On an uneducated guess, a route along major costal cities looks to be Katapesh -> Sothis (is actually deep in a massive delta, so might be skipped) -> Absalom -> Almas.
There's not gonna be a roaring market in these doggos in Almas, though we might get lucky. I expect that anyone in Almas that really wants one and has the cash will have already gotten one long ago.
Hopefully one of those people are the local Pathfinders, but if not we'd either have to be lucky, pay way too much to get one ordered over, convince the Pathfinders as to their utility so they'll get them and we just buy the poison(/let us pay money for the Pathfinders to get an additional doggie for us when getting their own set).
Or - hear me out - we drop everything and make our way to Katapesh. Right now. And get a dog.
edit: wait. Cob hates dogs. Feck. Ok, these are Jackels, but that still might be too close to being a dog. If Cob feels even a little uncomfortable then I don't want it with us, but I would still like the Pathfinders (or whoever they get their poison from) to have a couple so we have access to the poison.
edit edit:
By the way a fun fact, the Calistran Kiss (this sword) was part of the original build for a two-handed, Dex-based Ranger with Harvest Parts that existed somewhere in the background of Age of Ice and Blood, but never got used before the quest fell asleep.
Thanks to DP and @Goldfish taking some suggestions, the some of the basic idea of that build was then recreated here, and now finally re-united with the weapon that would have allowed it to deal decent damage while using Shield of Swings, with the power of poison.
At 3rd level, a toxic herbalist's knowledge of the natural world offers respite from wounds and illness. Once per day, he can spend 1 hour in a wilderness area gathering herbs and other natural materials and combine them into a medicinal poultice—this hour can be integrated with the hour required for the ranger to prepare spells. Placing the poultice on a wound or ingesting it is a standard action; the creature receiving the poultice heals a number of hit points equal to 1d6 + the ranger'sWisdom modifier.
At 1st level, a ranger selects a creature type from the ranger favored enemies table. He gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks against creatures of his selected type. Likewise, he gets a +2 bonus on weapon attack and damage rolls against them. A ranger may make Knowledgeskill checks untrained when attempting to identify these creatures.
At 3rd level, a ranger may select a type of terrain from Table: Ranger Favored Terrains. The ranger gains a +2 bonus on initiative checks and Knowledge (geography), Perception, Stealth, and Survivalskill checks when he is in this terrain. A ranger traveling through his favored terrain normally leaves no trail and cannot be tracked (though he may leave a trail if he so chooses).
They're basically dogs? From the deserts and savannah of Katapesh, a major trading nation. I have zero idea of how far it is to our current stomping grounds, but next time we're at a major trading port maybe we could see if we can buy one? (probably very expensive. Animals tend to cost a fair bit to transport).
Depending on how things work out, it might be nice to get the party a pet dog, hit it with a bunch of Handle Animal checks and maybe some Charm Animals (ranger 1) and then collect its spittle and preserve it every so often.
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Alternatively, I dunno how the Pathfinders operate as an "adventure's guild" in terms of support but I feel it's entirely possible that in the larger port cities the local Pathfinders might have a few Dhabba, and make the poison available for a fee?
A(n admittedly slim) chance at nauseated for a round if you have time to prep your weapons before an ambush is pretty worthwhile at lower levels, so that might be useful to offer your adventures. For a price.
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Edit:
Ok, I got a 220kb png file that's a slice of Golarion, highlighting Fusil, Almas and Katapesh and a 200 km/100 mile scale. Anyone know how I can best get it from my computer to being inserted into this post?
That map has an integrated distance measuring tool. Admittedly I cannot use it very well on this laptop since it is a potato doing a poor impression of a computational device, but from what I have been able to work out it is about 1200 miles to Katapesh. For a shorter trip if you make it as far south as Absalom, the place for which the calendar is named, chances are you can find one of the requisite good boys in one of their many animal markets.
By the way a fun fact, the Calistran Kiss (this sword) was part of the original build for a two-handed, Dex-based Ranger with Harvest Parts that existed somewhere in the background of Age of Ice and Blood, but never got used before the quest fell asleep.
