Codex Pathfinder Adventures (Logs from Session 1 posted!)

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Disclaimer: I think I've overdone it. It's less of a writeup - more like a transcript of the entire adventure, with a few things edited out and a few added for consistency. I may try to shorten it, but if I ever do that, I'll do that tomorrow. I blame combat, which took a lot of space to write. I really don't know how to shorten the rest without losing "the flavour". Btw, I already cut out 2/3 of what was there.

Like last time I will try to identify the most important threads and leads in another post.

Last time in the Codex Pathfinder Squad!!
Right. According to my notes it's the evening of the 7th day, you've returned from your grave robbing adventure and are currently deciding whether or not to let anyone in on your stolen lewtz.

Well, that was pretty much it, except that this time around the approaching conflict between our party members that threatened the very integrity of our group. As usual - when you don’t know WTF it’s all about - it was about the lewtz. It all started when witty, perpetually fashionable, stylish and above all modest Vanessa and equally dashing and humble Ulzir tried to get back at the party by stealing nicking appropriating what they found should be rightfully theirs.

Paranoiac about everything and everyone Alais decides to interrogate one of her companions about the objective of their little escapade to the fake crypt.

Ok, Grotak one question to you. We went to the damn crypt with particular goal in mind - to find the tools. Did I find anything or not?

let it go man ((sic!))

((Here we go…)).

((Again.))

Did you find anything?

You were there with us if I remember correctly?

Answer me, no beating about the bush.

we found a bunch of scrolls and you got some of them from Vanessa if I saw right on our trip back to the temple?

((You know, we may as well cut the crap in a nutshell.))

((Yeah, it kinda leads us nowhere. He/she/it is totally over it.))

then some potions that Ed has probably identified by now and that obscure box

Obscure box?

also whats there to beat around the bush Alais?

What obscure box?

you seem rather strange as of late

: ((Word.))

Stick to the topic, please

What's wrong with you?

((Many things, apparently. ))

((They call it paranoia))

((Anyway…))

SO, did you find something else or not? Besides the potions and the arrows

At this point, a call is heard from downstairs. It’s Vanessa having unexpected revelation for the rest of the party.

Are we all together or not?

no!

Considering I just called you to come.

nooo

well anyways, what is it you wanted to discuss with us Vanessa?

* Vanessa places the box, closed (and containing one vial and the rest of the items) on the table.

This.

noooooooooooo!! My 35 minutes of pointless drivel about a plot thread that just came about totally ruined!!!
Thank you, Vanessa!



At this point everyone starts discussing what the hell is in the box.

So what's in the box?

*grabs one of the vials and gives it a closer look*

There's a single vial in the box, edgar.

*I guess I'll roll to analyze these*

* All the others were hidden by Vanessa and Ulzir. :twisted: *

vial board and copper thingie with hole in it, right?

It was a craft (alchemy ) roll

Yup. And in the cover of the box there's the symbol of the order of the palatine eye.

The same symbol we found in the locked book.

« 1d20+9 = 18 + 9 = 27 »

woah

nice

Yay.

Sadly, the vials are not alchemical in nature



we're looking at spellcraft rolls

Wait, I can do that as well

Let me have a look then : detect magic :

Someone take a sip from the vial and let's see what happens. *laugh*

Spellcraft roll « d20+9 = 15 + 9 = 24 »

Nice

Whatever these are, it's does not have an alchemical origin

sec, looking up the description

ok

Does my character know what a ouija board is? Because the board and thingie are obviously one.

I guess that's another Spellcraft roll

the vial is called a haunt siphon



These glass vials are held within stylized cold-iron casings etched with strange runes, necromantic designs, or other eldritch markings. Within the vial roils a small wisp of white vapor, churning as if caught in a miniature vortex of air. To capture a haunt’s energies within a haunt siphon, you need only twist the metal casing to open the vial in the same round that the haunt manifests (a standard action)—this can be before or after the haunt has acted. You must be within the haunt’s area of influence to use a haunt siphon. When you activate a haunt siphon, it deals 3d6 points of positive energy damage to a single haunt. If it deals enough damage to the haunt to reduce the haunt’s hit points to 0, the mist inside the haunt siphon glows green—if it does not reduce the haunt to 0 hit points, the haunt siphon is still expended and becomes nonmagical. It may take multiple haunt siphons to destroy powerful haunts. A haunt that is neutralized by a haunt siphon takes a –5 penalty on its caster level check to manifest again after its reset time passes. A haunt siphon that neutralizes a haunt can no longer be used to harm haunts, but it can be used as a grenadelike splash weapon that deals 1d6 points of negative energy damage with a direct hit. Every creature within 5 feet of the point where the haunt siphon hits takes 1 point of negative energy damage from the splash.

So we have a ouija board and ghostbuster equipment.

At least we know that it is a tool Professor wrote about.

Basically if you're in a haunted area, you can open the vial and it'll suck some of the ghost juice away

that's pretty cool

But it's a one-use item

We still can harm the ghost with the old-fashioned violence. And magic

Now, about the board

Well since you are pretty familiar with this stuff why don't you have a closer look at that board as well? Can't hurt right?

Afterwards it'll be filled with negative energy. you could conceivably use it as a grenade against the living then.

Now the sight of the party members rested on the Ouija board.



I'll roll spellcraft to analyze the board « 1d20+9 = 2 + 9 = 11 »

Edgar, have a look too Spellcraft « d20+9 = 10 + 9 = 19 »

* Vanessa files her nails while the others do boring nerdy stuff.

It's a piece of paper and a brass thingie

xD

vanessa's my kind of girl

... That's all?

because the roll failed, yeah

definately magic tho

Alais rolled higher

moderate divination aura

Fucken rolls . I guess we will need to inquire about it in town

But I think you can only do that once per day, right?

yeah. you can only attempt to identify an item once per day

I guess we'll have to ask at the magic shop

Remember doing so tomorrow, then.

