Finding the Spark (Pathfinder 1E Quest)

[X] Let them go, it's not worth the risk
-[X] Secure the priest, help calm the crowd.


To the bigshots here a priest causing sedition will be more important than a pirate, especially one with noble backers.
BBad blood might be an issue in the long run, but over the next weeks and months Scorpio will have to get new equipment, get uncursed, rebuild his crew and so on.

His backer is unlikely to support him in a personal feud with us, we'll be long out of Taldor before he's ready to take us on again.
 
[X] Follow the escapees
-[X] Cob expends one Mythic power to Shadow Teleport and Sirim uses two Mythic power to cast Dimension Step on Mina and Gorok, then follows.
-[X] Mina casts Mythic Heroism on Cob if she can before he teleports, or on Gorok if she cannot.


He DID say he wants to hunt us down and exact revenge.
I updated my plan a bit, to have Gorok cast a buff spells.
 
If we didn't have bad blood with these people, I wouldn't bother chasing after them, but we do, so we must.
Eh, to be fair they are pirates and attacked us. Could be they just view it as the hazards of the job, since blood feuds don't earn coin.

Granted, two of their friends did die in conflict and they lost their ship, so who knows.

[X] Let them go, it's not worth the risk
-[X] Secure the priest, help calm the crowd.


I think calming crowd and securing priest so he doesn't try his own escape is more useful here, and we can either track down escapees later or they will come to us, or even never see them again.

Point is, don't trust running after them without a full party and a plan.
He DID say he wants to hunt us down and exact revenge.
When did he say that?
 
I'm concerned about a trap. That sorceress has seen a lot of our abilities. But I also don't want to let them escape. So I'll vote

[X] Goldfish

and blame him if it goes south.
 
I'm concerned about a trap. That sorceress has seen a lot of our abilities. But I also don't want to let them escape. So I'll vote

[X] Goldfish

and blame him if it goes south.
A trap is unlikely. This rescue was put together on short notice. Adara has no reason to even suspect anyone nearby can follow her given the difficulty in noticing what she did and how it was done.

Sirim identified how she was targeting the captain, a Scrying spell. The Scrying sensor only shows 10 feet around its target, so she wouldn't even know if we were nearby without using more Scrying spells to locate us first. It's possible she did that, but Scrying is a 5th level spell and it takes 10 minutes to cast and only lasts one minute per caster level. If she knows the spell, she only has a limited number of spell slots, and if she purchased scrolls, she definitely has a limited number of them. 5th level spell scrolls are expensive and difficult to come by.

She's more likely to have been planning the rescue, securing an escape route and a safe house, than trying to set a trap for anyone who would follow her. If she's smart, she'll just be planning to use another Teleport scroll to flee far from Cassomir with the captain as soon as she is able to.
 
A trap is unlikely. This rescue was put together on short notice. Adara has no reason to even suspect anyone nearby can follow her given the difficulty in noticing what she did and how it was done.

Sirim identified how she was targeting the captain, a Scrying spell. The Scrying sensor only shows 10 feet around its target, so she wouldn't even know if we were nearby without using more Scrying spells to locate us first. It's possible she did that, but Scrying is a 5th level spell and it takes 10 minutes to cast. If she knows the spell, she only has a limited number of spell slots, and if she purchased scrolls, she definitely has a limited number of them. 5th level spell scrolls are expensive and difficult to come by.

She's more likely to have been planning the rescue, securing an escape route and a safe house, than trying to set a trap for anyone who would follow her. If she's smart, she'll just be planning to use another Teleport scroll to flee far from Cassomir with the captain as soon as she is able to.
She was nearby enough to cast mini-teleports, so I suspect Clairvoiance or some other scrying spell, not the big one.
 
Actually, I don't believe she'll flee the city.

She obviously had support for this, support that most likely came from the pirate's noble patrons.

They are also the best chance for the captain to get uncursed, get new gear and crew and so on.
For this maneuver, he's going to be deep in debt.

So I think a safehouse in Cassomir is the most likely location for the rescued.
 
Vote closed. Looks like we are going to try to chase these people down.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Oct 30, 2024 at 6:37 AM, finished with 12 posts and 6 votes.