Thanks to DP and @Goldfish taking some suggestions, the some of the basic idea of that build was then recreated here, and now finally re-united with the weapon that would have allowed it to deal decent damage while using Shield of Swings, with the power of poison.
At 3rd level, a toxic herbalist's knowledge of the natural world offers respite from wounds and illness. Once per day, he can spend 1 hour in a wilderness area gathering herbs and other natural materials and combine them into a medicinal poultice—this hour can be integrated with the hour required for the ranger to prepare spells. Placing the poultice on a wound or ingesting it is a standard action; the creature receiving the poultice heals a number of hit points equal to 1d6 + the ranger'sWisdom modifier.
At 1st level, a ranger selects a creature type from the ranger favored enemies table. He gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks against creatures of his selected type. Likewise, he gets a +2 bonus on weapon attack and damage rolls against them. A ranger may make Knowledgeskill checks untrained when attempting to identify these creatures.
At 3rd level, a ranger may select a type of terrain from Table: Ranger Favored Terrains. The ranger gains a +2 bonus on initiative checks and Knowledge (geography), Perception, Stealth, and Survivalskill checks when he is in this terrain. A ranger traveling through his favored terrain normally leaves no trail and cannot be tracked (though he may leave a trail if he so chooses).
Speaking and Unspeaking Ones would all be known by the marks they left in the memory of the forest, that much Gorok was sure of as he was of his own two feet and the ground under them. All that walked or crawled or flew would be known by the way the dwellers-in-the-woods knew to react to them, or the way that they did not. A dragon, even a young one, was a great beast with an appetite to match, so if it were wise it would hunt far from the place it laired, it would have come full-bellied to Fusil to take the warm-bloods' treasure, but it could not hide the terror of its comings and goings during the height of the day would cause.
Doe and buck would be put to flight, even the ornery boar would know to go rooting elsewhere, and like a stone cast in water that would travel down and down and down. The stories of his clan had accounts of great trackers who could keep watch on whole warbands of warmbloods by the movement of a butterfly's wings. Not to say that Gorok was there yet, but he had his head out of the reeds and was looking to the hill to be sure. Someday-to-come he would climb it.
It was on the trail of some boar that he felt the touch of a hand on his scales, the sort that might once have made him jump but which had grown familiar, just Mina: "Bit of luck for the search."
"My thanks," he nodded, having learned that warmbloods said such things more often to each other like the way jays would call out to one another in the flock for reassurance.
Turning back to the tracks of the sounder of hogs he realized that one of the sows that he thought was just old was limping. There, a patch of blood still on the ground. A dragon would not have let a wounded quarry escape, and it certainly wasn't fear of the beast's passage that had spooked this bunch. They had been tracking backwards the wrong track to start with. The iruxi let out an annoyed hiss at his mistake and motioned for Warty to turn. One more sweep east of the town then, that was the second most likely place for it to have gone.
It was well into the evening by the time Gorok managed to find a raven willing to be tempted by a strip of fatty goat meat they had gotten in town, even though its feathers were still raised on end like it had come out of a storm.
"Saw silver-death-wing pass to stone nest. Go west, go north, go south, away, away, away!" it called, giving away the direction they should be going by implication, even further east, but was that straight east?
"Stone nest?" he cawed back to it, causing Cob to show teeth and laugh for some reason. Gorok still couldn't quite grasp just what was so entertaining about him making the sounds of birds, no matter how many times the others would try to explain it to him.
"Stone-nest with sky-mouth," the bird confirmed, gulping down another piece of meat.
"Man nest?" Gorok asked, having guessed what it might be. The concept translated to something like
'ground-featherless-raven' as opposed to most other birds, who did not differentiate between various ground-bound hunters.
The bird cawed a confirmation and flew off, but now that the inruxi had some guess as to what he was looking for he spotted the buried stones of an old narrow road and at the end of it, just glimpsed among ancient oak and ash....
