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Finding the Spark (Pathfinder 1E Quest)

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Arc 7 Post 46: Shadows At Noon
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    • Shadows At Noon ​

    25th of Lamashan 4707 A.R. (Absalom Reckoning)

    There's nothing to do but wait, weapons near to hand, as Sirim slips into the ground. He's planning to swing a wide arc around the camp, the better to ward off suspicions. Worse still, as far as nerves strung tight from waiting are concerned at least, he's planning to take his time. The first sliver of the sun had barely started to creep over the plains to the east. Time enough until noon.

    "Play bones?" Cob asks, shaking the bag of eclectic knuckle bones he's been gathering from many of Gorok's kills. "If Sirim-snake gets in trouble he can talk in our heads, doesn't matter what we do with eyes, ears, and hands. Keep mind sharp?"

    It's clear that Mina finds the prospect of playing a game while one of your companions is off assassinating a fiend dubious, but just as clearly can't articulate why. Personally you can see Cob's point, you might as well feign a lack of concern and if you should happen to get your mind off the worst of the waiting in the process all the better.

    In the end it proves a close game, luck going first this way than that as the fickle winds of chance blow, though it does leave you wondering if there is a trick to the throw, some motion of the wrist that will make the die fall as you will. Sirim, if he were here, could just move them of course... There's an idea if we ever find ourselves in need of money in a part of town whose goodwill you do not particularly value.

    About ten thousand beats or two of the Burnlands 'hours' off midday, the voice you had been expecting insinuates itself into your mind. "It is done."

    Akorian, Sirim, and Mina gain 667 XP
    Cob and Gorok gain 500 XP

    The alarm is not long coming, horns blowing from among the guards. Thus the four of you make your way out in a rush, armed and ready... 'to protect the camp of course'.

    "Something killed the prisoner, something shadow born, it clung to the body as he died!" Gavhaul's eyes are bright with searching anger. "Master Akorian..." You muster your defenses against mental intrusion as best you can. "Use your foresight to find what it was."

    Fuck... Either he's suspicious and thinks he has you with a hand pinned to the wall, or he suspects nothing and is simply using the tools he has to hand to deal with a dangerous outside threat. Keep it simple, keep it straight. With a nod you return to the tent alongside Mina and Cob while Gorok remains outside and on the watch for shadow fiends.

    On the one hand you could just scribble some nonsense on parchment and hand that in, the guilty party plucked from your own lies, but as you have been reminded of late, magic leaves marks. A spell that lasts an hour through will shine an hour through. The tent flap stays open to all eyes as you set about your task with serious manner and false foundation. Instead of asking a question to which you know the answer: 'who had slain the prisoner?' you ask: 'Who was it that sent the shadow fiends here?'

    Five verses in broken alternate dance before your eyes, written in script that flows like blood on the parchment, more muddled than any prophecy you've written. The most muddled of three, is it? The small voice in the back of your mind whose job seems to be puncturing your pride whenever it grows too large, pipes up.

    Crowned in thorns, of broken voice
    Of blood soaked ashes molded
    That now the darkness might rejoice
    Pages as grey moth wings be folded
    Behold the choice that is no choice     ​

    Automatic Writing: 1d100 = 11 (Success)

    With a grimace at its obtuse nature you hand the note to your employer. "Best I could do." It is, after a manner, true.

    For now at least it seems that that's enough, the wizard snatches it from your hand and walks off, a storm of muttered curses on his lips, the names of rivals maybe. It seems unwise to ask.

    Bluff vs Sense Motive: 35 vs 15 (Success)

    "Those things are still out there," Mina's somber warning puts paid to any celebratory mood your lie may have engendered. Warty seems to give an approving croak, or maybe he's just sleepy. "It is said that those who hunt the vampyr and other night-walking dead often move in the day, to stake them in their graves. Obviously these things do not have graves, but they can't be riding those bats over the plains in daytime, they'd be visible for dozens of leagues around. Maybe we should look for them during the day so they do not find us again at night." She gives Sirim a meaningful look.

