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Age of Ice and Blood: A Pathfinder System Heroic Fantasy Quest

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Arc 15 Post 15: On the Brink
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    • On the Brink ​

    Nineteenth Day of Olweje-eza (Olweje Ascendant), 1349 A. L. (After Landfall)

    "Who are you who would trespass into the halls of this ship seeking treasures that you did no earn?" you ask, as much to give the others time to surround him as from any expectation that you would find and answer.

    "It is a foolish hunter who gives away his spots."

    Though can no longer hear Inge, but you can feel the chill of her power in the air, the blessing of the Lady of the Depths sparing Runs-in-Rain her embrace. Perhaps he does not see it, or does not care, cold are the pale eyes framed in some manner of script upon his skin, from the top of his bald head to his collarbone, his mouth set in a harsh line.

    "Why do you hunt the bones of that which is dead?" you ask as you feel your senses sharpened, and with those senses the first thing you feel is Zaia's hand at the back of your neck slick with oil.

    "The world is a circle and not an arrow straight." The thief's head twitches in the direction of Inge and he hisses. "I see you girl. I have sent your like to your mistress before, do not think that the holy vestment will guard you from my blade. for the salvation of the Ten Thousand much must be given."

    "Who are the Ten Thousand?" you grasp at the odd word.

    "The Ten Thousand are not, but will be, they are the salvation of the world as they have been in ages past," the words are spoken with the conviction of a zealot, deep in his faith whether it be to lord or cause or god. "Stand aside and we shall not trouble you again, slay me and you will have earned the black fate of a foe that does not sleep."

    "Well lucky us we don't have a fate!" Antonio jeers. "Unless you think killing the girl proves something let her loose, return that you have stolen and maybe then we can talk about what vows you might swear to be let loose."

    Oola meanwhile is trying to say something you realize, to say without words, but you have not the skill of reading lips that it is said the most profligate of intriguers possess so you do not hear her... at least not until Swift Pebble returns to herself and translates. "She asks you to aim for the eyes if you strike, he might miss."

    You look down at the tendrils of false flesh, trying to judge how strong they might be, but you do not know the substance of them, nor what sorcerers power is in their making.

    "I think he is being honest about as far as he knows," Esha whispers in your mind but she takes half a step forward. "I aslo think he is a pawn and we should not trust his words to bind his masters."

    What do you do?

    [] Let the thief go

    [] Fight
    -[] Write in

    OOC: This was ironically enough tricky to write because of how little was in there before the next vote, I kept trying to make the conversation work, but with who the people are it just doesn't.
     
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    • I think we should fight, something along these lines:

    1. Before the fight Roland changes his Tactical Presence to Indomitable Presence, which gives among other things Diehard to allies in 30 ft radius.
    2. We fight the thief.
    3. First thing, try to separate the kid from the thief, the kid goes to Inge to be healed if required.
    4. Until the kid is out of range of the thief, Roland defends her with all his applicable abilities.
    5. If possible, take the thief alive to try further interrogation, in particular to get more info on who we might be in danger from, on his allegiance and where our dragon bones may be.
    6. If the thief looks to be escaping, Marcella should try to eat him.
    7. After the fight we prepare to interrogate the thief if he is taken alive, and if general quarters is not sounded, it should be done and Antonio should check if any external danger is nearing Marcella.

    @Goldfish, what do you think?
     
    DragonParadox said:
    "The Ten Thousand are not, but will be, they are the salvation of the world as they have been in ages past," the words are spoken with the conviction of a zealot, deep in his faith whether it be to lord or cause or god. "Stand aside and we shall not trouble you again, slay me and you will have earned the black fate of a foe that does not sleep."
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    A legend of those world-saving Romans maybe?

    If we somehow spin this right we might sell his masters that we are the next best fateless world-saviours.
     
    Artemis1992 said:
    A legend of those world-saving Romans maybe?

    If we somehow spin this right we might sell his masters that we are the next best fateless world-saviours.
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    Yeah, good catch, we should try that during interrogation, but first we should still resolve the hostage situation.

    Edit: We might try to tell him something in latin right now to establish our credentials and then try to convince him with whatever we know of the Romans who were here before us, but I'm not sure it will be more successful then attacking him and conversing with him later.
     