(btw, why is there a magic shop in a town that hates spellcasters?)

That’s actually a very good question - one which answering to might prove valuable for our quest.

well we still got one magic char who hasn't tried to identify yet

(Oh, well) Spellcraft check: « 1d20+1 = 13 + 1 = 14 » No idea. *back to her nails*

Having spectacularly failed to determine that an Ouija board is an fact, an Ouija board. Our intrepid heroes move to discussing! more pressing matters, such as what to do now, should they investigate a wee bit more, or finally get their act together and brave the perilous dungeons of Harrowstone prison, or just fuck it all, burn the church and stock up with baby meat… when SUDDENLY!

Perception checks plz



« d20+1 = 19 + 1 = 20 »

Perception checks were d20 + perception + ability, right?

yep

« d20-2 = 13 - 2 = 11 »

« 1d20+5 = 20 + 5 = 25 »

« d20+5 = 7 + 5 = 12 »

Yay.

wait what are we rolling?

perception

Grotak, Lightbane -- you hear a strangely haunting pipe melody from somewhere outside the estate

ok a moment

Do you hear that too?

what time is it, again?

it's really faint

Hear what?

« d20+8 = 19 + 8 = 27 »

It's like... piping?

You guys look strangely perplexed..

Have you heard something? It sounds like a strangely haunting pipe melody from somewhere outside the estate

sounds very far away

How "hounting"?

Sounds like something that's in dire need of killing.

Like drunken sod hounting?

I guess it won't hurt to check it. But before doing that, give me a minute to prepare a potion

Mysterious and vague piping sounds in the middle of the night. And we have a ghost trap thingie. Aha.

It must be fate

Who you gonna call?

ulzir is not bad himself

i think grotak is better right now

So what about that sound, of yours?

We should investigate if we want to because it sounds quite far away. Could be gone if we keep on talking

We should hurry.

Clearly we should, then… After some time of merry chattering, the heroes reach their destination:

you follow the sound and it leads you into a deserted alley

In a sudden attack of Clairvoyance Grotak exclaims:

ITZ A TARP!!!

(perception check)



i have low visibility vision

« d20+5 = 1 + 5 = 6 »

« d20+1 = 2 + 1 = 3 »

*loads the crossbow* Better to be sure

ehh

« d20-2 = 16 - 2 = 14 »

« d20+8 = 20 + 8 = 28 »

« 1d20+5 = 20 + 5 = 25 » wow

nice

a giant board is floating towards you!

arrrgh!

Nooo! It cannot beeee!!1111

Who was the one holding the board? Alais?

The sound cuts out abruptly and you hear a bussing sound from the direction you came

Did we also leave the ghost trap thingie? We are so dead.

You have no idea…

quilty, lightbane, initiave checks plz

« d20+4 = 13 + 4 = 17 »

« 1d20+2 = 12 + 2 = 14 »

what looks like an overgrown mosquito flaps out of the darkness and tries to latch onto Alais. K, the stirge is now grappling alais. she loses a point of con.

Thus, with the Alais’ insectoid penetration the battle commences.

First Ulizr valiantly charges forward to save the day

The stirge explodes with a disgusting popping sound. There is blood everywhere

IT'S ACID BLOOD!

don't give him ideas!!

(think swatting a mosquito that already drank blood. Now scale it up x200)

So Alais is covered from head to toe in blood and insect juices?

sexy



There is no time for Alais to express the gratitude in more… physically expressive way, as more stirges barge in and strike down Edgar.

FUUCK!

Bugs are feasting like it's thanksgiving.

Vanessa gets stung as well. And her precious bodily fluids sucked away. :twisted:

Halp. :[

Edgar swats the bug, or at least attempts that, but fails miserably

Thus the surprise round comes to an end. Now the real battle starts.

I'm liking the initiative roll of 15 for my stirges

Ulzir gashingly strikes down the bug attacking Vanessa.

I shall defend you, Vanessa!

* Vanessa manages to whimper a "Thank you" to Ulzir even while pouting and despairing to the state her dress, her hair, and herself are now in. T_T

Once back on her feet, Vanessa casts Daze, temporarily getting rid of one buzzer

Then our benevolent GM remembers something special:

oh, nearly forgot. Edgar and grotak get to make a fort save

Luckily, whatever was in store, the heroes survive it

k, no worries then. (forgot 10% chance of contracting disease every time a stirke sucks your blahd)

Alais casts magic missile but does negligible 2 point damage to one stirge. Edgar attempts to bash the bloodsucker down, but to no avail. Same with Grotak.

Luckily, Ulzir comes to the rescue!

« d20+11 = 16 + 11 = 27 »

« 1d8+4 = 5 + 4 = 9 »

Victory at sea!

Awesome.

Taking a moment to brush the worst stirge gunk off of you, you can celebrate by rolling me some perception.

What can it mean?!

Right, everyone but edgar can hear the pipe music. it appears to be coming from somewhare up on the rooftops

Suddenly!

whispers: Also, you could've sworn someone just went past near the entrance of the alley.

It appears only Alais has noticed something afoot

Can we assume there was some connection between stirges and the sound?

(( everyday i'm ooc'ing ))



Quite possibly. Stirges usually don't live in cities, so something drew them here

Could the stirges produce that sound - which means the nest is nearby? Oh, I see.

Let's keep following the music. More juicy things to hit, I hope.

Nah. That was pipe music. Only sounds stirges tend to make a re buzzing and sucking

Didn't you notice anything weird? Like we were being observed?

Weird? Nah, I'm getting used to the dirty dwarf.

from the entrance to the alley?

(( Vanessa will follow but being sure to not move from behind Ulzir ))

This would be a perfect opportunity to split up but…

: don't you know you never split the party : Alais follows the rest

Following them where?

Guess.