    "She adds that if we can kill the kytons on our own terms we will not have to deal with more of them being taken prisoners. One death is mischance, two is a pattern." Somehow you do not think Mina said that last part, but the sentiment is no less true for it.

    What do you do?

    [] Attempt to scout during the day to find the fiends' trail

    [] Stick close to camp, you'll deal with them at night if they come at all with half their number dead

    [] Write in

    OOC: Rolls for the Sirim part hidden partly for spoiler reasons and partly because they would have been awkward to show. Sirim did recognize the power on Gavhaul's tent. Since it only identifies hostility to the caster and not a general desire to do mischief, he was confident enough to slide on in and zap the kyton.
     
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    • Too bad we still don't know what kind of Kyton these are.

    For all we know they can spend the day in the Plane of Shadows and only shift back to attack us.
     
    From the look of it our most common foes were Lampadarius, who can't planeshift or teleport more than a little Shadowstep.
    But those would be immensely hard to track, as they are naturally stealthy, floating and barely corporeal.

    The one we caught must have been something else though, since it didn't have Regeneration, or Sirim's attempt to kill it would have failed.
    So in short, no idea what kind of Kyton there might be besides.

    If they have even one Ostiarius, which is very much in our CR-range, then we can't catch them.
     
    Whew, that was uncomfortably close. We're going to need to be careful about having Sirim act anywhere in Gavhaul's presence. Or around anyone else in the expedition, really, since anything they see can make its way back to him. Best if he keeps up the act and sticks to "Familiar Space", hanging out in the party's shadows and not calling attention to himself.
    DragonParadox said:
    Crowned in thorns, of broken voice
    Of blood soaked ashes molded
    That now the darkness might rejoice
    Pages as grey moth wings be folded
    Behold the choice that is no choice
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    Does anyone in the party have any idea what this means, DP?
    Artemis1992 said:
    From the look of it our most common foes were Lampadarius, who can't planeshift or teleport more than a little Shadowstep.
    But those would be immensely hard to track, as they are naturally stealthy, floating and barely corporeal.

    The one we caught must have been something else though, since it didn't have Regeneration, or Sirim's attempt to kill it would have failed.
    So in short, no idea what kind of Kyton there might be besides.

    If they have even one Ostiarius, which is very much in our CR-range, then we can't catch them.
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    Yeah, that's what I figured they were as well. It also makes sense that an Ostiarius would be their delivery method. Being able to Shadow Walk with 100% accuracy is pretty nifty. It would have allowed them to triangulate Sirim's presence using their blood compass pretty easily.

    With that much accuracy, however, comes the issue that they could be anywhere within hundreds of miles, unless they have an agreed upon rendezvous point nearby. The chances we find that aren't great, but we do have certain advantages.
     
    Because they're Evil Outsiders, Gorok's Favored Enemy bonuses will apply against the Kytons, which includes Survival checks to track them. Between the various bonuses he has to that, including the +5 bonus from the Tracker's Friend goggles he's going to use instead of Cob, he'll have a +21 Survival bonus for the purpose of backtracking the Kyton's movements. If he can prepare a Deadeye's Lore spell before we depart, that will be another +4. And we have Pepper to help using his Scent ability.

    [X] Attempt to scout during the day to find the fiends' trail
    -[X] Gorok will use the Tracker's Friend goggles to aid him in locating and following the Kytons' tracks, and if he has time, he will prepare and cast a Deadeye's Lore spell in place of Lead Blades for further assistance. Pepper will help by trying to find their scents.
    -[X] Mina will use her Pass Without Trace SLA on everyone.
     
    @DragonParadox
    Did we see any escaping Kytons who were not flying or levitating?