Dragon Fly: 1d20+7 = 19 vs Gorok Survival 1d20+11 = 12 25 (Success)*
Gorok Handle Animal (DC 15): 1d20+8 = 27(Success) Gorok does not get his mechanical bonus for following tracks since the dragon itself does not leave tracks, but narratively he is following the tracks of other creatures as well as talking to the birds
"A tower!" Mina exclaimed. "Of course a dragon would want to be somewhere high up so it can see trouble coming."
"Well it certainly wouldn't have any trouble getting in through the roof," Akorian noted. "Question is, what do we do now?"
"The best way to talk to it is under a flag of truce, and the best way to kill it is by stealth," Sirim put in without the usual back and forth of warmbloods talking of such things. Gorok rather suspected the shadowed one did not like the tangled webs of words men called 'intrigue' even though he was just good at them, the way someone who had lived their whole life in a cave might be good at finding mushrooms without necessarily liking the taste.
How does the party approach the tower?
[] Openly under a flag of truce
[] Send Cob to scout in secret
[] Write in
OOC: Without that re-roll you would have stumbled into whoever wounded that boar instead of finding the tower.
Shouldn't the day be the 6th now, @DragonParadox? The previous chapter was on the 5th, and we made camp after dealing with the Fey Lord.
Actually, I think it should maybe be the 7th and the previous couple chapters might need to be changed to the 6th. Was just looking back at the dates and we left the expedition on the 5th to 'find the Dragon', so unless the Fey mound was very close to Fusil, we would have managed to get a lot done in that one day.
Shouldn't the day be the 6th now, @DragonParadox? The previous chapter was on the 5th, and we made camp after dealing with the Fey Lord.
Actually, I think it should maybe be the 7th and the previous couple chapters might need to be changed to the 6th. Was just looking back at the dates and we left the expedition on the 5th to 'find the Dragon', so unless the Fey mound was very close to Fusil, we would have managed to get a lot done in that one day.
Actually, it's not quite as dangerous as the Young or Juvenile Silver Dragon I was first assuming it to be. It's breath weapon is a beam instead of a cone, making it much more difficult to inflict a ton of damage to multiple enemies, its attack bonuses and saves are a little bit lower, and it cannot Polymorph to easily hide its bulk for ambushes or deception.
I mean, yes, it's still a CR 9 murder machine and I would prefer to avoid fighting it if at all possible, but a Young Lunar Dragon is a bit more manageable. More importantly, however, we've got three Ohancanu along with us now. That's a whole lot of meatshield. If it came down to a fight, we could take it out, assuming it doesn't flee once it realizes the odds have turned against it.
I'm still thinking that we would probably be better off approaching it openly, though. I know it didn't quite work out when we tried that with the Fey, but they're Fey, so fuck them. Maybe we will have better luck with the Dragon?
Actually, it's not quite as dangerous as the Young or Juvenile Silver Dragon I was first assuming it to be. It's breath weapon is a beam instead of a cone, making it much more difficult to inflict a ton of damage to multiple enemies, its attack bonuses and saves are a little bit lower, and it cannot Polymorph to easily hide its bulk for ambushes or deception.
I mean, yes, it's still a CR 9 murder machine and I would prefer to avoid fighting it if at all possible, but a Young Lunar Dragon is a bit more manageable. More importantly, however, we've got three Ohancanu along with us now. That's a whole lot of meatshield. If it came down to a fight, we could take it out, assuming it doesn't flee once it realizes the odds have turned against it.
I'm still thinking that we would probably be better off approaching it openly, though. I know it didn't quite work out when we tried that with the Fey, but they're Fey, so fuck them. Maybe we will have better luck with the Dragon?
Yeah, still dangerous if it comes to a fight. That said, it doesn't have SR or DR, and the forest itself makes strafing us pretty difficult. The range of it's breath weapon beam is only 80 feet.
If it gets close enough to try that, it becomes vulnerable to Searching Shadows and Web spells. Dragon Reflex saves will always be one of their biggest weaknesses.
It would be a sad end for a Dragon to get snared in a bunch of trees then whittled down by thrown rocks and arrows.