  • [X] Follow the escapees
    -[X] Cob expends one Mythic power to Shadow Teleport and Sirim uses two Mythic power to cast Dimension Step on Mina and Gorok, then follows.
    -[X] Mina casts Mythic Heroism on Cob if she can before he teleports, or on Gorok if she cannot. Gorok casts Heavy Blades on his sword if he has a chance before being teleported.
    [X] Let them go, it's not worth the risk
    -[X] Secure the priest, help calm the crowd.
 
She was nearby enough to cast mini-teleports, so I suspect Clairvoiance or some other scrying spell, not the big one.
Could be. It's a lower level spell, so more easy to come by, but it's also more limited. The Scrying sensor it creates is immobile, so she would need to time her casting pretty accurately in order to have the spell in place at just the right moment.

The casting time is still 10 minutes and the duration is one minute per level, so if she's using a scroll the uptime is very short. Even if she knows the spell and she's at least 9th level, she won't get much uptime.

Clairaudience/Clairvoyance would be the most cost effective option, and it would mean she is more likely to have the funds for a Teleport scroll, if she can't cast it herself.
Actually, I don't believe she'll flee the city.

She obviously had support for this, support that most likely came from the pirate's noble patrons.

They are also the best chance for the captain to get uncursed, get new gear and crew and so on.
For this maneuver, he's going to be deep in debt.

So I think a safehouse in Cassomir is the most likely location for the rescued.
Depends on just who they're indebted to. If they're too wealthy and/or powerful, the threat of them trying to collect on the debt might keep the pirates from fleeing. Alternatively, the pirates might be willing to risk that to put the better part of a thousand miles between them and the authorities.
 
Depends on just who they're indebted to. If they're too wealthy and/or powerful, the threat of them trying to collect on the debt might keep the pirates from fleeing. Alternatively, the pirates might be willing to risk that to put the better part of a thousand miles between them and the authorities.
I mean, if the Wizard had support for this very operation, and it sure looks like it, given that Sirim thinks they had minor casters use Benign Transposition scrolls, then the debt will be very immediate and probably not allow for an easy escape.

Or simply if her patron bought the scrolls, they won't havd bought Teleport.
 
Arc 9 Interlude 6: Torchbearer's Torment
Torchbearer's Torment

12th of Kuthona 4707 A.R. (Absalom Reckoning)

Witless guards and hacking commons flopping uselessly about! Sir Pisca Fahlspar was livid at seeing the prisoners he'd dragged down half the Sellen get lost on the way to the goal and his rage was power. There was mage-blood in the house of Fahlspar from the dark days that ballads did not speak of when the brood of monsters ran loose, when pacts were made and pacts were broken before the Arodonites had come from the south with their holy book. A more pious man might have balked at the touch of a shadow-witch or the company of a goblin, but he would be pious on his deathbed, he vowed.

The world twisted with gut-wrenching suddenness and he was past the rock-fall, which he now discovers may have been put there for other reasons than to block pursuit. All four of them were standing in water, in foulness knee-high, the shit of Cassomir above sloshing down a gentle slope and the river-scum doing likewise. One of them turns and cries out on fright as the mage reveals herself, clapping one hand to raise a curtain of shimmering power between them, though a moment later it breaks with a whisper of shadow tongue like ice water dripping down his spine even in the midst of red rage.

He batters one of the pirates aside with the dull thud of flesh striking stone, then a splash of a body falling into the water. Hope they don't drown before they can hang... The thought goes through his head as the scarred iruxi warrior dashes ahead even faster than his own rage-fueled rush... then another wall rises and this time it holds. So he raises his sword and strikes, again and again... and again, light and steel against impossible force. A lesser blade would have chipped, a lesser man would have grown tired, but the runeblade of Fahlspar ate away at the magic. Not fast enough, not strong enough... never strong enough. The doubts that assailed his dreams came to him in the midst of the rage, clear as a voice in his ear.

