Kenton, who fancies himself an artist (or at least an art critic), lingers a bit longer to look over the painting, but not more than a few seconds. No Trinia Sabor, that's certain, he says with a slight shake of his head.
Kappi, sweat dripping down the side of his face despite the chill temperature, works feverishy, prying at one of the remaining supports, rationalizing that maybe might do it. Just a little more...
The tower slams to the snow, creaking in its distress and tipping precariously backwards...and Kappi remembers, at that moment, he's stuck inside. Uh-oh. Desperately he looks to the shut door behind him, then frantically about the tower, as the structure begins to screech and splinter, bits of wood and pitch and fur flying about him. His eyes are drawn to the broken supports now exposed to the air and...
...he tumbles through the opening, the tower flopping over onto a pair of very surprised cryohydras, then continuing to roll toward the hill. Too late, the serpent beasts realize they are still tethered and are dragged all at once with the crumbling structure, right off the side of the cliff!
Noroc reports back. I just met this older fellow — seems incredibly lucid, all things considered — and I think I know where this "Smuggler's Refuge" is located. Doesn't sound dangerous at all.
Ah! We have heard of Ms. Tremane, the chief keeper! Truly a connois-sewer of Absalom's sanitation system! When you promoted her, did you just tell her, "Urine charge now"? I've heard other funny lines about sewers, but I probably should leave most of them out — the punchlines all stink! Qarawyn sits back and stirs his custard with a grin. You know, wastewater jokes aren't always my favorite...but they're a solid #2!
Kappi's axe tumbles through the driving snow and lands a light blow! Round 2
GM stuff: Aqua icy prison Blue grappled Purple drake (reset 6, terrain 8 rds) Red drake (reset 1, terrain 4 rds)
Ali lands an excellent blow, one that clearly leaves the invader's ears ringing!
Just a few seconds later, this skirmish is over. A small squad of ground troops of the Dragon Legion arrive, grateful for your help, and take command of the tower. One, a lad who looks no older than Kappi, stares in astonishment at the fallen frost drake until the commanding corporal barks. Klant! Move it! At which he hops to work on the artillery.
Davosh floats into the howling winds while Kappi reappears with a shank in the side of Red! It's not a critical blow, but it sure hurts! Round 3
important GM stuff: drake (-4 to saves, suffocation: 2 saves missed, 0 hp) -88
orange red -30
Cuthberwyn's initial return to the Rainbow Citadel is rather brief — long enough to finish the library, leave enough money to fund it for the foreseeable future, and help Raspar with the garden a bit. It's not long, however, until the gnome, who joined the journey as a scholar of goblins, seeks to further his knowledge of elves too, and more specifically the aiudara, the elven gates. He pores over the notes of Voz Lirayne and the few tidbits buried in the journals of Belmazog as well. He yearns to learn the magic of the aiudara, and begins a journey to find all of them he can. He is always glad to see his friends, even venturing to Janderhoff once to call on Kelvin on his home turf. He visits the Citadel, and Promise, fairly often — when he misses Raspar, and when his memory reminds him he should.
With that done, you're about ready to make your way back to town. The ifrits gather in the hallway as you prepare to leave. "You survived!" Rowsh exclaims. Was there any doubt? Qarawyn says with a grin. Of course, of course. None the worse for wear at all! Yandrada smiles. "Did you find anything else of interest in the ruins? Any other areas we should avoid?" I'd avoid the lava if I were you. Mighty unhealthy. We saw artifacts, and murals, and an ancient lockbox. You can read all about it in the next edition of the Pathfinder Chronicles, which we'll be only too happy to autograph for you!
Well, he still has it, Noroc observes. It's just on the outside now. Noroc wanders to the east a little.
Noroc continues to hack at the werewolf.
BY THEIR COMBINED MIGHT the leshy legion fells the final leshy! With a shriek, Lady Constance hurls as many insults as she can think of at the five of you as she runs away from the garden, racing inside and slamming the door behind her. It's a simple enough matter to free your lavender leshy friends, who give Bamboom a promise never to deal with fleshy-types again and give Fluff Fang a hug that's a little too strong. They tell you that Darius Wick waylaid them at the river crossing and gave them to Lady Constance in an effort to be invited to her parties. Lady Constance agreed while Wick was present, but after he left laughed out loud and refused to send him an invitation. What a mean girl! The party manages to convince Popcorn not to burn down both Rosentry and Petalbrook, while that evening Reaching Rings disappears into the shadows as mysteriously as he first appeared and Slo Poke moseys off into the sunset.
