sort of fey with alabaster flesh.
Silas loads his crossbow and fires off another bolt at the mortally wounded fey in front of Skäne, finishing the bugger off as the bolt thuds into its chest.
Geedra steps away from any would-be attacks and uses her misfortune hex on the remaining enemy vexing her and Skäne as Krosh mends her with a healing hand. 2d8 + 8 ⇒ (3, 4) + 8 = 15 hp back to geedra
Back to you all, will update map hopefully tomorrow, though not much has changed positioning wise. 2 baddies left.
The invisible foes lash out again, but their slashing blows find only armor against Skäne and Byakko. Enii can feel the creature beneath her paw struggle to wriggle free, but she holds her weight down on it and keeps it there.
SKäne punches forth with his trusty spear, guided by Geedra's frantic points and calls. The tip cuts by something and a spatter of yellowish-gold blood trickles across the floor.
A bolt comes soaring in from the hallway, loosed by Silas's crossbow, and it too finds purchase on Skänes target, causing an audible yelp.
Byakko steps away from the direction of his assailant and channels his lunar magic into a restorative weave to close some of his own wounds as Enii savages the prone creature, biting and clawing. The room is filled with high pitched cries of pain as the tigress's white fur is stained with gold.
Krosh's head swivels about for a moment and then fixates on the hole below Geedra and Skäne. He immediately begins muttering an incantation and weaving his hands, moving them in an arc out in front of him. A soft, humming bluish-grey light emanates from the shaman across the room, and a moment later the bright light in the room dims, casting the cave into a semi-light gloom. As the simulated sunlight fades, your assailants suddenly become visible! Four small humanoid shapes, their glowing forms nebulous amalgamations of light that blurs at their edges, rending their fine features indiscernible. They appear to be some sort of small faerie or sprites, however, with flitting dragonfly-like wings of white draped down their backs. They each carry a wicked knife and move in strange, flickery patterns.
Another flurry of stabbing attacks from the unseen forces lash out. The clamorous ring of metal sounds out as whatever implements being employed crash against Skäne's armor and shield, the limning glow of sparks evident with each collision.
Byakko's heightened animal senses ripple through him as he suddenly lurches back, a ragged edge of his clothing receiving a tear as he narrowly avoids another wound. Unfortunately he can not outmaneuver the blow from his flank and feels another painful bite as something sharp punctures his flesh. 19 points of damage.
Byakko turns his blade into an outward slash, but finds only air as the whispers in his ears become taunting laughs. His snarl is broken by Enii's sudden roar as the tiger bounds into the room. Catching a foreign scent, she springs and lashes out with a claw, hitting something solid and digging in. A loud yelp breaks through the phantom whispers and Enii pushes the advantage, slamming an invisible something onto the floor and holding it there with her powerful paw.
Skäne closes his defense even more, effectively fending off the unseen attacks.
Geedra wriggles out of the curse to cast a spell just as Krosh plods into the room, reading from a scroll. As Krosh dispels the blindness claiming Geedra's eyes, her own spell bends the light around the room through her vision and she can now see the assailants.
Geedra:
You now see 4 small humanoid creatures, their forms blurry and bleeding away at the edges into the surrounding light, making them appear out of focus and making their facial and body features indiscernible. They are wielding cruel daggers - 2 flank you and Skäne, 1 stands by Byakko, and the last is laying prone on the floor, held down by Enii's paw.
Skäne closes ranks with Geedra, covering his goblin comrade with his shield while pulling her up out of harms way. The sounds of the whispers circle around and the warrior pivots in place, moving his ursine bulwark around in preemptive defense.
Byakko feels the incisive burn in his wound, venom trying to work its way into his veins, but through clenched teeth he manages to resist just as he casts a spell to improve his defenses. Scanning his surroundings, he isn't able to pick up on whatever enemy or enemies might be present, but he too is assaulted by the whispers that seem to be spinning around the chamber.
Enii hisses and growls from the entrance of the room, doing her best to pick up the assailants. Enii can use her scent ability here which should give her a +8 to detect via perception via smell. The tigress crouches though and growls more, pushing a empathic thought to her companion. Four prey...fast..moving...