The party decides it would be a splendid idea to follow the source of the sound up on the rooftops

Up on the rooftops? there are no ladders or stairwalls. So that's a bunch of climb checks if you're gonna go all batman on me

Anyone manly enough to climb up there?

Of course there was - Ulzir decided to prove Vanessa that he “conquers vertically as well as horizontally”… whatever that was supposed to mean. Unfortunately, while he did have a good start, it seems that that seeing things reach their completion isn’t really his thing:

Cursed peasant hovel has loose bricks

((did i get up there? or am i plummeting as we speak?))

(( looking up falling damage, we may be looking at the first death in the party ))

roll me an acrobatics check

« d20-1 = 17 - 1 = 16 »

ok

(( nice ))

SUCCESS!

he'll live

that lets you ignore the first 10 feet of the fall. meaning you only take « 2d6 = 3 » damage.

* offers him a hand to help him stand back up. "And do you disappoint so in both?"

Sure. But it's a public street and the building is 30' high

(( as we saw, we fail at the manly approach ))

I doubt you'd find a ladder long enough

(( what kind of roof is it? flat top? ))

The party ponders what to do next, when GM decides it’s worth having a second go with Alais.

whispers: you're still pretty certain you saw someone walk past the entry of the alley shortly after the stirges got smacked

whispers: Ehh… have it your way then.

Anyways people, I am pretty sure I saw someone observing our battle with the Stirges. We should scratch the sounds and go investigate.

We can't just drop the sounds.

Whoever that was he might be behind the attack on us

the attack on us was carried out by mindless *insects*

I don't believe swampland creatures would attack us in the middle of the town.

what do you suggest, mindcontrol of mindless creatures?

After we were drawn here.

All I need is one of you to aid me.

It could work, if these creatures were summoned

can you determine if they were summoned by their corpses?

We should follow the music.

Let's stop the chattering and follow the sound at ground level.

Sooner or later it will have to come back down.

Follow the music! More faggotry is afoot.

(( you wanna give it another go with the grappling hook? ))

slightly pissed off by this sidetracking (even though it weas here who sidetracked), Alais states firmly:

Fine, fine - I'll go alone ((certain death))

Just as planned

Wait, let me help you, Alais

what are you doing?

We shouldn't split, and the origin of the music is about getting away.

alais -- by now it's going to be a tracking check to follow what you thought you saw. That's perception

« d20+5 = 17 + 5 = 22 »

is it wise to follow this lead if you were suggesting a moment ago that the creatures were summoned to attack us on your own?

That was actually a good question. The thing is the apparent intention from the beginning was the opportunity to sing out favorite tune. Let us join together in chorus: Never split the party.

Let Alais and Grotak go after whatever they are going after, and let us follow the music.

I don't even saw anything, I just don't want Alais wander the streets alone after we have just been attacked

Ok, then I stay with Vanessa. You stay with Alais, Grotak.

I see, I'll follow Grotak then.

Come then Grotak, before our lead vanishes.

Off we go, hunting shadows in the night!

Let us go then, Maese Ulzir. The sooner we finish this adventure, the sooner I can take a bath.

Wonder who'll get horribly killed in a moment...

(( will you be back LB? ))

roll d2 to determine that Ulm

Right, who wants to go first? The music group or the suspicious dude group?

Mememememe!!!

K, it's a tracking (perception) check to follow them. They seem to be headed south(ish). There are several small spatters of fresh blood on the street.

Ulzir would prove invaluable asset here

I try to determine where the blood trail leads - survival roll ok?

yeh

« 20+5 = 20 + 5 = 25 »

w00t

wow. scratch Ulzir, you are the MAN!

dwarf!

they seem to be headed south. You follow them for a bit and it's evident thye're making a beeline for the town memorial.

they trail seems to be leading towards the memorial... again?

Shadowing the mysterious figure, we approach carefully.

Let's Sneak to the location

maybe we can catch the one responsible in the act if we hurry

(( somewhere, Kendra Lorrimor breathes a sigh of relief ))

we apporach the memorial the sneaky way

« d20+6 = 9 + 6 = 15 »

« d20-1 = 16 - 1 = 15 »

hmmmm

« 1d20+2 = 14 + 2 = 16 »

(( oh sneaky alais! ))

You notice a man dressed in his nightshirt and hat, carrying a wineskin. He's standing near the town memorial, drawing on it with his fingers

((Whoever they are we might be not enough to confront him))

(( single man ))

((Fingers?))

(( hoyl shit. prosper deteced ))

His movements are odd and jerky

(Should I throw a bomb in an unprovoked attack?)

He almost looks like under a spell

you could try to sneak closer if you like. It's hard to make out details at this distance

ok, Grotak, stay here!

« d20+6 = 6 + 6 = 12 » oops

A loud snap echoes through the night as alais steps on an inoppertunately placed twig. Alais'es noise alerts the guy. He spins around to face you. His eyes have a vacant look, but he still roars at you:

: You shall not prevent our escape! The woman will die again!

And that's where we roll initiative

« d20+1 = 9 + 1 = 10 »

misogynistic necromancers

« 1d20+2 = 4 + 2 = 6 »

« d20+8 = 3 + 8 = 11 »

Go go 12 initiative! the npcs ar eona roll tonight!

And so another battle starts

He charges alais, swinging a wicked barbers razor at her while blood sprays from the wineskin he's clutching in his left hand

The man hits Alais for some serious damage.

Agghhh

What does he look like?

It looks like the guy leading the mob at the professors funeral. His eyes are vacant and his movements oddly jerky, as if he was a puppet being moved about.

((Possession))

(( thanks for splittign the party btw ))

It's you alais

It’s Alais’ turn. She wants to cast Sleep on the enemy, but is kindly reminded by the GM that Sleep is a full round spell. After some arguing and raging she goes for Ray of Enfeeblement, which of course, fails to hit the target. For some reason Grotak, instead of rushing to help our heroine, decides it’s best to keep safe distance, and leaves here defenseless. Only Edgar runs to help her, and shoots with his crossbow to distract the wacko, not wanting to accidentally murder him. Predictably, though the madman is completely unfazed by that.