Sirim Spellcraft (DC 20): 1d20+13 = 21 (Success)
Sirim Dispel (DC 20): 1d20+6 = 26 (Success)
Sirim Dispel (DC 20): 1d20+6+2 (Mythic) = 17 (Failure)
Wall of Force cannot be dispelled with Dispel Magic once cast
Pisca Damage: 2d6+18 -30 (Hardness) = 42/180 over 9 rounds
Gorok and Cob do not do enough damage to overcome the Hardness of the Wall

Never a light, always a sputtering torch. Never a real mage.

"I can get you past little light-bearer, just let me in. Step away from the others and I will carry you."


The voice wormed its way into his thoughts like spoiled fruit and sour wine, but this was not the first, nor the last, to try to take his will away. Some might name him fool, but he was no madman.

"Something's trying to get in my head!"

Sir Pisca Will Save: Unneeded due to Circle of Protection vs Evil
Sir Pisca Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20+12 = 13 (Failure)
Cob Perception: 1d20+16 = 21 (Failure)
Gorok Perception: 1d20+14 = 17 (Failure)

At last the wall broke, though not from the bettering of the rune-blade, simply the incontestable passage of time.

What do you do?

[] Try to find the source of the voice that tried to tempt Sir Pisca

[] Continue chasing the pirates

[] Write in


OOC: Wall of force is a hell of a spell when you really need something plugged up. On the other hand, Adara did just spend two fifth level spell slots.
 
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Oh great, another party at play? Maybe that person that Mina saw earlier?

In meantime, sounds like most of pirates got away, and not sure we can chase them down at this point.
 
Incidentally Pisca is in the middle of a bloodrage right now, his emotions running wild, but it's Greater Arcane Bloodrage which is why it's so articulate. Being an arcane Bloodrager can be a bizarre and disjointed feeling at times.
 
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Damn, those 9 rounds give them enough time to get well ahead of us, to escape entirely or plan an ambush. It sucks that Kori isn't here, but Pisca is and it appears that he is at least an 8th level Bloodrager with the Arcane Bloodline. That's much better than I was assuming.

Whatever tired to get into Pisca's head is a concern, but not one we can afford to worry about right now, IMO. Short of finding and killing it, if it's even present, there isn't much we can do about it. Everyone is protected by Mina's Tough Crowd spells and Sirim's circle, so we should remain focused on the escapees.

Mina using Mythic Heroism twice will reduce her remaining Mythic power to 2, the same as Sirim. That gives us enough wiggle room to get creative later on if necessary.

[X] Continue chasing the pirates
-[X] While waiting for the Wall of Force to expire, Sirim casts Mage Armor, Shield, and Lesser Angelic Aspect on himself, Invisibility on Cob, and Mina casts Mythic Heroism on Cob, used Wild Arcana to cast Delay Poison: Communal on everyone, and Mage Armor on herself. Cob activates his Slippers of Spider Climbing to travel along the ceiling of the sewers. He'll lead the group while staying within range of Sirim's circle, searching for traps and using Detect Magic from the Cloak of the Hedge Wizard.
 
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Shouldn't we be casting Haste if we wanted to pursue?
Not really. Haste has a short duration and we're not really in the right terrain to take advantage of the extra speed. Knee deep in sewage in a sewer tunnel makes it almost impossible to rush, and we have the added difficulty of needing to check for traps and ambushes.
[X] Continue chasing the pirates
-[X] Mina casts Mythic Heroism on Cob, Sirim casts Invisibility on Cob, and Cob activates his Slippers of Spider Climbing to travel along the ceiling of the sewers. He'll lead the group while staying within range of Sirim's circle, searching for traps and using Detect Magic from the Cloak of the Hedge Wizard. Once it's her turn again, Mina casts Mythic Heroism on Gorok. Sirim casts Shield on himself. Sirim and Mina cast Mage Armor on themselves while waiting for the Wall of Force to expire.
Updated my plan a bit to have Mina cast Mythic Heroism while we wait for the Wall of Force to expire.
 
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Giving it 90% that we'll just run into a Cloudkill or summoned monsters that can delay us even more, until we loose the trail.

The voice might be the Shadowdemon, if it is still stupid enough to target us.

[X] Turn back to secure the priest and calm the crowd.
 
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