[X] Openly under a flag of truce
-[X] Mina replaces her prepared Glitterdust spell with another Web spell, if she gets a chance before we approach the tower.
I meant to have Mina do this earlier, since she has gotten her staff recharged.
[X] Openly under a flag of truce
-[X] Mina replaces her prepared Glitterdust spell with another Web spell, if she gets a chance before we approach the tower.
I really want this to go well. As things stand I'm more interested in the AI core not falling into the wrong claws than I am in it ending up somewhere specific, though that might change as we learn more about it.
At least the agreement between the CoRM and the dragon and the fact that we just killed the Lord of Veils might give us a foot in the door.
Edit: Our new fey vassals can throw rocks up to 100ft
Did they have one? All we have to go on is the words of the gnome that he didn't want the dragon for an enemy, which may mean a lot of things. I suppose if the fey didn't want the goods themselves then letting a dragon have them could be a way to pay less... but they'd have no way of ensuring it will stay that way.
And then there are demons. The reason I wanted to go back first was because I hoped to interrogate the impersonator. Apparently we are dealing with shapechangers, if not outright body snatchers, subtle enough to avoid detection by Azlanti tech, let alone our spells. Might have to start developing secret handshakes, though the quality of Alderman's impersonation might suggest memories aren't safe either. I half-suspect this is their scheme, and not any of the fey's.
What we have, though, is the assurance that our current employer is coming, and is not inclined to diplomacy. We may offer to either divert him somehow, to outright turn against him, or to at least guarantee the dragon's safety if Gavhaul is killed in the fight (since Leontas would retreat if we also do). As bargaining chips go, this one is pretty significant. The rest would depend on the nature of the core, the motivations of the dragon, and the role of demons in all this.
[x] Openly under a flag of truce
-[x] Mina replaces her prepared Glitterdust spell with another Web spell, if she gets a chance before we approach the tower.
Did they have one? All we have to go on is the words of the gnome that he didn't want the dragon for an enemy, which may mean a lot of things. I suppose if the fey didn't want the goods themselves then letting a dragon have them could be a way to pay less... but they'd have no way of ensuring it will stay that way.
And then there are demons. The reason I wanted to go back first was because I hoped to interrogate the impersonator. Apparently we are dealing with shapechangers, if not outright body snatchers, subtle enough to avoid detection by Azlanti tech, let alone our spells. Might have to start developing secret handshakes, though the quality of Alderman's impersonation might suggest memories aren't safe either.
What we have, though, is the assurance that our current employer is coming, and is not inclined to diplomacy. We may offer to either divert him somehow, to outright turn against him, or to at least guarantee the dragon's safety if Gavhaul is killed in the fight (since Leontas would retreat if we also do). As bargaining chips go, this one is pretty significant. The rest would depend on the nature of the core, the motivations of the dragon, and the role of demons in all this.
[x] Openly under a flag of truce
-[x] Mina replaces her prepared Glitterdust spell with another Web spell, if she gets a chance before we approach the tower.
[X] Openly under a flag of truce
-[X] Mina replaces her prepared Glitterdust spell with another Web spell, if she gets a chance before we approach the tower.
Great on Gorok for making good tracking roll, showing just how good rangers can be when done right.
Dragon we ideally want to make deal with and maybe work together in some way, since we don't overly mind if Gavhaul never gets stuff and maybe dragon can even help in taking him out later.
I might not have time to do an update tomorrow for reasons of travel and seeing as it is unanimous...
Vote closed.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Aug 21, 2024 at 1:23 PM, finished with 11 posts and 4 votes.
[X] Openly under a flag of truce -[X] Mina replaces her prepared Glitterdust spell with another Web spell, if she gets a chance before we approach the tower.
[X] Openly under a flag of truce
-[X] Mina replaces her prepared Glitterdust spell with another Web spell, if she gets a chance before we approach the tower.