By some stroke of luck, the man misses Alais, so she can do her magick. Because of the close distance she cannot put him to sleep, however. She casts Daze and succeeds, which gives the party the upper hand… for now.

whispers: I like this guys statblock. Quote: "Gibs fights tenaciously, slashing at foes with his war razor or punching if unarmed. Somewhat of a misogynist, he focuses his attacks on women first, particularly those who seem to him to be attempting to “be men” (heavily armored women or those wielding two-handed weapons)"

whispers: I knew I should have gone paladin. XD

Grotak finally reaches the man and whacks him for some serious non-lethal damage

« d10+3 = 10 + 3 = 13 »

Nice. He's still standing

After that Edgar lands a punch worth of 2 dmg. The dude still is unfazed.

Finally Alais gets to cast her favourite spell:

Sleep - and let's pray it lands

Next Grotak strikes nicely

« d10+3 = 10 + 3 = 13 »

Nice

He's still standing though

what?!

(!!!!)

At this point the party was all:

(( maybe you should start running. ))

(( LB: with the blunt end of my axe ))

((You want us dead!!!))

... That's it, the fucker is a demon on disguise

28 non leathal damage so far

:3

I know. I' m keeping track :3

((do normal damage from now on))

Alais’ suggestion is taken heed of - no more dillydallying. Lightbane rushes at the guy and mircoulously grapples him. In return, the man slashes him for some impressive damage. Alais finishes casting Sleep, but Tzeentch does not like her very much so far.

: « 1d20+2 = 16 + 2 = 18 »
The fucker overcomes mind-effect



:3

Alais casts another spell but misses. Grotak does not make the same mistake.

alright this time normal attack (lethal): « d20+6 = 12 + 6 = 18 ». enough?

yep

« d10+3 = 6 + 3 = 9 »

Yeah, that'll take him down p. nicely

The GM has some good revelation for our heroes:

Gotta love how possessed creatures don't take nonlethal damage.

The party goes in the dumbstruck mode:

But there’s no time to waste - the man is dying. First thing, though Edgar, removes his weapon and binds him. Second, Alais provides him first aid and staunches bleeding. It turns out we were lucky enough to prevent the culprit from dying on us :p.

if you had taken one more turn to disarm/tie him up, he'd have been dead :p He was bleeding out at -9 hp :p

After so much action we return to Vanessa’s and Ulzir’s exploits.

you're standing in a deserted alley. the rest of your group went off to chase shadows or someshit. Music is sounding from the rooftops

We are following the sounds as they remove themselves from the rooftop Ulzir tried to climb to.

every so often they move to a different roof, but you can’t see anything moving up there.

roll perception to see if we can gain the roof in any way

(perception roll please)

« d20+8 = 9 + 8 = 17 »

« d20-2 = 13 - 2 = 11 »

This reveals another swarm of bugs are after the heroes

Lulz, more bugs

I've got more hearts than that.

COME AT US BROS

sounds good. roll initiative please

« d20+4 = 5 + 4 = 9 »

« d20+1+2 = 13 + 1 + 2 = 16 »

Mother of shit.

Not sure why people insist on staying near the stirge-attracting music but oh well

So here we go again: Never Split the party.

I cast daze on the stirge without number.

((and maybe there's gold somewhere))

Another swarm of oversized mosquitoes come flapping out of the night

« 1d20+1 = 19 + 1 = 20 »

Fuck. Off.


Epic mosquito is epic.

bzzzzzz

Ain’t the best start of all - and that’s just the beginning

1: « 1d20+7 = 15 + 7 = 22 »

WOULD YOU STOP

2: « 1d20+7 = 15 + 7 = 22 »

I MEAN IT

3: « 1d20+7 = 11 + 7 = 18 »

MOTHER OF TENTACLE PORN.

well, that's -3 total constitution loss this round

AGH!

* Vanessa asks "Are you alright?" in a whispers and towards the dark alley she's kind of leaving behind.

Undaunted, Ulzir attacks

THEN LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED

« d20+7 = 10 + 7 = 17 »

FEEL THE STING MOTHERFUCKERS

« 1d8+4 = 4 + 4 = 8 »

Ulzir has received initiative.

did i kill two?

one is chopped off, roll attack for cleave

(( you need to roll attack for the other ))

« 1d8+4 = 3 + 4 = 7 »

kinda wrong dice :/

Stirges strike back and make Ulzir suffer.

7 con left on you then. Plenty :3

Help me Vanessa!

Vanessa casts another Daze, which fortunately lands. Then Ulzir cleaves through two bugs - I would say effortlessly if he hadn’t grown so pale.

SUCCESS

The last bug keeps fighting.

4 con on ulzir

Ulzir misses terribly, and Vanessa readies her charge attack - sadly, as graceful as she was, her feeble physical strength didn’t let her land a blow.

Shit. Awful roll.

Yep. Congrats on your first melee miss 3

Eventually, Ulzir saves his sorry arse with one successful roll while Vanessa was cheerleading him into inevitable success.

Faito! Faito! Faito!

« d20+9 = 5 + 9 = 14 » « 1d8+4 = 7 + 4 = 11 »

Or rather he would have if it weren’t for the fact that at this point he was well beneath 0 hp. So it fell to Vanessa to drive the last stirge away with her dagger.

Oh god enough already

Let's get out of here

I need...a doctor...

Ulzir is looking ghostly pale

He's lost a *lot* of blood

Are you alright? You look rater... dry.

