Finding the Spark (Pathfinder 1E Quest)
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
- Fantasy
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- pathfinder
Avarice, it is descriptive.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Ah, very fitting given the particulars of his Summoning.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Even though we got three of the Unseen Crew scrolls, I think we should still try to convince the Iruxi to bring along the skeletal remains of as many of their ancestors as they can reasonably transport without slowing the migration down.
Each Unseen Crew spell will be enough to Summon 11 crew members, if we use a Rune of Rule to enhance the scroll as it's cast, and last for 11 days. A Summoned longship only needs a total of 10 crew, in addition to the captain (Pepper in this case) and up to 40 rowers (Iruxi volunteers). Three scrolls should be plenty of we use the longship option.
But we might not want to go with the Longship. We can use Summon Ship to get a Sailing Ship instead. I had us purchase a spell foci for it, too, just in case. They're laeger, with more passenger and cargo capacity, not to mention they're a lot tougher. More importantly, they have multiple decks, as opposed to the longship which only has the one where everyone would be exposed to the elements for the entire trip.
We're going to be traveling across the Inner Sea in the dead of winter, so the weather is probably going to be pretty miserable, if not outright dangerous, and the seas could be rough. A sailing ship with enclosed decks should be able to make the trip more easily and safely for all of the passengers, and in the event of an attack, the deck won't be full of civilians waiting to become casualties.
The downside of this is that the sailing ship has a slower maximum speed (not by much, thanks to the Trade Winds spell being able to provide steady winds 24/7, but probably about 25% overall) assuming we have enough rowers for the longship, and it requires twice the crew, 20 rather than 10. If we do need to use the sailing ship option, we should probably supplement our Unseen Crew with a Skeleton Crew spells, especially the first leg of the trip. That would allow us to switch to using two Unseen Crew scrolls once we get into Andoran and Taldan territorial waters, so no one would mistakenly get the idea that we're a bunch of necromancers up to no good.
Each Unseen Crew spell will be enough to Summon 11 crew members, if we use a Rune of Rule to enhance the scroll as it's cast, and last for 11 days. A Summoned longship only needs a total of 10 crew, in addition to the captain (Pepper in this case) and up to 40 rowers (Iruxi volunteers). Three scrolls should be plenty of we use the longship option.
But we might not want to go with the Longship. We can use Summon Ship to get a Sailing Ship instead. I had us purchase a spell foci for it, too, just in case. They're laeger, with more passenger and cargo capacity, not to mention they're a lot tougher. More importantly, they have multiple decks, as opposed to the longship which only has the one where everyone would be exposed to the elements for the entire trip.
We're going to be traveling across the Inner Sea in the dead of winter, so the weather is probably going to be pretty miserable, if not outright dangerous, and the seas could be rough. A sailing ship with enclosed decks should be able to make the trip more easily and safely for all of the passengers, and in the event of an attack, the deck won't be full of civilians waiting to become casualties.
The downside of this is that the sailing ship has a slower maximum speed (not by much, thanks to the Trade Winds spell being able to provide steady winds 24/7, but probably about 25% overall) assuming we have enough rowers for the longship, and it requires twice the crew, 20 rather than 10. If we do need to use the sailing ship option, we should probably supplement our Unseen Crew with a Skeleton Crew spells, especially the first leg of the trip. That would allow us to switch to using two Unseen Crew scrolls once we get into Andoran and Taldan territorial waters, so no one would mistakenly get the idea that we're a bunch of necromancers up to no good.
I'm going to need a few more votes guys.
- Location
- Germany
[x] Talk to Annipe, the girl is interested in stories of Nar Voth, not something you've dealt with before
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Vote closed.
Arc 10: Post 22: Magic with Meaning and Magic Without
Magic with Meaning and Magic Without
27th of Kuthona 4707 A.R. (Absalom Reckoning)
As you recount your childhood to a very attentive audience of one, it occurs to you just how narrow that world had been, concerned with the scramble for the next meal or the best watering spot as the uneven streams wound their way under the surface of Golarion. It had more in common with the lives of the irux,i though even then there was a kind of isolation to it that perhaps with the distance of seasons and miles might help you understand if not ever forgive your own estrangement. When all around you seems hostile and shaped by distant and uncaring powers, tis easy to direct the rage it brings to one who seems to invite those inscrutable terrors into halls of home. Anippe seems sensitive to the mood and loses some of her irrepressible good cheer, though nothing of her interest:
"The elder blood?" she asks intrigued. "A sorcerer they call it in the northern lands, those touched by the power of the All Seeing Eye with eyes still closed."