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    So if we are to try one last diplomacy before going for the fight, it may be something like this:

    [X] Check if what he's talking about is related to the Romans who were here before us.
    -[X] Are you talking about fateless men who came here in the past from another world and stood against the daemons, the daemons wanting to use them for their own ends? Men who spoke in the language of Latium? (Zaia should demonstrate that we know it.)
    -[X] If Roland doesn't see a favorable reaction from the thief, fight him as per     Goldfish's plan.
    -[X] If Roland sees that it's gotten a favorable reaction out of the thief, try to convince him.
    --[X] Tell him that we are as the Romans before, fateless and from another world who have to stand against the daemons if only because daemons would want to use us for their ends above all else.
    --[X] Tell him that we had not known of each other and had no fight with each other before last few days, are we really enemies and not natural allies if we stand against the same threat? As we are the same kind of men opposing the daemons as those before us?
    --[X] If convincing is unsuccessful, fight him as per Goldfish's plan.

    Now I actually think we should try to do this, we lose nothing from several seconds of talking, and if the confrontation can be resolved peacefully, we should try, the risk to Ooloa will be less.
     
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    Okay, capture is all well and good, and that would be useful, but I'm not going to assume we can do so. If we can't interrogate him afterward, we can try to arrange a Speak with Dead session with his skull in a few weeks.

    Roland Charging the thief is the fastest way we can get to him in hopes of saving the hostage. It also works very well with one of his maneuvers, so that between various effects Roland will have a +15 attack bonus against the thief. With Inge providing a Fortune Hex, that's about the most we can do in this situation to take the thief out before the hostage is killed. The bonus is so high I'm thinking about having him Power Attack, reducing it to +13 but inflicting another +4 damage.

    I've got Esha targeting him with a Cause Fear spell because, assuming he's 5th level or lower, it has a good chance to Frighten him, which should focus his mind on physically escaping rather than attempting to harm the hostage, and even if he saves, he'll be Shaken for 1 round, making it easier for Roland to subdue or slay him. Blindness would be a more effective method of subduing him in the long-term, but wouldn't do much to prevent him from killing the hostage before we can stop him.

    [X] Fight
    -[X] At Roland's urging, Swift Pebble asks the Changeling hostage to lift her feet from the floor and to go limp when he attacks, so that she becomes dead weight and more difficult for the thief to hold onto, and to attempt to change her size if possible to make escaping him less difficult. As soon as she is free from him she should try to get to Inge as quickly as she can if she has been injured. Roland switches to Indomitable Presence.
    -[X] Roland uses Encouraging Roar as a Swift action, then Charges the thief using Panthera on the Hunt to attack (+15 [1d8+7+1d6]). He doesn't attempt to fatally injure the thief, but to instead disable him sufficiently to prevent injury to the hostage and his escape, but doesn't hesitate to land a fatal blow if necessary.
    --[X] Wanderer will Rage as a Free Action and Charge the thief alongside Roland, attacking with Reckless Abandon (+13 [1d10+10]).
    --[X] Tom will order the hatch closed to make it more difficult for the thief to escape Marcella's hold, then he and our spearmen will position themselves in front of the mages to intercept the man if he manages to break free and get past the others.
    -[X] Esha targets the thief with a Cause Fear spell.
    -[X] Inge uses her Fortune Hex on Roland.
    -[X] If he hasn't already, Zaia drinks his See Invisibility extract.
    -[X] If he can, Antonio asks Marcella to grip the thief as tightly as she is able for the next few seconds, but also gives her permission to consume him if he manages to somehow escape his bonds.
     
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    Tomcost said:
    Why are these guys not proposing to buy the bones from us?
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    Maybe they don't believe that we'll part with them, or need them with 100% surety and are not willing to gamble on our willingness to sell them?

    @Goldfish, what do you think of trying one last diplomacy before the fight, checking if mention of Romans and their language gets a reaction out of him, fighting him as per your plan if it doesn't and trying one last convince if it does, again fighting him as per your plan if it's unsuccessful?

    We lose nothing, and it might help us.
     
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    If we really want to make sure that this guy doesn't escape, wht don't we use our first strike bonuses to trip him? I mean, he would be far more vulnerable and wouldn't be able to move much either. We can have all the bonuses you want to hit, but it won't modify the damage output.
     
    myrix said:
    Maybe they don't believe that we'll part with them, or need them with 100% surety and are not willing to gamble on our willingness to sell them?

    @Goldfish, what do you think of trying one last diplomacy before the fight, checking if mention of Romans and their language gets a reaction out of him, fighting him as per your plan if it doesn't and trying one last convince if it does, again fighting him as per your plan if it's unsuccessful?
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    I'm good with attacking him now, the faster this is over with the happier I'll be, but feel free to refer to my plan for combat when diplomacy breaks down.
     