    @Goldfish
    I believe if we don't have a proper trail to follow, then the attempt will be a waste of time.
    In that case we are better off spending our time trying to turn our travel-companions against Gavhaul, or preparing for the night-fight, or anything like that.
     
    Artemis1992 said:
    @DragonParadox
    Did we see any escaping Kytons who were not flying or levitating?

    @Goldfish
    I believe if we don't have a proper trail to follow, then the attempt will be a waste of time.
    In that case we are better off spending our time trying to turn our travel-companions against Gavhaul, or preparing for the night-fight, or anything like that.
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    If Gorok and Pepper can't find a trail to follow within a few miles, we can always turn back. The expedition isn't moving that quickly, so we can catch up to it easily if necessary.
     
    Nice to see plan worked out, and leave it to Cob to find a means for the party to relax while waiting, lol.

    [X] Goldfish

    Best to handle this ourselves if possible, and if Gavhaul asks we were sadly unable to get any prisoners.
     
    [X] Goldfish

    Kay.
    I think it will most likely be a waste of time, since it looked like there were enough bat-mounts and floating Kytons to make a trail on the ground unlikely, but not much harm done with the lost time.
     
    Artemis1992 said:
    I think it will most likely be a waste of time, since it looked like there were enough bat-mounts and floating Kytons to make a trail on the ground unlikely, but not much harm done with the lost time.
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    There is also a matter of serving as bait. They are after Sirim, so the party looking for them would be their best chance to get him. They are weakened, but we are fewer than we were the night before, without mercenaries and Gavhaul himself to aid us.

    I am not sure it's our best course of action, but it may work.
     
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    Nevill said:
    There is also a matter of serving as bait. They are after Sirim, so the party looking for them would be their best chance to get him. They are weakened, but we are fewer than we were the night before, without mercenaries and Gavhaul himself to aid us.

    I am not sure it's our best course of action, but it may work.
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    Their threat level is decreased significantly in daylight, where even a Deeper Darkness SLA isn't enough to inconvenience anyone in our party. Having Cob, Gorok, and Warty back with us makes a huge difference, too.

    Gorok also gets lots of bonuses against Evil Outsiders, and Cob's new +1 Alchemical Silver dagger will ignore their DR and suppress their regeneration.

    I hope they only had that one blood compass. It's possible there are more than one of them, but that's unlikely. If more than one exist, they probably didn't bring extras on this hunt.
     
    Vote closed.
    Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Jul 1, 2024 at 3:05 AM, finished with 17 posts and 6 votes.
    • [X] Attempt to scout during the day to find the fiends' trail
      -[X] Gorok will use the Tracker's Friend goggles to aid him in locating and following the Kytons' tracks, and if he has time, he will prepare and cast a Deadeye's Lore spell in place of Lead Blades for further assistance. Pepper will help by trying to find their scents.
      -[X] Mina will use her Pass Without Trace SLA on everyone.
    Click to expand...
     
    Arc 7 Post 47: Black Stone Points the Way
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    • Black Stone Points the Way ​

    25th of Lamashan 4707 A.R. (Absalom Reckoning)

    No one seems particularly surprised to hear that the 'lizard scout' is out looking for trouble. Indeed, many of the drovers and some of the sellswords throw dark looks and mutter about 'leaving evils lie in the ditch', much to Mina's annoyance. "If you are so fond of allowing wicked things to curdle in the earth, you should not complain when the whole lichyard wakes and comes for you!"

    The fellow in question, one of the mercenaries who had faced the fiends last night, though not the one who had been wounded, recoils and makes a sign against the evil eye, to which your friend just scoffs and walks off.

    "Live in a land blessed by the Gods and caressed by the sun and that's what they take from it? Just let evil things fester in the dark, I'm sure it will be alright." If you could squeeze her words for vitriol it could score stone.

    Gorok hisses softly in agreement while Cob keeps to loading Warty, paying no more mind to these disparaging remarks than any others while you offer half a nod and half a shrug. No worse than you'd expected, but someone else had been paying attention.