Fluff Fang hastily makes everyone look like a collection of verdant halflings, and not at all like poorly disguised leshys. Slo Poke bustles through the hedgerow (don't be alarmed now) while Bamboom creates a native tree that looks suspiciously out of place among the other growths here, but it's enough to get the rest of the party over the gate. Popcorn's creative canapes look both tasty and professional. Several of the servants raise an eyebrow — or two — at the new arrivals, but before they can bring it to anyone's attention, a commanding halfling chef storms out of the back door. MAKE SURE THOSE TRAYS ARE FULL OF SWEETMEATS BEFORE YOU SERVE THEM!
Turning to the
Janzi basks in the adulation that comes with saving the Pact Worlds, and seems equally as pleased by being a bad example parental units use to admonish their spawn. Generally, though, he ignores the philosophical debates about whether vaporizing an entire civilization was the Right Thing To Do, instead focusing on the Better Them Than Me side of the discussion. After touring Near Space — twice — on speaking engagements both lucrative and wearisome, Janzi eventually meanders his way back to his home world of Castrovel, somehow finding himself ruler of the lashuntan city-state Qabarat — its former ruler Lady Morana Kesh vansihed as quickly as if she had been shot into the sun aboard an ancient warship. His rule appears to involve no power whatsoever, merely requiring attracting enough attention that no one wonders who's actually in charge. This suits him. Qabarat, meanwhile, remains steadfastly independent of the other corporate entities of Castrovel, as it did under Lady Morana Kesh. Many years later, Janzi vanishes as quickly as though he, too, had been shot into the sun aboard an ancient warship. The citizens of Qabarat lament his passing as a declined nation-state would mourn the loss of any unelected, monarchical figurehead.
Reaching rings throws up in their mouth a little, causing their rapier attack to miss, but success is found with their shortsword follow-up! The precision damage is enough to drop Wick to the floor! The pair of floating candles look at each other...as, y'know, candles do...then try to avenge their creator!
Round 2
Slo Poke moseys over to one of the crystals, and his deft hands deactivate a second one! Meanwhile, Popcorn studies the crystal for a heartbeat, then head-buts it in just the right place! It, too, falls silent. GM stuff:
Roll for no reason whatsoever, really
The room falls silent once more.
"What's going on? Are we trapped in an infinite loop of sorts?"Could be. If we need to mark one of the walls, we'll have to make sure we find a good etcher! Noroc rubs the top of his head. I knew a guy who worked as an etcher, and had a job hosting ceremonies on Downtime. Yep. He was an emcee etcher.
The dual threat of even more jasmine and potential violence is enough to sway Galen. Hey, no need for that, he says holding up a hand. This is just a job, and no one should be subjected to irrational violence and potential loss of life in a job that shouldn't entail that sort of thing in the job description. He tosses a key to Slo Poke. In fact, consider this my resignation. Please pass the information along to Mr. Wick when you see him. I'm going to go be a schoolteacher, which is a non-threatening job with no danger of loss of life as part of your duties. Galen hastens out the door. The key unlocks the basement door, and the stairs lead down into the gloom, opening into a room below. A wooden table covered with crystals of various size, including three particularly large ones measuring nearly four feet in diameter, sits against the southern wall of this storeroom. A wooden door is tucked into the wall in the southwest corner.
[dice=hero pointing original check]1d20+9
Fluff Fang and Slo Poke have no success with Petalbrook's non-leshy townsfolk, with the former's performance not generating much attention and the latter being avoided entirely. Reaching Rings believes that honey is more effective than vinegar in attracting help, but Popcorn quickly demonstrates the value of a more direct approach. Oh! Oh, my! Yes, uh, Darius, well, youmayfindhimathisshoponthesouthsideoftownHavetogoIthinkIwetmyknickers! she stammers out before scurrying away. Reaching Rings uses the info Popcorn shook out of the old woman to learn that Darius' shop is called Crystals and Candlewax, on the south end of the village.
YAAS I am excite!
Noroc's only response to Bibi's question is to sling the body of their fallen comrade over his shoulder. He will carry Augrael to the ends of Golarion, if needed.
Cuthberwyn studies the ritual. He doesn't get it at first, but remains diligent...and suddenly it all makes sense!
Bamboom helpfully points out that the tracks he's found lead directly to the water! It is some time before he can be convinced that the tracks lead out of the river. GM rollz:
D: 2
With Popcorn working together with Reaching Rings, however, the leshy group finds a solid lead. The trail winds through the forest for roughly an hour or so, emerging onto a small clearing at a bend in the river, in which sits a recently used campsite. It appears currently unoccupied.