    Tomcost said:
    If we really want to make sure that this guy doesn't escape, wht don't we use our first strike bonuses to trip him? I mean, he would be far more vulnerable and wouldn't be able to move much either. We can have all the bonuses you want to hit, but it won't modify the damage output.
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    Maneuvers are complicated to pull off in this sort of situation, especially when Marcella is holding him in place. If we were going to try anything, it would be Disarm, but he could have countermeasures for that. Would rather just attack him and try to force him to defend himself rather than attack the kid.
     
    Goldfish said:
    Maneuvers are complicated to pull off in this sort of situation, especially when Marcella is holding him in place. If we were going to try anything, it would be Disarm, but he could have countermeasures for that. Would rather just attack him and try to force him to defend himself rather than attack the kid.
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    Oh, he won't attack the kid once we attack him. Not worried about that. I am worried about him breaking free and making a run for it somehow.
     
    @DragonParadox, editing:

    For Arc 15 Post 14: Thief in the Night:
    Thief in the Night ​

    Nineteenth Day of Olweje-eza (Olweje Ascendant), 1349 A. L. (After Landfall)

    As the prow of the ship turns west the sailors start to mutter and to murmur, not that they fear battle for they have seen many, but because they fear such power as could call the desert wind against them, the horses grow uneasy in the hold. But as the hours crawl by and there is no sign of foes on the horizon, be they of the sorcerous sort or no, spirits start to grow bold and soon enough your new recruits start leading the sailors in one of the less well known Anwa arts: taunting.

    Now far be it from you to speak up in defense of pirates just because they are likened to the maggot-eaten head of a dead fish or a half-season old goat shit, but it does rather get in the way of slipping the noose unheard.

    So it is in the middle of disciplining such calls over the side that you hear the call in your mind: "Thief, thief!" Runs-in-Rain's presence in your mind falls off into dreadful silence, but not before his kin call out in a tangle of panicked voices: "He's below decks, he's below decks..."

    With Silver and Megin... with the children. How the Devil had they gotten down there?

    Not that it matters now, as you rush down the hatch you spy by the light of the swaying lanterns chests slammed against the inside of the hull, amphora of mead shattered, the sweet smell of it mingling with the far less welcome one, blood. You cannot see Runs-in-Rain and the voices of panicked children fill the long echoing space.

    "Silver has four of the children with him, but the eldest one, the girl is missing, he must have gone after Runs-in-Rain when he went to investigate," you can heat the frantic worry in Swift Pebble's voice over the fate of her kin, but Antonio cuts her off.

    "She can see him, Marcella can see him!"

    You follow stepping through the blood and the spilled drinks to find at last the intruder, but he is not alone. The green cloaked man whose carefully curled beard would not look out of place at festival time in Apuku is holding the girl with her arms pinned painfully behind her back one handed while the long leaf-shaped blade in his right hovers all too close to her neck.

    "I had hoped that I could take what my master needed from your hold without bloodshed, but you have chosen another path. Tell your beast to let me loose and I'll free the girl before I meet the sea. Refuse and she will be the first of you I send to Ikomi's embrace." Only then do you see that his legs are tied to the floor with coiled tendrils of blood and mead and twisting shadow.

    Another more lasting mind touch reaches for yours and with it Antonio's voice: "The chest with the dragon bones is gone."

    You hardly know or care about that, calling out sharply to the skulking bastard: "So then we are to trust the good word of a nameless thief who would make shields of children?'

    "Believe what you will, I have said what I would do," the thief responds.

    "I found Runs-in-Rain... he's not breathing," Swift Pebble calls over the conversation. "He can't be dead... he can't... can't... can't..." The denials merge into a murmur of horror. The familiar sounds of Inge's soft sandals in the dark mark her haste, to give either aid or comfort.

    "You are a dead man if you kill the girl," you point out even as tell another of the Otter-kin to pass on that you will save her.

    "If I don't get those bones back I am far worse than a man who died seeking them. The sand winds already blow... they are coming for us."

    Your eyes might not be as sharp as Inge's under the power of her patron, but you cannot for the life of you see where he could be hiding a chest that could fit all the bones, yet he behaves as one who has his prize.

    "He's not dead... not dead... not dead," Swift Pebble's relief practically screams in your mind. "She's heeling him now."

    What do you do?

    [] Take the deal

    [] Fight (You, Zaia, Antonio and Wanderer are in range; in 1d3 turns Tom and two of the other spearmen will make it into range)

    [] Write in

    OOC: Runs-in-Rain is at -8 HP and thus unconscious and in need of healing from Inge for at least one turn. Once she is done with that she can get back to the fighting in two more rounds.