Krosh takes a deep breath and fiddles with his talismans as he has time and time again, releasing the warming shower of silver sparks that swarm around his allies. 4d6 ⇒ (2, 4, 5, 2) = 13health back to everyone.
onto round 2..I'll give Silas a ping; I know he's been busy To save us some back and forth, if you want to make attacks against these annoyingly invisible foes, you can make Perception checks on your turn as a move action and attack as a standard action and then roll a d100 as well. I'll let you know if the combo of rolls lands.
Skäne pushes into the room, eyes scanning the light-bathed chamber as he closes in on Geedra's position. Moving his shield into a defensive position to cover his goblin ally, the warrior isn't able to detect the source of the sudden attacks..though he too now hears the whispers in the room that seem to emanate from everywhere all at once.
Geedra bemoans her current situation as she falls prey to the envenomed wound... 1 point of STR damage
Darkness pools in Geedra's eyes and the witch's vision fades away as some malign effect takes hold of her. The same presence tries to claim Byakko's as well, but as the edges of his periphery start to bleed to black, he shakes off whatever curse it is and retains his faculties.
There is a heavy moment of silence and hesitation and just as it is about to fade, Geedra screams out in a furious pain as some unseen force lashes out. A puncture wound appears on the front of her torso and a moment later a second follows on her back; both stabs issue a cough of blood a moment later. Geedra takes 9 damage followed by 12 for a total of 21.
The sound of metal on metal erupts as another invisible source clatters against his upraised shield, but the assailant slides off of the bulwark and inside of Byakko's defenses, inflicting a painful wound of its own. The oracle suffers a second blow as well as something sharp and cold bites into his thigh from behind, followed by the warm flow of blood. 10 and 8 damage to Byakko for a total of 18Very close...Would've had both of those blocked with the shielded AC if not for being Flat-footed at the moment.
Both make another Fort save for me as well if you would.
Geedra and Byakko enter the room. While Byakko moves cautiously, scanning slowly and keeping behind his shield, Geedra saunters directly in and over to the hole, weaving some magic as she goes. As the witch nears the orifice, both she and Byakko begin to hear a sibilant campaign of unintelligible whispers filter into their ears. It seems as though they are coming from everywhere, eerily close and distant simultaneously.
Geedra:
You do sense an aura of evocation coming from the hole in the room, and getting close to it the aura is strong inside of the hole
Geedra makes it to the hole regardless and standing over it her form does interrupt the flow of light very slightly - akin to putting your fingers in the cone of light shed from a bullseye lantern.
The whispers in the room seem unhappy with the goblin's proximity to the hole in the ground. They swell for a moment and both Geedra and Byakko suddenly experience a haze of encroaching darkness around their eyes...
Go ahead and make Fortitude Saves for me to resist being blinded
You take the key back up the path you were just previously led through by Ungrist, finding yourselves back in the room of partitioned sleeping quarters where you first encountered the duplicitous woman Cagriel. Moving to the far side of the room you encounter a wall made of unmortared fieldstone with a door set within it, its stone surface carved with the image of a young woman walking with a deer in the forest.
The door is indeed locked, but when Byakko tries the newfound key, you are pleased to hear an agreeable click as the door unlocks and is able to be pushed open. Moving past it, you find yourselves on another flight of rough-hewn stairs leading down. You begin your descent, quickly noticing ahead that a light of intense brightness is spilling out of a room ahead into the corridor. This is no torch- or firelight, but something brighter, whiter, and uniform, without the movement that light shed from flame would be. Passing into the light, it causes you no harm other than forcing you to squint, and eventually you come to the end of the hallway as it opens into another large chamber of natural stone; it is barren save for the single 6 inch diameter hole in the floor. You are readily able to ascertain that this hole is the source of the light. You notice that the light seems to be even stronger in the room ahead as you stand on the threshold of the corridor. Another hallway leads out of the room on the far wall to your right, while the wall on the far left houses another stone door.
Thanks guys. Managed to get into the dentist and they cleaned it all out. Still pretty sore and annoying but this is the first time I haven't had a splitting headache in almost 2 weeks so that's been wonderful. Feeling better in time for the incoming snowstorm in the Mid-Atlantic states which is good because it's my favorite weather!