Which is conveniently splattered all over the ground and himself now

Again, for splitting the party. I was worried the encounters would be too easy now that you dinged



Of course Ulzir wouldn’t be himself he didn’t take advantage of himself being bled out like a pig after Easter and not hit his charming companion. Being covered in your own blood is but a minor annoyance, after all.
I need you to prove to me that you still love me even though you abandoned me.

A long, wet proof.

Ulzir. you're covered in stirge gunk and your own blood

That's kinda a disgusting image

that only turns him more on

I'm covered in the remains of VICTORY.

And almost unconscious from blood loss.

I believe he can barely talk.

definately delirious

I doubt he will be able to say that, yes.

This may be our last chance.

and now the remaining blood is all flowing into the nether regions

Quick, grant me one last wish.

A kiss from a lovely witch

true. Wonder if an erection would be fatal to him at this point

to keep me warm on my way to hell

let the dice decide ;p

what's you ac witch? emotional ac

You have obviously lost your mind. Let's get you back to the estate. And, eww, to a bath. Soon. Quick. Urgently, even.

We'll talk about this later then,

I'm sure we will.

Perhaps in some other time-continuum the scene above would have taken place. Alas, because Ulzir sustained too grave wounds he was unable to say any of that. It fell to Vanessa to drag him safely home

While Vanessa urges Ulzir on to a bath, we rejoin Edgar, Grotak and Alais. Unfortunately, it becomes apparent there’s going to be some friction in the group.

I say we go to the temple

once again alais, I think we should question this... puppet privately

No, my friend. The man is dying, and his condition may turn worse. As far as we know he might still be under malicious influence of the ghost

oh btw I check if the guy has written something on the memorial before we disturbed him

Among the various spatteres you notice the letter "S" written in blood

or whatever spirit it was

He's all tied up and we can always bring him to the temple in the morning. He is stable as far as I can see.

This is beyond our expertise.

it's time we receive some answers.

From a possessed man?

for all we know the temple might be involved in all of this

We deon't have the means to harm the creature dwelling within him

you know magic and we got this board back home... we might be able to communicate with the human inside

I don't plan to harm him, I only seek answers.

I don't have to knowledge necessary to banish such creature, least of all to force it to give the answers.

but I see that this debate is going nowhere, how about we meet up with Vanessa and Ulzir - we need to make sure they are ok and i would like to know what they think

I say, we had to the temple - that's imperative. The man is dying.

surely this poor soul will have some more minutes and vanessa might know about these things. I'm trying to get a compromise here. once again: let's at least see what Ulzir and Vanessa have to say and more importantly what they found out

(( That stirges suck? ))

I somehow doubt that seeing how as far as undead go I am this group’s specialist. Plus, taking innocent man into house may raise suspicion. Let's go to the authorities.

taking an innocent man we just cut open to one of the local authority might raise suspicion.

So we head to the damn temple. to patch him up

you go ahead, I have no part in this.

you do - I need your help draggin him

edgar can give you a hand if he desires

* Grotak walks back towards Ulzir and Vanessa

I'll take the whole blame on myself if worst comes to worst ((can we assume I and Edgar dragged the man?)).

(( I honestly don't know what edgar would do ))

Sure

Just let us go with it

well ed and alais to temple and grotak back to ulzir and vanessa then

Fuck it - we go to the temple

So story is Edward and Alais are carrying the homicidal maniac to the temple, Grotak joins up with Vanessa and Ulzir. Once the first group reached their destination:

Bones of the mistress, what on earth happened here?

Venerable father, we need your aid once more. This man - he attacked us near the Harrowstone Memorial.

* Father Grimburrow channels energy.

« 3d6 = 12 »

that's 12 hp regained for alais and edgar. Gibs is also back in positive hp, but remains unconscious

I think he was under influence of some magic, father. He didn't behave rationally - he attacked us without provocation.

Hm... I think you'd best come inside while one of the acolytes fetch the sheriff

Yes, father. But I would request to have the man watched and tied

some minutes are going to pass while the acolyte runs off and wakes up a grumpy sheriff. Gibs will remain tied up like a ham.

We rejoin Vanessa & crew in the meantime


So did you find out where this obscure music was coming from?

We did discover nothing other than the bugs are attracted to it somehow. And that the origin of it may fly, too.

A flying piping bag eh? This is getting more curious by the minute.

Fucking things bit a chunk of my head off.

Well, that and Ulzir being quite tasty if you are into blood.

Ulzir! I almost didn't recognize you!

I'll take that as a compliment.

Grotak! I immediately recognized your hideous face! So, I see you killed a man. Nice.

nah we didn't kill him - like I said Alais dragged him to the temple. which will get us into trouble with the sheriff for sure.

So you dragged a man against hiw will. Even better.

have any of you seen our host yet? Edgar feared the mad men might have done her harm

Edgar always fear someone did her harm.

Kendra is fine. Kinda keeping to herself, politely trying not to let it show that her guests are sociopaths.

Alright. Then I'll go take a bath and then I'll try to socialize with Kendra, talk about stuffies, thank her for letting us stay after all the trouble, play cards with her, etc. Resolve it with a diplomacy roll if you don't want to roleplay "Girls talk about girly thingies".

I'm wondering if we will find Alais in a prison cell tomorrow - wake me if anything interesting should happen

* Grotak goes off to bed.

girly thingies and stuffies. Gotcha

XD Narrator: Meanwhile... *images of alais in chains*

We are going back to Alais

Right, Grimburrow, would you mind telling me why I'm being pulled here at this ung--- flame and ashes, what have you done to Gibs!?

We haven't done much to him sir - most of the damage he did himself.

I was hoping to find that out myself, Benjan. This lovely young lady and her accomplice brought him here. I've been holding off on the tale until you arrived.

Hrm... If you would be so kind as to stand over there a moment

Yes

* Father Grimburrow gestures to a circle painted on the temple floor.


thank you. Now, please, explain what happened to bring you here with gibs tied up like this. Short and precise if you please

((can I talk normally?))

((or will you do that part for me?))