    Also changed "As the prow of the ship turns east" to "As the prow of the ship turns west" as per your earlier fix on my suggestions, looks like it got lost in the edit.
     
    myrix said:
    @DragonParadox, editing:

    For Arc 15 Post 14: Thief in the Night:
    Thief in the Night ​

    Nineteenth Day of Olweje-eza (Olweje Ascendant), 1349 A. L. (After Landfall)

    As the prow of the ship turns west the sailors start to mutter and to murmur, not that they fear battle for they have seen many, but because they fear such power as could call the desert wind against them, the horses grow uneasy in the hold. But as the hours crawl by and there is no sign of foes on the horizon, be they of the sorcerous sort or no, spirits start to grow bold and soon enough your new recruits start leading the sailors in one of the less well known Anwa arts: taunting.

    Now far be it from you to speak up in defense of pirates just because they are likened to the maggot-eaten head of a dead fish or a half-season old goat shit, but it does rather get in the way of slipping the noose unheard.

    So it is in the middle of disciplining such calls over the side that you hear the call in your mind: "Thief, thief!" Runs-in-Rain's presence in your mind falls off into dreadful silence, but not before his kin call out in a tangle of panicked voices: "He's below decks, he's below decks..."

    With Silver and Megin... with the children. How the Devil had they gotten down there?

    Not that it matters now, as you rush down the hatch you spy by the light of the swaying lanterns chests slammed against the inside of the hull, amphora of mead shattered, the sweet smell of it mingling with the far less welcome one, blood. You cannot see Runs-in-Rain and the voices of panicked children fill the long echoing space.

    "Silver has four of the children with him, but the eldest one, the girl is missing, he must have gone after Runs-in-Rain when he went to investigate," you can heat the frantic worry in Swift Pebble's voice over the fate of her kin, but Antonio cuts her off.

    "She can see him, Marcella can see him!"

    You follow stepping through the blood and the spilled drinks to find at last the intruder, but he is not alone. The green cloaked man whose carefully curled beard would not look out of place at festival time in Apuku is holding the girl with her arms pinned painfully behind her back one handed while the long leaf-shaped blade in his right hovers all too close to her neck.

    "I had hoped that I could take what my master needed from your hold without bloodshed, but you have chosen another path. Tell your beast to let me loose and I'll free the girl before I meet the sea. Refuse and she will be the first of you I send to Ikomi's embrace." Only then do you see that his legs are tied to the floor with coiled tendrils of blood and mead and twisting shadow.

    Another more lasting mind touch reaches for yours and with it Antonio's voice: "The chest with the dragon bones is gone."

    You hardly know or care about that, calling out sharply to the skulking bastard: "So then we are to trust the good word of a nameless thief who would make shields of children?'

    "Believe what you will, I have said what I would do," the thief responds.

    "I found Runs-in-Rain... he's not breathing," Swift Pebble calls over the conversation. "He can't be dead... he can't... can't... can't..." The denials merge into a murmur of horror. The familiar sounds of Inge's soft sandals in the dark mark her haste, to give either aid or comfort.

    "You are a dead man if you kill the girl," you point out even as tell another of the Otter-kin to pass on that you will save her.

    "If I don't get those bones back I am far worse than a man who died seeking them. The sand winds already blow... they are coming for us."

    Your eyes might not be as sharp as Inge's under the power of her patron, but you cannot for the life of you see where he could be hiding a chest that could fit all the bones, yet he behaves as one who has his prize.

    "He's not dead... not dead... not dead," Swift Pebble's relief practically screams in your mind. "She's heeling him now."

    What do you do?

    [] Take the deal

    [] Fight (You, Zaia, Antonio and Wanderer are in range; in 1d3 turns Tom and two of the other spearmen will make it into range)

    [] Write in

    OOC: Runs-in-Rain is at -8 HP and thus unconscious and in need of healing from Inge for at least one turn. Once she is done with that she can get back to the fighting in two more rounds.

    Also changed "As the prow of the ship turns east" to "As the prow of the ship turns west" as per your earlier fix on my suggestions, looks like it got lost in the edit.
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    Thanks, fixed.

    Good night guys, see you tomorrow with talking and... combat, probably combat as well.
     