As a group you exchange glances and mutually understand that perhaps a battle with this particular enemy is unnecessary. Having successfully recovered the key "dropped" by Jadrenka, and with the warden - and Ungrist - now vanished from the metamorphosed chamber, you slowly back out the way you came as the bull stomps and snorts its sickly green mist, but upon your egress makes no move to pursue you.
Krosh sounds out a half-groan, half-hum, shaking his head. "This place is strange, and its warden stranger. These pawns of the Witch Queen need always speak in riddles..." He looks around at the walls and ceiling. "It could well be anything we see here is not truly what it appears. Be it structure or being. And I do not think these halls are merely halls. We entered atop the Maiden, yet that Ungrist said his Warden was "not here, but back in the Maiden." I think we have magically moved between the statues, maybe more than once or twice. And the three statues are miles apart." He breathes and touches one of the walls as if testing it for realness. "We delve into shadows and illusions. Be wary."
You have a key, though it looks much like a mundane key for a door and not like a key to the cauldron in the hut - those keys are never actual keys, but maybe it will help your progress through Artrosa. I've updated a map showing everywhere you have been so far and made notations of what was where. You have two paths leading south where you stand now (just outside the Jadrenka / Metallic Bull room on the bottom), as well as a locked door where you met Caigreal, and then two corridors leading out of the room you fought Ungrist in. Pick your poison!
Hope everyone had good holidays indeed. I've been dealing with a very fun abscessed infection in my gum that my very kind wisdom tooth decided to gift me, so forgive me for the absence this week. Hopefully I'll be able to get into the dentist in the coming days to get it sorted.
Yes, there is an exit behind you, the same way you entered. Forgot to confirm that in the new room description.
Skäne accepts the sudden challenge of the metallic bull, matching the beast's snorts with guff as he readies and braces his spear. Byakko manages to get the key and pocket it without drawing the bull's ire and begins to back away, hesitantly producing his weapon as well while Geedra attempts to advise the others to pull back.
You have the key and an exit is behind you, so you do have a final moment to break away if you want. I'll give you another moment to decide, but Skäne seems keen on a trophy ;)
Jadrenka smirks, her face suddenly betraying her with an of air of delight.
"Riders, you say?" she says playfully. "I'm not sure if that is ominous or fortuitous." She sighs and stretches. "Still, not all intruders are made equal, it would seem. Perhaps our paths do not need to cross in woe? Desires, ambitions...fickle things." She absentmindedly fiddles with her necklace of keys, slipping a finger through the eye of one and begins twirling it on her finger. "In any case, it certainly would be nice if all of those loud, lumbering oafs were to find themselves...well, not so loud or capable of lumbering anymore, no?" she gives a wink. "We shall meet again, I am sure. Oh, and...forgive me, I cannot explain the intricacies, but when the illusion fades, best be on your way. Warden I may be, but I can't control everything here," she says, glancing to the ox before continuing in a whisper. "And he may be hungry."
A final spin of the key sends it flying from her finger and landing in the grass a few feet in front of your group. "Oh my, how...clumsy of me. Pleasant travels, my dears," she chuckles, winking again.
The ring on her finger flashes and Jadrenka vanishes. A moment later, the endless meadow of wildflowers melts away around you, swiftly leaving you in a bare cavern; floor, ceiling, an walls of rough-hewn stone. The muscular ox is an ox no longer, but a huge bull with flesh that appears to be interlocking bluish-gray metallic plates. Massive horns curve forward, similarly colored. The beast stamps and snorts, a sickly green mist escaping its flared nostrils as it does, but doesn't move to strike..yet.
You're good Byakko, it just got me thinking of the path as a whole and I wanted to make sure no one felt bad for feeling confused at any point. Plus it's harder to follow on PbP when 1 day ago in game was a month ago in playtime. I appreciate the kind words from everyone regardless. Maybe one day if we're all still kickin around here I can run a homebrew for you all.
I also made a post in the gameplay thread when I made the discussion thread post...but the boards disagree. Getting another one up now.
