Finding the Spark (Pathfinder 1E Quest)
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
- Fantasy
-
- Tags
- pathfinder
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
The axe is a one-handed weapon. Shield of Swings needs a two-handed weapon to use.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
It can be used as a tool, though it's better as a weapon, of course. I think the main reason to keep it, however, is because Gorok wants it.
A Mastwork quality steel weapon is probably pretty meaningful to him, considering his personal quest.
- Location
- Argentina
Okay.
We really need a Bag of Holding soon I think.
[X] Goldfish
Given that we basically made the orcs spill their secrets, and that they are bad at lying, we could probably get more informating by revealing the rest of the stuff we know. They seem to be wealthy, and not very bright. The problem with that is that we are going to be involced one way or another with drug dealers.
I am almost sure that we would have gotten a follow up quest had we mentioned guy buying Russet Mold.
I think that, should we want it, these guys could get us contacts in the surface.
On the other hand, the Dark Folk Dancer could give us contacts down below... I am tempted to look after him.
We really need a Bag of Holding soon I think.
[X] Goldfish
Given that we basically made the orcs spill their secrets, and that they are bad at lying, we could probably get more informating by revealing the rest of the stuff we know. They seem to be wealthy, and not very bright. The problem with that is that we are going to be involced one way or another with drug dealers.
I am almost sure that we would have gotten a follow up quest had we mentioned guy buying Russet Mold.
I think that, should we want it, these guys could get us contacts in the surface.
On the other hand, the Dark Folk Dancer could give us contacts down below... I am tempted to look after him.
- Location
- Germany
[X] Goldfish
Vote closed.
Arc 1 Post 35: A Barrel of Business
A Barrel of Business
The Season of Still Stone
The cries of the vendors vying with each other in outlandish claims, the angry arguments that burst like bubbles in a simmering stone pot, the occasional flash of light, they are almost enough to make you give up on the buying and selling. After all, Gorok knows these people, he's been here for the better part of three seasons, though he had never ranged as far or taken quite so many risks as on your last outing. The words Gorok Gar'Duk filter past your ears on the second day, roughly meaning something like Gorok Fixer, the dark dwarf word for one of their number who is mechanically competent, but lacking the wealth or connections to obtain the coveted guild patronage. As many things, the phrase had mutated passing through the winding tunnels from fixing gears to oiling the gears of life, often with the blood of one's patron's enemies.
Truth be told you are not sure how you feel about the title. A fixer would likely have been driven from the Caves of Zul as soon as they approached. Not, you tell yourself, that I ever want to go back there, but what if others should think the same? Certainly the various merchants you had approached had been very thorough in testing your goods and, in the case of the clubfooted dwarf smith who bought most of your weapons, very keen to demonstrate how safe his shop was by having his hulking minotaur guardian loom over you, his breath like a week-old carcass.
You are still not sure you believe Mina's story about about placid minotaur-headed 'cows' that the Burnlanders keep for milk and meat like the duergar keep their herds of striped beetles for eggs. On the one hand, it sounds like the kind of tall tale one would tell to get someone to laugh away their fear, but Cob had described the same thing when you had asked him too and Mina is not sly enough to enlist the goblin for an elaborate hoax, you are pretty sure at least.
"Well now, never thought I'd see you again," the croaking voice of the merchant who had provided you with the rotgut barrel pulls you from your thoughts.
"I know it's not worth a lot, but we figured you might want it back to fill it up and resell it," Mina says, sounding faintly apologetic as you return the empty barrel.
The trader looks at her, tilting his single eye shinning wetly in the flickering light. "Thought you'd die for sure if you drank that, even the fat kobold."
It's all you can do not to choke on your own spit, but Gorok does not seem to mind, or indeed notice much. "Not for drink, for mold killing," he explains probably, possibly because he wants you all to stop staring.
"Well I'll be damned Nine Nails deep, never thought it would be that useful. Listen, I heard you were looking for a draft beast. How about you spring by my nephew, Ninnec? Half-nephew really, but he's a good sort. He's got some really sturdy beasts, good for the long haul and stomachs strong enough to eat rocks." He glances at you, oddly weary. Ah... must be my shadow. "Well, not really, but you get the gist of it."
As you had finished selling all you had to offer, practically everything you had taken from the dead or made from your enemies, you decide to follow along. If nothing else, it should be interesting.
Loot Sold
Gained 1011 gp 22 sp 15 cp -> Now at 1961 gp 22 sp 15 cp
Ninnec turns out to be a bipedal rat in a long leather cloak and smith's apron, which is quite fitting since he seems to be wearing a forge on his back also. What those steel cylinders might be you haven't the faintest, but your weariness as to what might happen if they were breached is in direct proportion to the gleam in Cob's eyes.
