Finding the Spark (Pathfinder 1E Quest)

The Season of Still Stone

The market is alive with the clatter of pots and the shaking of wares as merchants as many and varied as their wares try to tempt the dwarf coin out of shoppers purses.

Acrid alchemical smells mingle with the sweet liquors likely to send you off to the land of dreams for a month, the smoky aroma of roast meats vies with the bitter scent of medicines you are assured can cure every ill from a migraine to drow poison. The logic to the last claim presumably being that if you got poisoned by a drow you are likely to be dead long before you have a chance to ask for your money back.

You quickly learn that the more colorful the awning the richer and better established the merchant is, with the ones who can only boast raglichen cloth being 'just swept out of the tunnels'. Whereas the more elaborate bloodweed coverings mark someone who has been dealing successfully in Cauldron for many turns of the seasons, like the red-maned fellow who buys Gorok's spider guts on the half-shell as well as the fist-full of water sponges you do not need, your own magic more than enough to see off thirst no matter how long the journey might be.

• Lost 3x Water Purification Sponge and Spider Remains
• Gained 35 gp

Though the trade does not come out to as much as you might have hoped you are at least reasonably sure that you are not being ripped off, and when adding the coin from Gorok's other hunts to your own carefully scraped together savings you come out with a decent chunk of coin, the gold-plating glinting enticingly in the low light of the market lanterns.

• Gain 130 gp (Gorok starting wealth) -> Total funds at 285 gp

Thus enriched you set off to find some armor to help keep Cob safe, or at least as safe as the goblin's natural inclination will allow, as well as perhaps get Gorok a better weapon than his claws or the great bone mallet hewn from the leg of a previous quarry. Alas, there are no dwarfs about to sell flowing chainmail or ornate axes, their caravans do not pass by Cauldron that often outside of the Season of Fire, but tucked away in a corner of the market you come upon a blue-scaled fellow garbed in crimson robes stitched in geometric fashion, silver dragons adorning his horns.


The sign hanging from the awning proclaims the messy piles of weapons, armor, and stranger paraphernalia strewn before him to be 'Hryx's Hoard'. It is a fair assumption to make that the trader's name is Hryx, or so at least you reason.

"Hryx is Great Dragon Lord, Destroyer of Derro, Ripper of Roppers, Slayer of the Svirfneblin..." The proclamations goes on for a bit in this alliterative manner, adding yet more impressive and bewildering titles, until at last he the kobold runs out of either breath or ideas.

"And this Hryx is selling his hoard right now to us?" you ask carefully, looking over the wares. Not a one of them has the faintest touch of true enchantment, though the fire-pots do glow with the embers of alchemical power.

"Yes, great Hryx doing you great honor in offering you glorious treasure of his hoard for shiny coin," the merchant proclaims, not even blinking.

Looking over his goods you mark at once that they seem to have been forged by many hands, from a crude ogre hook with blood rusted into the metal to a delicate star-knife adorned with silver runes. Some are not even weapons, but duergar tools that had been reforged for war by some smith of lesser skill.

Among the armors set on hooks behind him you spy lizard-skin shirts, a cuirass of bone and brass, another of scavenged dwarf-plate beaten into place with more ambition than skill and, strangest of all, black armor of supple snake skin and fungus wood treated with poisonous oils to make for a poor meal for any beast with a stomach less hardy than a slopper.

What do you buy from the kobold trader?

Weapons:

[] Spiked Gauntlet
Cost 5 gp Weight 1 lb.
Damage 1d3 (small), 1d4 (medium) Critical x2 Type piercing
Category light Proficiency simple
Weapon Group close
Benefit: An attack with a spiked gauntlet is considered an armed attack. Your opponent cannot use a disarm action to disarm you of spiked gauntlets.
Note: The cost and weight given are for a single gauntlet.

[] Short Spear
Cost 1 gp Weight 3 lbs.
Damage 1d4 (small), 1d6 (medium) Critical x2 Type piercing
Range Increment 20 ft. (thrown)
Category one-handed Proficiency simple
Weapon Groups spears, thrown, tribal
A shortspear is about 3 feet in length, making it a suitable thrown weapon.

[] Kuri
Cost 8 gp Weight 2 lbs.
Damage 1d3 (small), 1d4 (medium) Critical 18–20/x2 Type slashing
Category light Proficiency martial
Weapon Group light blades
A kukri is a curved blade, about 1 foot in length.

[] Starknife
Cost 24 gp Weight 3 lbs.
Damage 1d3 (small), 1d4 (medium) Critical x3 Type piercing
Range Increment 20 ft. (thrown)
Category light Proficiency martial
Weapon Groups light blades, thrown
From a central metal ring, four tapering metal blades extend from this weapon like points on a compass rose. By gripping the crossbar that runs through the weapon's open middle, a wielder can strike with it as a deadly melee weapon. Alternatively, by gripping it by the outer rim, a starknife's light, aerodynamic design allows it to be thrown short distances in a manner similar to a chakram.