    Looks like it's again two plans with substantial differences, and we'll need more votes.
    Adhoc vote count started by myrix on Jul 7, 2022 at 4:02 PM, finished with 16 posts and 3 votes.
    • [X] Check if what he's talking about is related to the Romans who were here before us.
      -[X] Are you talking about fateless men who came here in the past from another world and stood against the daemons, the daemons wanting to use them for their own ends? Men who spoke in the language of Latium? (Zaia should demonstrate that we know it.)
      -[X] If Roland doesn't see any reaction from the thief, fight him as per Goldfish's plan.
      -[X] If Roland sees that it's gotten a reaction out of the thief, try to convince him.
      --[X] Tell him that we are as the Romans before, fateless and from another world who have to stand against the daemons if only because daemons would want to use us for their ends above all else.
      --[X] Tell him that we had not known of each other and had no fight with each other before last few days, are we really enemies and not natural allies if we stand against the same threat? As we are the same kind of men opposing the daemons as those before us?
      --[X] If convincing is unsuccessful, fight him as per Goldfish's plan.
      [X] Fight
      -[X] At Roland's urging, Swift Pebble asks the Changeling hostage to lift her feet from the floor and to go limp when he attacks, so that she becomes dead weight and more difficult for the thief to hold onto. Roland switches to Indomitable Presence.
      -[X] Roland uses Encouraging Roar as a Swift action, then Charges the thief using Panthera on the Hunt to attack (+15 [1d8+7+1d6]). He doesn't attempt to fatally injure the thief, but to instead disable him sufficiently to prevent injury to the hostage and his escape, but doesn't hesitate to land a fatal blow if necessary.
      -[X] Esha targets the thief with a Cause Fear spell.
      -[X] Inge uses her Fortune Hex on Roland.
      -[X] If he hasn't already, Zaia drinks his See Invisibility extract.
      -[X] If he can, Antonio asks Marcella to grip the thief as tightly as she is able for the next few seconds, but also gives her permission to consume him if he manages to somehow escape his bonds.
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    If you're up for sparing some seconds for one last try to solve it with words, however unlikely it may be, please consider my plan which tries one last talking point before the fighting. It's a chance to reduce the risk to Ooloa and maybe to get confirmation if this thief's beliefs are indeed connected to the Romans who were before us.

    If you prefer this to be over as quickly as possible, consider Goldfish's plan which goes straight to the combat.
     
    [X] Check if what he's talking about is related to the Romans who were here before us.
    -[X] Are you talking about fateless men who came here in the past from another world and stood against the daemons, the daemons wanting to use them for their own ends? Men who spoke in the language of Latium? (Zaia should demonstrate that we know it.)
    -[X] If Roland doesn't see any reaction from the thief, fight him as per Goldfish's plan.
    -[X] If Roland sees that it's gotten a reaction out of the thief, try to convince him.
    --[X] Tell him that we are as the Romans before, fateless and from another world who have to stand against the daemons if only because daemons would want to use us for their ends above all else.
    --[X] Tell him that we had not known of each other and had no fight with each other before last few days, are we really enemies and not natural allies if we stand against the same threat? As we are the same kind of men opposing the daemons as those before us?
    --[X] If convincing is unsuccessful, fight him as per Goldfish's plan.

    Information is key for now, finding out what the shit this guy is talking about could save us a lot of trouble in the future.
     
    @Goldfish, what do you think of adding to your fight plan additional instructions for Ooloa to use her Minor Change Shape to help her escape the hold the thief has on her? E.g. by making her arms thicker and her body stockier? And also explicitly tell her that as soon as she is free, she should get away from the thief and the fighting and get to Inge if she requires healing?

    There is a chance her Minor Change Shape can help, as we've seen her explicitly use it to make herself larger,
    DragonParadox said:
    and you realize with a start that she is now a dark haired and dark eyed boy as she gets off her perch. Being a little bigger seems quite helpful getting off that perch.
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    and at least for partial transformations she can do it quickly:
    DragonParadox said:
    and after a moment's just standing and watching the other girl she turned into a living mirror of her,
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    So, overall, changing
    Goldfish said:
    -[X] At Roland's urging, Swift Pebble asks the Changeling hostage to lift her feet from the floor and to go limp when he attacks, so that she becomes dead weight and more difficult for the thief to hold onto. Roland switches to Indomitable Presence.
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    to something like this:

    -[] At Roland's urging, Swift Pebble asks the Changeling hostage to lift her feet from the floor and to go limp when he attacks, so that she becomes dead weight and more difficult for the thief to hold onto, use her Minor Change Shape to help her escape the hold she is in, e.g. by thickening her arms and making herself stockier, and, as soon as she is free, get away from the thief and the fighting and get to Inge if she requires healing. Roland switches to Indomitable Presence.

    Also, Wanderer was in range from the start and Tom should be in range now. Perhaps add to the plan that they also should converge on the thief to help prevent his escape, and/or try to grapple (and pin) / disarm / trip him? Or, I'm not sure, Tom could attempt a Dirty Trick to entangle the thief? Wanderer also could rage until the thief is properly restrained or dead.

    Plus, for the other two spearmen who arrived with Tom, cut off any possible escape routes?
     
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