"You're new... interesting, interesting... You looking for riding beasts? Something scaly for the iruxi. I don't have whip lizards, but I'll see what I can do..." he surprises Gorok and notices that he had done so. "Like my father before me, I have traveled far."
"Just make sure you don't end up like him eh? He got my sister Marg with children you know... triplets," his uncle jokes.
"Right, we will just be going now. This way, this way..." Among the many other tidbits you learned in the bustling markets, you add the fact that ratfolk can blush under their fur. Ninnec probably wishes his face fur was more uniformly dark.
Still, the embarrassment doesn't seem to dull his instincts one bit describing when the one and a half ton Great Slurk he leads you to first as 'a beauty'. Though your eyes can see light, heat shimmer, and sorcery, in none of those would you describe the off-white humped toad covered in equal measure in horns and warts with a generous coat of mucus on top as 'beautiful'. Still, as Ninnec is quick to point out, slurks are common pack beats for all manner of experienced traders and travelers. You can almost always find harness and bags to fit them, and their ornery nature means they will fight to defend whatever one straps to their backs with a fury few raiders expect.
For something that isn't going to require you to empty out most of your coin is a Tunnel Trekker. The beast seems entirely ordinary for its kind, descended from burrowing rodents in the distant past. Trekkers are a formidable sight, a mountain of tan fur and twitching in anticipation to let loose on its prey, though in truth they are some of the most timid creatures to walk the tunnels of Nar Voth and as such they are usually favored by wealthy merchants who could afford whole caravans of them... which also played into their second advantage.
Their native resistance to illness had been enhanced with sorcery by the same magicians who had gifted upon them their prodigious size, such that it was said a trekker would never get sick, nor should it even under the hand of dread Apollyon. Perhaps the Horseman of Pestilence had taken offense, or more likely, perhaps magic simply had its own cost, but the beasts could never be healed by magic should they sustain any wounds in battle, thus making them prime targets for goblins, kobolds, and other raiders known for hit and run tactics.
Last on offer is a duergar Scuttler, which under the whip of its masters fast reliable and armored. Alas, none of you are its masters and neither is anyone in Cauldron. The Beast Breaker Guild of Diepkamer keeps its secrets close, and it is said feeds its beasts with the flesh of traitors. Ninnec had found that it prefers hard fungus and rag lichen. He freely admits that he has no idea how to make the beast do anything useful and had planned to sell it to the first dwarf who might be interested, but the dark dwarfs do not pass by Cauldron often so if you would take it off his hands...
"You'll pay us for it?" Cob asks cheekily.
"Three hundred gold and I'll throw in the rigging with it," the merchant laughs.
Mina prefers the trekker, arguing that there are more ways than magic to keep something healthy and she knows most of them, not to mention being fascinated by the notion of anything outright immune to illness.
"Also... its cute. There, I said it!" she blurts out. Why she should blush over that you have no idea, aesthetic preference is hardly weakness on its own.
For his part Cob, of course, prefers you try your luck with the scuttler, being the most impressive of the three and, if you can discern his muttering well enough, because he wants to swing by its lantern hook. By contrast Gorok, who happens to be the most skilled with beasts in your company, prefers the slurk. In his eyes a fighting beast is worth ten that would run, not to mention that the slime would ensure that it will not lose your cargo even over the most uneven of ground.
Which beast of burden do you prefer and why?
(Arguments will help sway your companions)
[] Great Slurk
Cost: 1200 gp
- Hard to manage (+5 DC to teach any trick)
- Will stand and fight rather than flee in combat
- Slime (The slurk's back slime grants a creature riding it a +8 bonus on Ride checks made to stay in the saddle, but a –8 penalty on Ride checks to dismount.)
Cost: 600 gp
- Timid (Will never fight, automatically fails tests against fear)
- Immune to disease
- Cannot be healed by magical or alchemical means
Cost: 300 gp
- You have no idea how to manage it and neither does Gorok, but he is willing to give it a try
- Heavily armored and combat ready
- Any duergar who see you using this will ask some pointed questions
OOC: Ignore the robot bits on the giant hamster, that was just the best pic for one I could find... and also the pincers on what is obviously a crab. I liked the boat-like shelter on top so I used it. The alternative would have been to reuse the pic from the dwarf ambush and that did not fit.
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Massgamer
Advance toward the Future
- Location
- The Future
Big beasty bois! They are all so cute! 
Toad boi is toughest but also most expensive, fuzz boi works but useless in a fight and can't be magically healed, and bug boi cheapest and would work best if we knew how to handle it, but we don't.