(( Seems like it ))

(( You'll have to roll will saves to lie, though :p ))

(( zone of truth. I'll let you succeed that spellcraft check for free ))

We've encoutered this many around the Harrowstone Memorail. Unprovoked he attacked us shouting "You shall not prevent our escape! The woman will die again!" This lead me to believe he was either insane or under some sort of enchantment. We fought for our lives doing all we could not to harm him.

(( "all we could not to harm him... then the dwarf hit him with an axe" ))

Once we struck him down we immediately provided first aid. Unsure what to do with the man Edgar and I resolved to bring him here to the temple.

I tied him and removed his weapon so he wouldn't accidentally hurt himself

What do you think Benjan?

We were certain that whatever the cause of the man's behaviour was the temple could provide him help and give us the answers.

(( have you mentioned Alais' wounds? )) She was attacked with a knife, that will help our arguments.

Hm. It sounds incredible. But I suppose I can't argue with your magic, Grimburrow. I'll have him locked up and questioned.

I would ask you to observe the man closely. I cannot rule out some demonic possession.

If the temple can be of assistance you know where to reach me

Yes father. Thank you.

I should probably also send someone down to clean up at the memorial before the gossip battalion shows up at dawn as well *sigh*

((Fuck yeah - I hoped Frimburrow would cast Discern Lies or similar spell on us))

Benjan marches off with Gibs (the madman) in tow.

Ok, come on Edgar. Let's head back home.

*at alais* By the way miss

Yes, father.

I know you aren't here at the best of times. I'm not sure what caused Gibs to behave so strangely. But as a sort of compensation - if there is anything else the temple can do for you for the duration of your stay, don't hesitate to ask

Father there are two things. The first thing concerns poor Gibs. I fear he was under some enchantment that made him behave so strangely. I would request you perform exorcisms on him and try to determine what adled the man's brain.

tough*

Secondly, there's the matter of your library
* Father Grimburrow nods.
I would request extended access to it with my companions.
* Edgar smiles.

I'll assist the sheriff in any way I can of course. But I cannot simply barge in and demand to cast spells on his prisoner. I think we can arrange access to the library however

Thank you father

Anyways, should we ask him for the list or not? I'll ask him to heal Ulzi as well.

You don't know he's sick.

Then we need to ask him for free restoration potions. Actually, I will do so.

I should, however insist on the matter of determining what caused the man to attack us. I am certain it was some nefarious power. Now, if we may go father.

Give it a few days child. I've found it's best to wait until Benjan asks me for assistance instead of trying to move in on his job.

Of course father.

By the way Father, may we ask to buy some of your restoration potions? With a discount, if that's possible

* Vanessa facepalms.

Hm. We do have a small amount of restoration potions. But they are expensive to produce. How does a 25% discount sound?

Hmm, that's more than fair father.

Thank you, we'll keep these in mind if we need them. Now, shall we go back, miss Alais?

One more thing. We encountered some malicious beasts - the stirges in town - as unbelievable as it sounds. We were wondering if you could perform healing of the ailments those creatures cause?

The diseases, yes. For blood loss I recommend plenty of water and bedrest

That's all, good night, Father Grim. Come on, Alais

Time passes, it's next morning. Back at Lorrimor’s estate, lots of talking about healing, potions, random items, gold and stuffies. Finally, however, Edgar and Grotak decide to venture forth and investigate the magic shop in the town. Alais resolves to go to the library to find out a little bit about the list of prisoners.

so anyways, a new day dawns

Yes, time to investigate the magic shop, before I forget about it yet again.

Alais when you look into the list remember to look out for the letters we found, I still think they might be connected to the prisoner the professor spoke about

Edgar -- as you enter the magic shop you notice an old man sitting in a chair in a corner. He looks up from the book he was reading

Welcome to the unfurling scroll, stranger How may I assist you?

Greetings. So, that's a nice magic shop you have. How did you do it?

How did I do what?

I mean, it seems there's an irrational hate to spellcasters in this town.

There's a suspicion against outsiders. I'm a respected upstanding member of the community, so no one bothers me much.

I see. May I have a look at your wares?

Of course. Anything in particular you are interested in? I've several books, a fine selection of scrolls and reagents. A few enchanted items.

Do you have only books in magic nature or also history books, especially concerning this town?

* Alendru taps his chin

I've a fair selection of books in the back room, including some local histories.

* Edgar casts retroactive action

would you mind if we would browse the selection of books? (( whats that LB? ))

Also, before I forget. Which type of enchanted items are you offering?

Browsing is fine, of course. If you intend to do so for extended periods I'll have to charge a small fee of course

Oh, can you identify magical items?

Certainly, for a quite modest fee I'll put my magical talents at your disposal for that

Also, before I forget. Which type of enchanted items are you offering?

A few wands mainly. I've an enchanted ring that will make it harder for those who wish you harm to hit you

If you don't mind me asking, do you see lots of customers here? Any regulars by chance?

Do you have wands of healing?

Ah, you'd have to see the temple for that. I deal with arcane magic. I leave divine blessings to those with a higher tolerance for incense.

OH well. Then I will give it a look at these books you offer, then I'll ask you to identify an item for me, if you don't mind.

That ring your spoke of earlier made me curious, what would you charge for it?

There are several bookcases full of books. They seem to be stored in no particular order.

for the ring? Two thousand gold pieces. Or an equivalent sum in gems or other trade goods.

* Edgar gives a look at the books

2000 gold pieces? How long has this ring sitting on the case I wonder? You can't get that many customers interested in these things?

Edgar -- like I said, there are several bookcases full of books. If you pay the fee to peruse them for an extended period it functions as a library for research.

It's an investment. It'll sell eventually. 2000 gold pieces is a very fair price I assure you.

* Grotak joins Edgar at the books

How much do you ask for using the books?