"I... do not think so," you look towards where Sirim is conversing with the chief, weaving glamors to show him by glamor-craft the Blackwood Swamp as well as the forests of Verduran and the plains of Carpenden. "I can heal and foretell the future, more akin to the powers of priests than wizards."
"An oracle then, a mouthpiece of the magic of voiceless things," she nods firmly, then seeing that you apparently do not know something she does, as children often do, begins to recount, not even showing off that much. "When Lord Nethys descended onto Osyrion from the Western Desert he taught Pharaoh Azghaad the All-Seeing how to set magic to parchment and carve it into stone, thus all who follow in that art like me and the lady Mina are the students of Lord Nethys. But magic itself there was before him in the bones of the land and in the blood of great dragons, in the screams of the damned and the voices of angels, so it came into the blood of mortals. This was the Elder Blood, which makes those who bear it feel like their ancestors and it was good, but magic does not just feel, it thinks and speaks, and so it thought and spoke even in the days before Lord Nethys. So some there were who heard its voice like onto the voice of the gods and through them it spoke, but of them it asked a higher price for men are not gods to be spoken through by the soul of the universe lightly. Some age before their time, others wither under the sun or fear the touch of water, some even go mad. There is a story among the less... orthodox sects of the Nethysian Creed that the Lord of Magic himself was one such oracle before he transcended mortality and became the soul of the universe itself, so of course his madness grew with him." She pauses for breath. "That's not really the order in which it normally goes, and there's a lot of stuff about genealogies and who made what temple and when they burned down.... Did you know Nethys drove the Naga Pharaoh mad after he chose him as his successor to teach him a lesson?"
"What lesson was that?" you ask, unsure of how to take the legend, but quite sure there had been wizards before Ancient Osyrion, the High Realm had run in part by their power.
"That magic's dangerous." She looks around almost as though embarrassed for her homeland's patron god. "I know that sounds a bit ridiculous, but I think that's the point. I never quite understood that bit."
"Never mind. And here I thought I was going to be the one telling tales," you laugh, surprised at how easy the child is to talk to.
Before setting out you are asked to divine the road ahead, but Gorok is unsure what danger to ask of. The Chelish had been oddly subdued since the death of Vicio at your hands, and the iruxi even speak of the local castle lighting up the skyline with flame soon afterwards as the woodsmen of Longacre shunned the woods. Some of the hunters swear they have felt the presence of dark spirits following them, befouling their kills before they can be processed and erasing trail markers where the swamp is at its most treacherous. Devils perhaps, Sirim guesses, though if that's the case they are uncommonly shy about their displeasure with the Blackscales.
What does Akorian divine?
[] The road ahead
[] Any devils nearby
[] What happened to the local baron
[] How the Church of Asmodeus had taken one of their own being killed here not so long ago
[] Write in
OOC: Enjoy.
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Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Anippe is a well learned little Wizard. Nice little bit of world building she slipped into the conversation there.
What level is she, @DragonParadox?
What level is she, @DragonParadox?
That sentence needs some attention. One or two too many 'brings' to go around.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
We need more information and Kori's Divination is a good way to get some of it. All four of the default options are interesting, but two of them aren't immediately useful, IMO.
What happened to the baron and how the Church of Asmodeus reacted to the loss of the Inquisitor are probably outside of our concern, in that regardless of what we learn it isn't likely to affect our plans for today.
The road ahead and proximity of Devils are of more immediate concern.
We can perform a Divination each morning before everyone sets out for the day, so for now I'm most interested in learning if there are any Devils lurking nearby.
[X] Any devils nearby
@DragonParadox, what is the current population of Gorok's tribe? It was 86-ish when we departed, but there could have been a number of births and deaths since then. What's the spread between younglings, adult non-combatants, combatants, etc?