Really don't want to blow all our money on slurk, but seems like the best option long-term.
Toad boi is toughest but also most expensive, fuzz boi works but useless in a fight and can't be magically healed, and bug boi cheapest and would work best if we knew how to handle it, but we don't.
Really don't want to blow all our money on slurk, but seems like the best option long-term.
Keep in mind the trekker is also immune to infection so as long as you can heal any woulds with the heal skill it will always get back on its feet
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
I'm not sure about any of these options. They all have their selling points, but the drawbacks of each is pretty significant, too. Just because we have a good amount of coin doesn't mean we need to splurge on an expensive pack animal at the first opportunity.
@DragonParadox, are there any carts available for purchase in Cauldron? Just something simple, like a two-wheeled handcart or even something like a wheelbarrow? One of those can carry quite a bit of stuff and most of the party can take turns pushing/pulling it.
@DragonParadox, are there any carts available for purchase in Cauldron? Just something simple, like a two-wheeled handcart or even something like a wheelbarrow? One of those can carry quite a bit of stuff and most of the party can take turns pushing/pulling it.
Yes, carts are available, though keep in mind that if you use a handcart the person pulling it is going to struggle reacting in an ambush and the strongest person you have on the team is your tracker and scout.
Glad you like it. I did not go into this expecting to have to do so much Darklands world building but it has been fun looking at the bones of what lives underground in Golarion and trying to make it all fit together as something other than a dungeon for surface dwellers to raid.
Massgamer
Advance toward the Future
- Location
- The Future
Makes trekker more appealing, so I say go for it. Its a nice middle ground.
We can maybe train it to hide things inside its cheeks too!
[X] Tunnel Trekker
-[X] Its not too expensive, it can haul things for use without issue, its cheeks can be used as secret storage if we need it too, disease immune means less money spent on its care, it can dig which can be useful in certain situations, not a meat eater so don't have to hunt every time for it, and can keep us warm if needed due to fur
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
My main concern about these guys isn't the difficulty healing them, but rather the danger of it running off with our stuff strapped to its back when it gets scared. If that happens, who knows when it will stop running or where it will end up?Makes trekker more appealing, so I say go for it. Its a nice middle ground.
We can maybe train it to hide things inside its cheeks too!
[X] Tunnel Trekker
-[X] Its not too expensive, it can haul things for use without issue, its cheeks can be used as secret storage if we need it too, disease immune means less money spent on its care, it can dig which can be useful in certain situations, not a meat eater so don't have to hunt every time for it, and can keep us warm if needed due to fur
I think hand carts or wheelbarrows are the way to go for now. It does not take much strength of effort to move them even when they have a fair amount of stuff in them.
[X] Recommend that we not purchase any of the available beasts today. While each has their advantages, they also each have serious disadvantages, not the least of them being the price.
-[X] We could instead try to purchase one or two small hand carts or wheelbarrows we can use to help transport any cargo that won't easily fit into our packs. So long as we are careful not to overload them or exhaust ourselves pulling too much, they should allow us to manage without a beast of burden, at least for the time being.
Mina does have a sleeping hex that could calm it down in and emergency, though of course that is not a perfect solution, just thought I'd bring it up.
Massgamer
Advance toward the Future
- Location
- The Future
Or have someone riding him most of the time.
- Location
- Argentina
Still means that that one is out of combat or that he might get dismounted as it runs.
@Goldfish , what do you want to buy with the money we have? In particular I am aiming for proper clothes, a set of thieves tools, a medkit, and some proper meals. Anything else?
TheOmnimercurial
Dragon Bard
- Location
- UK
[X] Scuttler
I love the Canopy on the Scuttler!
I love the Canopy on the Scuttler!
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
A few more potions or scrolls wouldn't hurt, and I really want to get some more Alchemical Antiplague and Antitoxin. There is so much poisonous or diseased shit down in the Darklands and the magical cures for most of that stuff is really expensive at our level. The Alchemical treatments are pretty good and much cheaper. Combined with proper treatment from Mina's Heal skill (modified by a fully stocked Healer's Kit), I would feel much more confident about handling whatever nastiness we might come across.
Really, though, I'm not looking to make any big purchases just yet. We've got a nice chunk of change saved up so far, enough to almost afford a Bag of Holding. We could just barely buy a Handy Haversack right now if we found one for sale at regular market price, but a Bag of Holding would be better right now, IMO. Even if 250 pounds of cargo isn't a huge amount compared to what a pack beast might be able to carry or pull, it's way more convenient and portable with none of the hassles associated with using an animal.