Cuthberwyn opts to appear to the nature of gold dragons, recounting the story of Mengkare and drawing parallels between the forced servitude he endured and the unwitting sacrifice he's proposing for the citizens of Promise. A set of parables, if you will. And a good parable always allows the audience to draw their own conclusions
Bamboom conjures a slim, symmetrical tree from the Plane of Wood. While it's not sturdy enough to attach Slo Poke's grappling hook itself, it does afford the opportunity to climb and attach the hook to the top of the bridge. Slo Poke Pitfalls over, and the rest of the party follows suit. Popcorn assesses the damage to her beloved bridge, and she thinks she might be able to fix it.
PbP Gameday XII (Event # 2713068), running Sep 4, 2023 - Nov 20, 2023. The game will likely start in earnest on or about Sep 11, 2023, due to a GM vacation. If you're reading this, you should know what to do.
This PbP Gameday XII session is dedicated to the memory of Silbeg, a good friend and a great GM/player. He is profoundly missed by those of us who knew him.
Zyphlryx offers to serve Queen Qweenzeenk upon the kobold's triumphant return, but is rebuffed. The next morning, Zyphlryx offers to serve Imperius as the new Kobold King, and is greeted with a prolonged speech that makes him immediately regret his decision. In fact, he slips off before the pontificating is half finished, making his way past the now-abandoned lumber fort and out of Darkmoon Vale entirely. It is time to fix problems, he says aloud to no one at all, leaning on his dapper cane to no discernible effect and beginning to sing — poorly — a kobold tune from his youth: Don't forget me when I'm gone
Some of us are virtually running a 5k together and then drinking a beer in remembrance. FWIW, I'm also not a runner, so not running...but I will walk it.
If you want to come back to SkalCon in Jack's memory, this year will be the one to do it. I don't know what we'll do yet, but we know that we will be doing something there to honor Jack. Yeah, I've done the "gonna do that next time" too many years now. (The pandemic certainly was a part of that.) I need to fix that. THIS year.
Jack was one of a kind, in the best possible way. Always smiling, always trying to make the gaming table a better place (he and I talked many times about what it was like when the gamers were outcasts and how neither of us ever wanted to perpetuate that ostracization). And (almost) always with a drink in his hand. I don't drink often, but I made an exception when Jack was around to share one of his passions. And I'll make an exception tonight, in his honor. Rest in peace now, my friend.
Cuthberwyn is confounded by this development — not what he had expected at all — and keeps an eye out for any deception. It seems out of place to be raiding a vault for something, doesn't it?
Cuthberwyn cradles the "Performances through the Ages" tome with great reverence. With eyes wider than ever seen before, he opens the book slowly. It is nearly two minutes before he realizes he has been holding his breath while leafing through. Ye'Cind of Arborea! Storm Silverhand, The Bard of Shadowdale! Bless my soul, the great legendary Bards of worlds beyond! He is visibly awestruck. Oh, Alain Always, Nomarch of the Ivy District Council! Lord Merriweather Stokes of the Kitharodian Academy! This treasure is beyond any I could imagine! It is with substantial reluctance that he closes the book — gently — and carefully secures it in his haversack. at long last, he takes his place alongside his friends, his head still asea with the the stories within the treatise.
Zyphlryx follows behind as the kobold heroes make their way to Queen Qweenzeenk's throne room. He carries the weight of the very shiny bow gift to gift. Look what we retrieved for you, Queen, and by we I mean me, because NO ONE ELSE HELPED fetch it.
Zyphlryx ponders a moment. What if...hear me out now...what if we lead the hammering anvil to the ghost dwarf and solve two problems at once?
Zyphlryx's brilliant ploy to avoid the rest of this encounter is successful.
One down, four to go. Zyphlryx is annoyed that his companions are in the way for another Zyphlryx lightning hairball. (Well, mostly that Broomzad is in the way; he doesn't mind so much if Imperius gets accidentally zapped. "Accidentally.") Nevertheless, he looks to plan an attack on #4...
...and thinks, "meh, that'll do", like his patron saint Mediocrates.
Finally, he'll conjure up a shield of force to cower behind.
Noroc moves in on the web lurker. Attercop! Attercop! Won't you stop! Stop your spinning and look for me!
THIS BOW IS HEAVY, Zyphlryx laments. He laments even more when no one agrees to take it off his hands. Fine then, he thinks, I'll give it to Queen Qweenzeenk myself and make sure she knows it didn't come from anyone else because no one else helped.
|