This adventure is just really weird. My biggest pain with adventure paths is that sometimes they are just so focused on the structure or machination of the adventure/lore/behind the scenes stuff that it actually spites the players/characters. There are sometimes I read portions of these books and it's just the most self-congratulatory "look how cool and interesting I am" passages from the authors...like a high school kid writing edge poetry or something. Like, there will be one paragraph of player-presented information about a given NPC or story beat but then 8 paragraphs of "the players will assume this but really this is only happening because of that which in turn is because of this but they will never know that because of this other thing and plus there's this fourth thing that has to do with the third thing and now let me lore dump this reasoning to you that never matters because as I said the players specifically CANNOT know about it because of things 2 and 5." This sort of stuff is really prevalent in this adventure and if anything I think it makes it harder for a DM to run because you are left trying to find ways to explain apparently inexplicable things and give players something to work with while the adventure itself fights you in doing that.
I ran this adventure path in an offline group once as well (this was the last book we did before that playgroup fizzled) and it was hard in person to and I ended up just having to take a lot of liberties because the players were so confused. The adventure path really has this heavy hand in trying to force a "the players and their characters are too dumb to even hope to possibly comprehend the machinations of Baba Yaga" vibe which I just don't think makes for a great experience. I haven't read the last 3 books in this path yet but I hope they do a bit better in these regards.
The Jadrenka stuff is probably some of the most confusing in the book. The book point blank says that she will never reveal to the PCs who she is or that she is the Warden or anything, and is forbidden to help them because of she does actively help them than her pacts with Baba Yaga are broken and she loses all of her powers and status as the Warden...but nowhere else does it explain this pact or why that is part of the pact or how it makes sense...and it specifically doesn't make sense because the party are the goddamn riders of Baba Yaga. I understand not wanting to have her help the party directly because she's powerful and would trivialize a lot of stuff, and that they want some of this adventure to remain enigmatic with the raven riddles and all, but I feel like they could come up with a better reason than "she's not allowed to because I said so." The book pretty much assumes that every room you come to you will just kill whatever enemy there is and doesn't really touch on "what if they talk to this person" so I guess it also assumes that you'll never have any interactions with anyone else about the Warden? (other than Caigreal who tries to maneuver you against her...but if you do act against her you kind of just break the adventure for yourselves?).
Anyway didn't mean to go off there, my ultimate point is if you are ever feeling lost, confused, or frustrated with this adventure, I'm right there with you, lol. I'm trying to ease the pains by being a bit more straightforward with some things.
Jadrenka perks up a bit and smiles at Geedra, taking her arm from around the stoic ox next to her she kneels down to put herself more at the goblin's eye level. You can spot a series of silver necklace chains around her neck, one of which holds several keys of different materials, and the other a few feathers, bones, and a gold nugget. "Truly little witch, you serve Baba Yaga as well? When did you see her last? Did she give you any messages to pass along?" She sighs somewhat whimsically and closes her eyes momentarily, basking in some recollection, and then opens them again. She waves her hand in the air in front of her, a ring on her finger shimmering in a mystic light as she does. "Hm, interesting..."
She stands up and stretches. "Caegriel is a horrid old hag. We have a troubled past, but forced we are to coexist here, for the time. I cannot say much. Oh, if only I could reveal the secrets of this place..." she winks towards to the human and elven men and bites her finger playfully. "But, I cannot. Though if you want to find what was lost, you could follow the taker to the Mother, where she kneels to pray."
You guys can make some Diplomacy checks during your interactions as well.
Jadrenka's ears and eyebrows perk a bit at the mention of Baba Yaga, and it is this topic that she latches onto.
"You've news on Baba Yaga?" she asks with a sly, inviting smile. She tosses her hair behind her shoulder and relaxes her stance. "I have not heard from her in some time...t'is a strange thing." She let out a drawn out sigh. "And what might you know about these boorish giants that have come intruding and stomping about?" A pang of anger and annoyance flashes across her visage as she mentions them. She reverts to a devious smile to add: "You're in my domain, my dashing adventurers. Perhaps if you answer my questions, I would consider answering yours."
No worries, this is kind of a convoluted adventure path even at a table, let alone in a a PbP.