[] Ogre Hook
Cost 24 gp Weight 10 lbs.
Damage 1d8 (small), 1d10 (medium) Critical x3 Type piercing
Category two-handed Proficiency martial
Weapon Group polearms
Special trip
This large crook of sharpened metal makes it easy to trip and catch fleeing opponents. Invented by ogres, most ogre hooks are Large and crudely fashioned—often from metal torn from previous victims' weapons and armor. Despite their poor workmanship, the rarity and peril involved in getting ogre hooks make such items quite valuable.

[] Pickaxe
Cost 14 gp Weight 12 lbs.
Damage 1d6 (small), 1d8 (medium) Critical x4 Type piercing
Category two-handed Proficiency martial
A two-handed version of the heavy pick, the brutal pickaxe is equally effective at breaking up earth and stone as it is at sundering flesh and bone. Often a weapon of convenience for commoners, the pickaxe is also a favorite among brutes and thugs who value the intimidation factor afforded by the immense weapon.

Armor:

[] Hide Shirt
Light Armor
Cost 20 gp; Weight 18 lbs.
Armor Bonus +3; Max Dex Bonus +4; Armor Check Penalty -1
Arcane Spell Failure Chance 15%; Speed 30 ft./20 ft.
Made from animal hide and giant lizard scales over a shirt of interwoven cords, these chest and shoulder coverings protect without restricting mobility.
The wearer of a hide shirt can make a DC 15 Strength check as a standard action. If he succeeds, the armor gains the broken condition and drops to the ground rather than requiring the usual 1 minute it would take to remove it. The armor must be repaired as though it had taken 8 points of damage before it can be used again; a broken hide shirt grants no bonus to Armor Class.

[] Lamellar Cuirass
Light Armor
Cost 15 gp; Weight 8 lbs.
Armor Bonus +2; Max Dex Bonus +4; Armor Check Penalty 0
Arcane Spell Failure Chance 5%; Speed 30 ft./20 ft.

Lamellar is a type of armor in which small plates of various types of materials are strung together in parallel rows using fine cord. Lamellar plates can be constructed from lacquered leather, horn, or even stone, though suits of iron and steel are the most common. Lamellar armor can be crafted into various shapes, including partial pieces such as breastplates, greaves, or even entire coats. The properties of specific suits and pieces of lamellar armor are determined by their material.
This armor consists of a light breastplate and shoulder guards made from lacquered leather plates bound together and fitted over a silk shirt.

[] Fungus Wood Armour
Light Armor
Cost 85 gp; Weight 25 lbs.
Armor Bonus +3; Max Dex Bonus +3; Armor Check Penalty -1
Arcane Spell Failure Chance 15%; Speed 30 ft./20 ft.

This suit of leather armor has plates of fire-treated fungus wood sewn over vital areas. Though not as effective as metal armor, it offers better protection than leather alone. Unlike metal armor, the wood is slightly buoyant, and the armor check penalty for swimming in this armor is 0. The noxious nature of the black-cap lacquer used in the construction of this armor means that any non-ooze living creature who uses a bite attack against the user must pass a DC 12 Fortitude save or become nauseated for 1 turn. The DC is increased to 14 to hold down a wearer which had been swallowed whole. A failure in the latter case leads to vomiting up the bearer

[] Scale Mail
Medium Armor
Cost 50 gp; Weight 30 lbs.
Armor Bonus +5; Max Dex Bonus +3; Armor Check Penalty -4
Arcane Spell Failure Chance 25%; Speed 20 ft./15 ft.

Scale mail is made up of dozens of small, overlapping metal plates. Similar to both splint mail and banded mail, scalemail has a flexible arrangement of scales in an attempt to avoid hindering the wearer's mobility, but at the expense of omitting additional protective layers of armor. A suit of scale mail includes gauntlets.

Alchemical Substances:

[] 5x Alchemist's Fire
Cost 20gp x vial

You can throw a flask of alchemist's fire as a splash weapon with a range increment of 10 feet.
A direct hit deals 1d6 points of fire damage. Every creature within 5 feet of the point where the flask hits takes 1 point of fire damage from the splash. On the round following a direct hit, the target takes an additional 1d6 points of damage. If desired, the target can use a full-round action to attempt to extinguish the flames before taking this additional damage. Extinguishing the flames requires a DC 15 Reflex save. Rolling on the ground provides the target a +2 bonus on the save. Leaping into a lake or magically extinguishing the flames automatically smothers the fire.

[] 4x Acid Flask
Cost 10gp x vial

You can throw a flask of acid as a splash weapon with a range increment of 10 feet.
A direct hit deals 1d6 points of acid damage. Every creature within 5 feet of the point where the acid hits takes 1 point of acid damage from the splash.

[] 2x Clear Ear
Cost 15 gp x dose

This green gel is poured into the user's ear and takes effect 2 hours later, enhancing senses and memory but increasing irritability. For 6 hours, the user gains a +2 alchemical bonus on Perception and Knowledge checks and a –2 penalty on all Charisma-based checks.

[] 3x Antitoxin
Cost 50 gp x dose

If you drink a vial of antitoxin, you get a +5 alchemical bonus on Fortitude saving throws against poison for 1 hour.

OOC: Here we are. Not the most gold you could have, but enough to get some decent armor and weapons, or stock up on consumables for a rainy day.