You can find some local histories. You could probably learn more about Harrowstone here. You don't see anything conspirational enough to deal with the whispering way itself

for extended study, I charge 10gp per day in the library

So, tell me man, do you know what is this? *shows up the ouija board*

Hrm... Yes, I believe I could find some relevant information on this item. My time would be worth 25 gold pieces at least of course.

(( haggle him down ))

(hmm, I have only 3 gp left)

(and a penalty to charisma, so... USe your talking skills, dear dwarf)

(( use mad conversation skillz ))

Well, not trained

(( haggling also could include some LARPing *hint hint* ))

(( you can try identifying an item again every day, you know ))

« 1d20+4 = 20 + 4 = 24 »

(( just sayin' ))

woah

w00t. he will pay us now.

Lightbane -- using your acute appraisal skills you do the mental arithmetic and realize the wizard is actually offering to do the identification for 50% of the PHB list price. He's basically being *extremely* fair to the point it's almost suspiciously so.

Thus Edgar pinpointed a suspicious fellow in town.

((Good info))

I see. Unfortunately, we don't have the money to pay right now, we'll come back later. Shall we go back, Grotak?

(( shit guys, session is almost over and we still haven't seen the major dungeon :/ ))

I guess there's nothing left here to do.

With that we move to the investigation in the library

Right, Alais, you wanted to do research in the temple? You going to ask father Grimburrow for help with your research? It may give you a bonus to the roll, but he'd know what you were looking for.

Yes, I actually wanted to ask him about the prisoner list first, but if this speeds things up, let's just have us research together.

There weren't too many prisoners in Harrowstone by the time it burned. I think the temple inherited some old manifests from the town hall some years back

If I could have a look at it father, I would be grateful

He shows you to the relevant shelves in the library in the temple basement.

I'm gonna let you has a +6 on your knowledge(local) or knowledge(history) to research the 5 prisoners

With so great boost Alais is confident she will succeed. Alas, the blasted dice…

((history then)) « d20+8 = 9 + 8 = 17 »

phail



The girls does manage to learn something, nonetheless

Originally, Harrowstone housed only local criminals, but as the prison’s fame spread, other counties and distant lands began paying to have more 16 dangerous criminals housed within this prison’s walls. At the time of the great Harrowstone Fire, the number of particularly violent or dangerous criminals imprisoned within the dungeons below was at an all-time high.

At this point everyone was already a bit tired, and GM took the stand no one else dared to take

we're nearing a good time to wrap things up though. If we start up something new we'll run dangerously close to midnight

that's when the Gm turns into a gremlin and spawns dracoliches

With that, everyone agreed, it’s time to wrap things up. Before finishing Alais rolls for Ouija board identification, and succeeds!

« d20+9 = 16 + 9 = 25 »

The effects of these roll you can admire in the last post by Ulminati.

This concludes this week’s writeup session. What will become of our heroes + ines? Will they get their act together and finally start exploring perilous dungeons of the olden days? Will Ulzir recover from half-paralysis? Will Grotak break the prisoner Alais put in jail and squeeze information out of him? Will Vanessa get any useful info from Kendra about why the Whispering Way was after her father? Finally how the characters will use their newly-acquired items, and will they manage not to blow themselves up in doing so? Stay tuned for the next exciting adventure of Codex Pathfinder Squad

At last, the transcript!!
Good work, but some things were said out of character, yet you wrote them as it was said by them, like:

I don't know what was that about, but I guess it was something OOC, it makes little sense for Edgar to said this (unless he was a madman that randomly rambles, something he probably does).



There's one picture of this guy with no dialogue, perhaps you forgot to include it.

That was a reply to a random OOC thing, I think it was that Edgar was not really interested on Kendra (romantically at least).

Duh, he would help you, he's chaotic good after all. He's not a bad person enough to leave a defenseless woman alone at night, especially in a rape-friendly town. Also, I had to disappear for a while because I had to do some stuff IRL.

Edgar!

Chaotic good.

Compared with the average Dnd party, we are somewhat normal, at least we don't have Kenders halfings with us.

That was a joke I made that Edgar "magically" took the ouija board, we were wondering who had that so I joked he retroactively took it.

That's all, now there's the detail that I'll start with a new character next session, so I'll have to look for an excuse for the alchemist to disappear, perhaps something related with necromancer ninjas.

PS: Awesome song btw.

PPS: Also, Edgar kindly gave to each party member one of the healing potions.

Thanks for the write-up! It was a good session.

Yeah nice write-up, though as Lightbane mentioned some out of character stuff got mixed in here and there.

Yeah, as I said - it's more of a transcript than writeup. Sometimes I felt ooc stuff was necessary to give characters proper motivations, and explain why we were taking such and such course of action. Some of it got mixed in it all, though. I tried editting it now but Codex threw me 'can't reach the server' error so I say, fuck it.

Assuming next session is this sunday 19th as we planned, I think I'll be able to make it (unless something bad happens). Hopefully the Summoner I made will work perfectly, otherwise I could be forced to yet rethink another character.

Seems to me bros I have a problem. Since last Saturday gamesurge hates me with passion - keeps banning me (g-line) whenever I try to connect. I don't have this issue with any other IRC service I am using. It appears to be the issue with one of the proxy servers my ISP has opted for, but I am not certain. I've tried to fix everything, but with little to no cooperation with gamesurge administration and my ISP the endeavour is doomed to fail.

Long story short - I won't appear on IRC this Sunday. Therefore, I ask Angelo to PM me IP address of the next Maptools server when he sets it up (it sometimes changes), so I can join you directly. Thanks in advance.

Also, I was going to write up our investigation summary today but I am kind of exhausted. Will do that tomorrow.

I'll post the IP in this Thread when the time comes, just in case anybody else wants to pay us a visit and can't use IRC either.

That sucks, perhaps Ulmi will have to ask one of the reserve players as a temporary replacement.