Once we start the migration, would it be worth the effort for Mina to cast Extended Mount: Communal spells to help the very young or the infirm travel without slowing the entire group down? A single Extended casting could Summon 6 light horses for 4 hours each, and she could do that a couple times each day without it being a serious burden.
What happened to the baron and how the Church of Asmodeus reacted to the loss of the Inquisitor are probably outside of our concern, in that regardless of what we learn it isn't likely to affect our plans for today.
The road ahead and proximity of Devils are of more immediate concern.
We can perform a Divination each morning before everyone sets out for the day, so for now I'm most interested in learning if there are any Devils lurking nearby.
[X] Any devils nearby
@DragonParadox, what is the current population of Gorok's tribe? It was 86-ish when we departed, but there could have been a number of births and deaths since then. What's the spread between younglings, adult non-combatants, combatants, etc?
Once we start the migration, would it be worth the effort for Mina to cast Extended Mount: Communal spells to help the very young or the infirm travel without slowing the entire group down? A single Extended casting could Summon 6 light horses for 4 hours each, and she could do that a couple times each day without it being a serious burden.
There are 91 of them at the moment, six of which are hatchlings.
There are no infirm though some of the iruxi are old enough to slow them down. They and the hatchlings do not know how to ride, but mount is magical so yeah that would work
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- Location
- being near locations is my passion.
Rather than "any devils nearby" Which would provide a useful yes/no answer, what about asking about the following:
And just to check for Devils being around;
What about Mina putting a "See Invisibility" into a
Or maybe Shoffe? He? It? They?... He.
He has the following
Though that's only a 10 + 2 (Dex) Stealth and a 10 + 0 (Wis) Perception.
Shoffe has telepathy with Cob up to a mile; Sirim's dragon has Stealth +19 (+23 in forests) but only 6 Perception and Pepper...
"Perception +12, Stealth +21, Survival +6".
Yeah. What do ya'll think about sending out a See Invisibility'd Pepper with a Shadow Enchantment: Bestow Insight (Perception) and a regular Invisibility from Kori
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
The Divination is going to be able to tell us about more than potential Devils which are lurking within immediate visual range. "Nearby" is relative, after all, especially for beings like Devils which generally have Greater Teleport as an SLA.
Maybe ask about 'fell creatures' rather than being specific to Devils?
I was already thinking about having Pepper scout, it was in my plan that lost out to the talk to Anippe option for this chapter. The reason I left it out of this vote is due to the limited duration of See Invisibility versus the hour it takes for Kori to perform a Divination. It can't hurt to be thorough, though.
Mina can share her Personal-range spells with Pepper without needing to use a Ring of Spell Storing. It's not worth the effort of casting such short duration spells as Bestow Insight or Invisibility on him, though.
[X] Attempt to learn about fell creatures that have been lurking near the tribe.
-[X] While Kori is performing the Divination, Mina will cast an Extended See Invisibility spell on Pepper. Pepper will switch his Evolution points to gain the Skilled ability to boost his Perception and Stealth skills by +8, raising them to +20 and +29, respectively. He will then take to the air to scout out the area for potential trouble, with Shoffe along acting as a telepathic relay.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Nah, doesn't work like that. Shoffe is Diminutive-sized, which grants him a +12 Size bonus to Stealth, meaning that if he's actually trying to be sneaky his Stealth bonus will be +24. But that shouldn't even matter here, because he will be in Pepper's possession and benefiting from his even higher bonus.
We already have the harness for Pepper to carry around the Gem of Foe's Pyre. Pepper should be able to easily carry him in the harness without even having to worry about keeping a good grip on Shoffe as he flies.
Vote closed.
Arc 10: Post 23: To the Sky's Drums Marching
To the Sky's Drums Marching
28th of Kuthona 4707 A.R. (Absalom Reckoning)
Words bubble to your lips like tar, a sting upon the lips and weight unbearable in the mind:
Flesh torn bones crushed to dust
Hunger to the wheel of agony broken
Naught but agony left of power's lust
Of pale wings a curse unceasing spoken
Drown in Old Blood
You stumble forward, stomach twisting and a bitter taste invading your mouth like drinking swamp water as you struggle to expel a phantom foulness. "That didn't taste like devils," you say slowly.