Basically Baba Yaga in her infinite wisdom and planning left a breadcrumb trail for her Riders if anything was to ever happen to her and she disappeared. It was ascertainable that something did indeed happen to her when she didn't return for her removal of the current Whitethrone Queen and installation of a new one which she has done every 100 years for 1000+ years. The Riders are charged with following these breadcrumbs in the form of keys that when placed in the Dancing hut cauldron take the Hut and the Riders on the next step of this trail.
The original keys were given to you what feels like eons ago by the Black Rider. Putting those keys in the hut brought you to Iobaria and ultimately Artrosa where the next set of keys are. The ravens' riddles in the campaign info tab give some hint as to the nature of the keys. But that's your main reason to be here - to find the keys for the hut to continue your Riders' quest to find Baba Yaga as only she can stop the machinations of the usurper Queen Elvanna.
"Warden is Jadrenka. Jadrenka is Warden. Master of all Artrosa, title given by Baba Yaga herselfs!" He smiles a truly grotesque smile. "Hmmm, where she be...Warden can move through all Artrosa in a blink," he repeats. He taps his head a few times. "Last I knows she not in Crone. She went over to Maiden. Come, come!" You realize he just said this a moment ago, and it seems as though this strange man might be a touch unbound in the head.
He rushes past you and moves into the hallway you came from, bidding you follow.
"Strange..." Krosh intones. "We entered the Maiden statue...what oddity this creature spinning." He sighs.
Following the quilled miscreant, you are taken back to the room where you fought the three fiendish feyfolk torturers. Ungrist whistles and coughs. "Oh oh! Looks here...you did in for the Nymph's bastards, huh?" He laughs. "Good riddance! Always so loud and making Ungrist annoyed. Always squabbling and shouting. Killings them mights make their sires mad though...or maybe not. Don't think they liked them much!" he laughs again and moves through the room, once more back the way you came. On his way through and stops at the corpses of one of the torturers and whispers "not so loud now!" before skipping along.
Back through the long hallway and you are back in the partitioned room where you met Greala..or, apparently, Caegriel. Ungrist walks on his tiptoes in this room, and turns back to whisper at you.
"Shhh, hags sleep in this room. Don't want to pester hags. They mean."
He slowly leads you around the exterior of the partitions until you reach another hallway leaving this room which you have not traversed. Another flight of rough-hewn stairs leads you to a splitting path left and right, and after a second of supposed contemplation, Ungrist leads you left, passing under a stone arch. Beyond, you enter an impossible expanse of broad meadow bathed in bright daylight filled with swaying wildflowers. There are no walls, no ceiling, and the floor beneath you is suddenly grass.
Ungrist seems unperturbed, and squints, getting excited. "Aha!" he exclaims, pointing.
Out in the field you see a figure walking leisurely next to a large bovine creature. Ungrist rushes forward and eventually you get close enough to get a good look.
A striking young woman with black hair worn in myriad braids walks barefoot in the flowers. She wears a simple roughspun dress of grey but wears a mantle of raven feathers. Her pale skin his flawless and her features delicate and exquisite, she regards you with yellow-amber eyes. Her arm is draped around the muscular neck of the ox that walks beside her.
"Warden!" Ungrist calls, rushing to her. He dashes behind her legs and hugs them. "More new...friends have come. They beat up poor Ungrist but then we talk and is well. Caegriel trickses them and takes friend. But want friend and gold for stopping beating up Ungrist."
The Warden takes in what the strange fellow has to say and gives him a soft smile and pat on the head. She turns to look at you again. "My domain has been gifted with many visitors of late," she says in a sultry voice. Her eyes drift to Skäne and Byakko. [b]"Oh, but none so handsome." She smiles impishly and giggles. "I would hope that, despite your exchange of violence with poor Ungrist, your visit is for better reasons than the others that have come." She twirls a braid of hair in her finger and smiles again. "What brings you here? Amuse me."
"Shoot?!" Ungrist shouts in protest. "Shoots Ungrist?" He stomps his foot. "Bad gnome. Ungrist saves gnome from giants snack-bags and gnomes want to be shoot Ungrist?" He scowls and mutters some string of unfamiliar words in an alien tongue. "Ungrates-ful...."
He turns to Geedra and the others to implore them. "Comes now..not be shoot Ungrist. I take you to Warden, yes?"