    The dwarf Urgor stomps over, scrupulously ignoring your greeting, again as you'd expected. "If it's hunting dead things you're after, you've my axe for the job." The axe in question gleams silver, scored with arcane runes in patterns that recall the night sky, or perhaps the sparks cast off a central forge. Something you heard about a dwarf god tickles at the edges of your memory, but it's gone before you can grasp it.

    Knowledge (Azlanti) (DC 24): 1d20+5 = 7 (Failure)

    Gorok measures him up for a moment, and not just in stature, judging how much of a hindrance he might be to the task of silencing the foe rather than dragging them back for Gavhaul to have another try at... whatever he had planned to get them to talk. He must have come to the same conclusion you did, since he motions the dwarf along.

    It's awkward, traveling with a stranger. The caravan had been filled with them, of course, some of whom you would trust less than Urgor, but in those very numbers there had been the very chance to lose yourself away from unwelcome ears. Now you have to watch what you say. Of course Sirim is listening, you can feel him at the edge of your mind, but that's no means to complain about the drone of insects getting on your nerves or chat with Gorok about the beasts he'd managed to trap up on the plains compared to the tunnels below or the forests of Cheliax.

    Finally you make it back to the site of the battle, marked by trapped down grass and the stone circled scars of many fires as well as enough refuse to feed whatever things scurry through the grasses for weeks. The idea that burnlanders do not use the left over bones for tools when they are done with them had been strange, but understandable, you guess, with the abundance of metal, but some of those bones had not even been broken open for their marrow or stripped of all the meat. Madness. Mina isn't the only one to find fault with your traveling companions. By what means Gorok manages to discern one trail from another in that mess you could not say, though it does involve a good deal of plucking grasses and crushing bits of soil between his clawed fingers.

    The road here heads northeast to Carpenden but Gorok leads you off it, straight east and directly towards the edge of the Verduan just as mist begins to settle between the low hills. As your gaze wanders among them you start to notice the stones are odd, jagged black edges peeking out of the earth like the rotting teeth of some long dead titan. The six of you come to the foot of one of these stones and stop as Gorok looks round and round for the trail. Finally he looks up at the mist-streaked sky. "They did not go from here, by ground or under it."


    "Those demon bats of theirs?" the dwarf asks, leaning on the haft of his axe. "Why trek all the way up here to get on 'em? What's so special about this piece of fool-rock?" He taps it with the tip of his boot. "Was just something the beasts would recognize, see from afar?"

    "A black rock at night?" Mina asks dubiously and not a little dispirited that you had come this far for nothing.

    "Bats don't see with just their eyes, but with their ears. I'm betting hell bats are the same. You won't find many rocks like this one, not in dozens of miles. I'll wager we killed the one who knew how to handle the beasts best, but they had been trained to come back here and wait, and the corpses knew that. So they got back on them and..." He casts his eyes to the horizon. "Where would a half-trained demon bat who'd had enough of arrows head from here?"

    Cob does not need any encouragement to scurry all the way to the top of the rock and do the same. He manages to spot, just on the edge of where the mist swallows up the horizon to the north, a line of hills lined up east to west like marching soldiers, with a gap between them just wide enough for a river to squeeze through on its way to the sea. By his judgement, which he calls a guess but you'd trust a hell of a lot more than any guess the rest of you might have, the beasts are likely to head for water and the protection of any nooks and crannys that will have them.

    Gorok Tracking: 1d20 +21+4 (Dead-Eye's Lore) = 35 (Full Success)
    Bats, Bats! (DC 32): 1d20+21+4 (Dead Eye's Lore) = 31 (Failure)
    Urgor Aid Another (DC 10): 1d20+11 = 25 (Success) -> +2 = 33 (Success)

    Ten thousand beats later, when you reach the foot of the first hill it is to find it barren and almost short of life. Fiends' work you'd have guessed, but Mina tells you it's 'shepherds'. While you can't track where the bats may have gone at a glance, apparently sheep are very easy to track indeed because soon enough you are greeted by the sight of balls of white meandering back home over the hills in the care of what looks like a trio of children.