Dragons do not pass often into the tales of the People, and when they do it is mostly as shadowy misers of the deep earth; creatures of crystal, magma, or primal shadow that lie in the tunnels that had never known the hand of the explorer nor the creeping touch of fungal life. They are, in a word, warnings of the dangers that lies beyond the scope of familiar tunnels, of terrors too vast and ancient for any hapless seeker to face or even escape from. It is said a dragon can hear one's tread through the stone itself well enough to slay any trespasser, not that it takes much precision if tales of a dragon's deadly breath are to be believed. Yet upon surviving an encounter with such a creature once you five had decided to not only seek it out again, but do so under a 'flag of truce', a concept that had to be explained to you since if two sides want to talk in Nar Voth they just shout it at one another around a corner, though given how open the surface is it makes sense that one might see someone before hearing them quite often.
One can only hope the dragon cares to read the draconic glyph for 'parley' stitched by Sirim's inexpert 'hand' into a blanket on a stick. At least the wind seems to be cooperating, snapping the green cloth taunt over and over as Gorok advances... though not too far in advance of the rest of you and especially your new 'vassals'. Those axes aren't going to do much good unless the dragon decides to come down to the ground, but the three of them have proven surprisingly adept in making weighted nets last night from some kind of vine or bark or the like.
At first there is no response as the tower fades in and out of view behind the living veil of tree branches, then a crack and a roar that just keeps going and going impossibly long.
"Ow, ow, OW!" Cob shouts while covering his ears. "Whotcha roarin' for?!"
The sound stops abruptly and then a pleasant almost musical voice, most unlike the din before, speaks up in oddly accented Taldan: "I was hopinge I shulde nat have to sle any man to-day. Thou canst stille turne aboute."
"We have no wish to kill you either, dragon," Gorok calls out, waving the pole.
"Yea, yea, I can rede. Thou speakest right poorly, by the by. Wherefore learnedest thou to speak?"
"Wonder where it learned to speak the Common Tongue, an imperial legionary? I can barely make it out," Mina murmurs. She frowns. "I can barely make it out. How...? Why?"
"As interesting as the study might be, do not argue with the dragon," Sirim interjects. "A young and proud one as much as an old and proud one, though truly I repeat myself, to be dragon is to be proud for it is said the blood of gods does not wane in the veins of dragons as it does in those of other mortal things, each one a demigod." What another might have said in words of wonder the shade instead recounts as one might instructions of how to boil certain mushrooms to leach away the poisons.
"Speke thou, even though it be not well. What dost thou wante?" With this question the dragon finally pokes its slander neck above the parapet of the old tower sounding annoyed... no, more like it feels it's proper to be imperiously annoyed, but is in truth intrigued.
[] Ask it what it's doing down here for you have never heard of a dragon so great as him before (Sirim Diplomacy DC ???)
[] Warn it that there are demons about. There were wicked fey too, but they are rather busy now since you killed their leader. He wasn't that hard to best (Akorian bluff ???)
[] Claim to be an expert in Azlant and offer to identify the treasures it has with greater precision than the auctioneer could (Akorian Knowledge Azlant ???)
[] Write in
OOC: Yes, the dragon speaks Middle English, or rather Middle Taldan. Just be glad it's not Old English or its first phrase would have sounded like: Ic wæs hopaþ þæt ic ne meaht þone ænigne ofslægan todæg.
"Wonder where it learned to speak the Common Tongue an imperial legionary? I can barely make it out," Mina murmurs. She frowns. "I can barely make it out. How...? Why?"
Is this not how her gift is supposed to work? Or is she wondering why she doesn't understand it more clearly?
Some interesting options those are. I assume warning it about the pursuit would not go well, since it'd have first to contemplate the caravan guards are, in fact, capable of killing it.
Much as I'd like to try my hand at the third one, and satisfy my own curiosity about the core, I think we might also want to puff ourselves a little.
[x] Warn it that there are demons about. There were wicked fey too, but they are rather busy now since you killed their leader. He wasn't that hard to best (Akorian bluff ???)
So far she has always understood everyone perfectly, she does understand the dragon anymore than a speaker of Modern Common understands a speaker of Middle Taldan.