"I did not know thou for a connoisseur of devil flesh," Sirim jests, drawing a vaguely horrified look from Mina and a surprised giggle from Anippe.
"I'm not seeing anything around the camp," Pepper calls. The iruxi had taken the sight of a winged-cat with surprisingly few questions, less than Cob's new knives had in fact. But then the knives had an obvious use and the cat only now proves the same, eyes alight with piercing sight.
Gorok can be heard musing, half to himself: "Hunters said it comes to them when alone. Afraid of numbers? Fire? Ancestors?"
"Maybe it's nothing." Mina's words have more of hope than conviction as the Blackscales begin to move with Gorok at the chief's left side. 'Shaman's place,' you hear one of the others who had accompanied you to east say, surprisingly.
As you look towards them they explain, "Gorok Eagle-Friend two-kinds strong, arm and... dream?"
It's clear that wasn't quite the word he was looking for, though thankfully Mina is still close enough to explain. To the iruxi, magic is not a thing apart to be called with relic and ritual, it is simply a part of the world under the surface, just as the great swamp lizards of the Whisper River do and is equally dangerous
"There's crocodiles?" Annipe asks with worry that had not been there when Sirim had joked about tasting devils. "Mother told me about crocodiles, they are sacred to Sotek, but their hunger is bigger than their holiness. Maybe that's what you're seeing. Old Blood... cold blood maybe? Like your friend Gorok?"
"You think we should be 'fraid of iruxi?" Cob asks her, seeming to materialize out of the shadows under the trees, as is his wont.
"Well, not these ones. Mother said the greatest danger to man is not angels nor devils nor demons, but man himself. So I figured the same is true for the scaled folks."
"Warmblood talk," Gorok says from atop a newly restored Warty, though without rancor, more like he's trying to show her how to fish or read a trail. "It would be good for there to be so many for us to be our own worst trouble."
In the distance all you can hear is a chorus of frogs and, of course, rain just starting up. Too much to hope for that it not rain in this damnable place. At least the air's still, unlike the last time passing through here. That makes it merely miserable under oiled canvas as opposed to setting one wondering how anyone could think to live here.
Gorok had chosen to organize the tribe into a roughly arrow shaped formation, with the youngest and oldest in the middle and the most skilled warriors in front. With some reluctance you volunteer to take one of the points just as he and Cob had done. True, you can't say you're much good with a sword, but at least you can take a hit or three more than the iruxi around you, and with Pepper and Avarice patrolling in the sky above you're never too far from help.
The rain, if not the frogs, stops as the whole gathering gets moving at last while thunder booms in the distance, almost like a warning, though for all your omen-craft you cannot say if it's to stop or go. You had been walking across the swamp perhaps an hour when the warning goes up from Pepper.
"Fire! Fire to the south!" Turning quickly you realize what you had taken for thickening clouds is in fact a pal of smoke and there is only one thing there that could be burning.
"Longacre, Longacre is burning," the spectral feline adds.
"Let it burn!" the old chief hisses and many of his people seems to agree, but Gorok stops, one claw tapping the underside of his jaw in thought.
"Might be dangerous, we should see what it is at least."
To no one's surprise Cob volunteers, but should he?
[] Say nothing, Cob goes scouting
[] Argue that you should stick together, what do you care if the lumbermen who have been bedeviling Gorok's tribe for so long die
[] Write in
OOC: No visible rolls this time since you do not know what you do not know in character.
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Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Hmm, Undead Iruxi of some sort maybe? Or a Dragon of some sort, likely a Black or Green? I'm so bad at interpreting riddles and Divinations. 
Approximately how far away is Longacre from our current location, @DragonParadox?
[X] Recommend that we stick together and keep moving forward. We accepted responsibility for getting Gorok's tribe to safety, and stopping now when we've barely put any distance between them and their old swamp risks drawing unwanted attention.
-[X] Ask that Pepper and Shoffe scout the town while we continue to march.
Approximately how far away is Longacre from our current location, @DragonParadox?
[X] Recommend that we stick together and keep moving forward. We accepted responsibility for getting Gorok's tribe to safety, and stopping now when we've barely put any distance between them and their old swamp risks drawing unwanted attention.
-[X] Ask that Pepper and Shoffe scout the town while we continue to march.
About 6 miles.