    "Poisoned pits of Orv, who leaves children out here alone with that much meat for raiders to find?" Urgor grumbles.

    The fact that that at least one of those children are willing to talk to Sirim does not make you feel much better about their safety, but they do inform you that there are caves nearby 'the old bugbear tunnels', which had been cleared up by a patrol of the Andoran Army about twenty years ago.

    Sirim Diplomacy (DC 15/20): 1d20+12 = 23 (Success)

    "It's getting close to nightfall," Urgor grumbles, worriedly. "If we chase the beasts out this late they might go for warm flesh instead of looking for another hole. Some of us might want to stick close to them in case that happens."

    "Split up?" Cob asks confused. "Why not take them with us, that way maybe they learn how to kill dead-things and bat-shadows?"

    "I do not think that is quite what their parents had in mind when they sent them out with the sheep," Mina points out dryly.

    "They probably weren't thinking about fiends at all, but here we are. If we split up we will be all the less likely to actually kill the things. The closer they are to danger the farther they'd be from harm." Mina gives you an odd look.

    That, it seems, is one saying that does not translate well.

    What do you do?

    [] Go all together, tell the young shepherds to make for home swiftly

    [] Leave someone with them as a guard to make sure they make it

    [] Wait until they made it away from the hill, though by then it will be proper night

    [] Write in

    OOC: Enjoy.
     
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    • DragonParadox said:
    "Poisoned pits of Orv, who leaves children out here alone with that much meat for raiders to find?"
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    And if not raiders, it could be roaming Aberrations, Undead, Magical Beasts, Dragons, etc. At least if you're a shepherd, you've got a flock of distractions to keep monsters occupied while you run away. Growing up in Golarion isn't for the faint of heart.

    Splitting up would be ill-advised and waiting until full dark is just asking for our targets to escape. Now is the time to act. The shepherds can make their own way home, and if something goes wrong and some bats escape, they're more likely to grab some sheep than they are people who can fight back.

    Depending on how the cave entrance looks, and whether there appear to be multiple entrances, we might even want to block it off with a Web spell from Mina. It would be temporary and hardly an insurmountable obstacle, but it would make fleeing considerably more difficult for a flock of bats. Might slow down any Kytons as well.

    [X] Go all together, tell the young shepherds to make for home swiftly
     
    Goldfish said:
    And if not raiders, it could be roaming Aberrations, Undead, Magical Beasts, Dragons, etc. At least if you're a shepherd, you've got a flock of distractions to keep monsters occupied while you run away. Growing up in Golarion isn't for the faint of heart.
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    Keep in mind Kori, a native of Nar Voth, may have a slightly warped view of how likely one is to encounter these things on the plains and low hills of Carpenden. :V
     
    @DragonParadox, I just noticed we don't have Kori's Divination pendant on his character sheet.
    Choose One (1) Occult Mystery Revelation which will be linked to the pendant:

    [] Automatic Writing (Su): Once per day, you can spend a full hour in uninterrupted meditation. During this period, your hands produce mysterious writing that pertains to the future. At 1st level, the prophetic writing manifests as an augury spell with 90% effectiveness. At 5th level, the writing takes the form of a divination spell with 90% effectiveness. At 8th level, the writing manifests as a casting of commune with no material component required.
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    Not our kids, not our problem.
    DragonParadox said:
    "Split up?" Cob asks confused. "Why not take them with us, that way maybe they learn how to kill dead-things and bat-shadows."
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    Unless we go for Cob's solution. What do you mean, these ones can't teleport at will?

    [x] Go all together, tell the young shepherds to make for home swiftly

    Guess that's the incentive to kill everyone extra hard.
     
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