Just dropping by to confirm I'll be playing on the 19th.

A very short summary of what we know so far.

Since last time relatively little has changed. We are still in the dark about the whole Whispering Way deal, still we don't know anything substantial about the Harrowstone prison, we don't know anything about the prisoners. I blame 'dem rolls.

We do have the new set of questions, however. Firstly, who was the mysterious individual who has set stirges on us. My bet is it was some agent of the Whispering Way using some magical trick or device to lure the bloodsuckers to us. From OOC knowledge we could assume it was the shopkeeper-wizard, but it's just a conjecture that our characters have no way of knowing, and it might as well prove completely wrong lead.

Secondly, there's the matter of the madman scribbling some letters on the Harrowstone memorial. Exactly to what end did he do that, we have no idea... yet, From his words:

we can infer the following: we are dealing with multiple spectral undead with ability to possess human beings. From this update we know that:

So we can assume those ghosts or whatever they are the spirits of the prisoners, somehow magically bound to the ruined jail. What deserves particular attention is who bound them, or rather, who plays some part in locking them for good. Again:

Who on earth is that woman that evil being was talking about? This is a far-fetched guess but so far we know of only one woman that might have been in the prison:

There you go, mates. We have practically no tangible proof that the woman in question was the warden’s wife, but then again common sense dictates that it couldn’t have been anyone other than her.

Let’s try to infer what might have happened. One day the fire broke out in Harrowstone prison. Whether it was caused by accident or due to prisoners’ rebellion (more likely) is insignificant for now. In the ensuing commotion the prisoners tried to escape, but someone - a woman - prevented them. This is purely OOC but probably she sacrificed herself in the process - as far a real world folklore and ghost stories (aka. narrativium) go only such act could have ramifications in another life. Now she is the only thing that stops the ghosts of prisoners from… running away?

Anyway, if what I wrote there is remotely true then, lads we’ve got to make haste. Why, you ask? Because Grotak happened to ask the right question:

This coupled with…

… leads me to believe the clock is ticking. This was some kind of ritual to “kill” the spirit of a woman. If the scribble was complete the wrights will be let lose. In other words, if we dawdle too long the shit is bound to hit the fan. Somehow I don’t believe arresting Gibbs helped much to remedy this situation. The specter can always possess someone else.

And yet we have still a lot to learn… For one thing what is the nature of the ritual performed by those spirits? Who was the woman who the ghosts want to “kill” (was it really the warden’s wife)? Who is the mysterious stirge attacker? How Gibbs came in contact with the evil wright who possessed him? Plus, all the questions from the first paragraph of this writeup.

What we should do now? As much as I would like to go head on to the prison, there’s still stuff that needs finishing. First and foremost, we need to question Gibbs. He may point us somehow to the source of all this mess, or at least give us a lead about the nature of the spectre that possessed him. That won’t be easy considering that we have to go past the sheriff, who’d be unwilling to allow strangers pester his prisoner. Father Grimburrow could offer some help here, if we approached him nicely. Plus, if the man were still possessed he could aid us in determining what the hell this spectre is.

Secondly, there’s the list of prisoners. My guess is, once we obtain it we will know a lot about the ghost we are dealing with. Another lead is the woman - what she did and how we may help (?) her… with whatever she is doing. Then there’s the issue of the ritual Gibbs performed. Come to think of it, it may be worth questioning him about it. We may also find some clues in the temple library.

Thirdly, there’s that shady merchant Edgar kind of unmasked. This is just a hunch but he may be responsible for that stirge attack on us. We should investigate him carefully, perhaps even shadow him. That would be an ideal job for Ulzir.

My plan for the next session is simple. Let us spend 3 more days max for research and interrogation. Vanessa and Grotak could diplomatically force their way to the jail, preferably with Grimburrow’s assistance. Meanwhile Alais will bunker herself in the library and hope Tzeentch will stop hating her guts. She will investigate the prisoners, the woman and the ritual Gibbs performed or the phenomena that is keeping spirits sealed in the prison. Ulzir and Edward/Isaac could sniff around that shady wizard merchant. We all ought to pay close attention to what happens at the Harrowstone Memorial. Should one more letter appear, we go into the prison immediately.

Naturally, all of this is how I view things. As you’ve seen a lot of this is purely a guesswork and may be totally wrong. That’s why I insist on further research. If we hurry up and boil the research down to a few roll checks (I don’t see how I could larp that), those three days would go past fairly fast. Still, we need to interrogate Gibbs first, and a solid plan and the strong powers of LARP will be required for that. Whatever we obtain in those three days will have to suffice. After that we head to the prison and scream like witless virgins and die in agony kick some arse. Oh, and let’s not forget to ask father Grimburrow to heal Ulzir.

Again, is there anything I missed? Is my perspective logical, or convoluted as hell? Do you agree on this course of things, or would you prefer to do something else (perhaps going straight to the prison)?

BTW, when do we play next, lads?

When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east. When the seas go dry and mountains blow in the wind like leaves.

Or in other words: No one knows for certain. Might be days, might be weeks. Or never. Only time will tell.

Duh.

That was more a question to Ulm when he might be ready and an appeal to the rest to organise and declare when they could play.

I can play this weekend either on Saturday or Sunday. If everyone goes for that I'd rather know in advance to make plans. Failing that, any subsequent weekend is just fine.

I'm fine with any weekend.

This weekend Saturday would be better than Sunday for me, though Sunday could be fit in as well (98% guarantee at least ).

*bump* have the other two players contacted you in the meantime Ulminati? Is the next session happening on this weekend?

This weekend? Sorry, no dice for me. In fact, it's possible I won't be able to play anymore, sorry Next Monday I'll confirm if that's the case.

That's a shame. Do tell us when you have time, and when you feel like playing.

WTF happened brah? Sounds quite serious.

Oh, not much, it's just like these days I'm VERY busy, I barely have enough time to do anything