Warty is not with you, couldn't get him up the spiral stairs designed for medium sized bipeds... well OK maybe given an infinite amount of time and no issue getting caught because of the indignant croaking you could manage it, slurks are slippery, but you certainly could not do it fast and silently.
Finding the Spark (Pathfinder 1E Quest)
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
- Fantasy
-
- Tags
- pathfinder
Warty is not with you, couldn't get him up the spiral stairs designed for medium sized bipeds... well OK maybe given an infinite amount of time and no issue getting caught because of the indignant croaking you could manage it, slurks are slippery, but you certainly could not do it fast and silently.
- Location
- Russia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
@Goldfish , I think you should adjust the plan to Warty's absence.
...I think he deserves mention in the character list.
Oh, Warty is cognitize enough to be "he", not "it". Cute.
...I think he deserves mention in the character list.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Ah, thanks for the heads up. Plan adjusted.
Update tomorrow.
Vote closed.
Arc 2 Post 30: An Order Restored
An Order Restored
Season of Rushing Waters
Were this a song of glorious battle this would be about the point at which the heroes, having carved their way though the fortress of the foeman would slay him with savagery at his front and swift slaying at his back. Alas this is not a song and things go belly up almost at one. Mina meets the eyes of one of the armored warriors and begins to whisper a song of slumber but in the bin of battle, the hisses of the xulthath, the roar of fire raised what good does that do. Worse yet, the black-scaled ancient fixes Cob with his oily gaze and something passes between them unheard.
"OK Cob go look for treasure now. You're right, friends can handle you." As the goblin scampers off, cheerful under the enchantment's sway. Maybe when this is all over you can smile about his confidence in the rest of you, for now all you can do is curse between your teeth and you raise your crossbow and prepare to offer what challenge you can to the armored guards
Cob is now under the Effects of Suggestion (will scrounge though the room instead of helping with the fight)
He-Who-Lurks is a shadow between the leaping flames you had cast upon the stone, he is the smoke wafting though the crevices and like his living kin he strikes without warning jaws snapping with bone crushing force to rip a a bloody chunk of Sshesh's leg, snapping the bone like dry kindling.
Sshesh takes 39 Damage -> Now at 6/45
As blood sprays out, staining the silks a deeper red one of the guards tosses a fistful of dust in Mina's eyes, though thankfully she manages to put her hand in front of her eyes fast enough to keep most of it out. Eyes red and bloodshot can still see. Of the other two guards one one tries to grab Gorok about the shoulders and hold him in place for his companion but your friend slips aside easily and as one walking on shadows lets the spear of the other slide aside and strike stone
As fire and spirit continue to dance around the chief you line up your shot.... and ancient slitted eyes meet yours.
"Kill me, dog of Azlant, and to you shall fall the curse of my egg-fathers! Kill me and you shall never no peace or rest, or soothing-cold water in your mouth!"
Akorian intimidated -2 Attacks against Sshesh
Dwarf-craft does not fail, be it bow or axe, pick or shield, but the hand that uses it... ah the hand that uses it can shake all too much. Alas so it is this day, glory and victory both slipping though your fingers in the hiss of a bolt flying high to strike one of the lanterns.
The old straight blade clangs against the armor if iron finding no purchase, even as their arms cannot strike fast enough to sink steel into Gorok, claws and hands, feet and tails, the fight recalls no battle between the people, not you imagine between the warm bloods of the surface lands, it is an dance of primal rage that ends as suddenly as it had started
Higher and higher fire rages, it licked at the scales of the chief, the old one, it caught in esoteric psychic vapors and ignited, but still he would not die. He Who Lurked Above prepared to pounce... and then the black-scale spoke again, it must have been just to the betrayed spirit since you did not hear him.... but you heard the answer.
Sshesh takes 4 Damage -> Now at 2/45
"Once a liar, ever-liar," it spits and its voice it venom, its voice is death.
Its tail whips towards his head, a motion so alien to the constraints and matter it almost seems slow, languorous, almost like a dance... right up to the very end. The sharpened tip slams into the ancient xulgath's left eye and into his brain.
Sshesh takes 9 Damage -> Dead
A the body crashes to the floor, blood gushing from the eye socket the spirit descends and starts to feed upon its tormentor. The guards, unharmed other than a few dents in their armor fall not to their knees, but in a crouching heap, begging for forgiveness of their god.
Tentatively you put away the crossbow and try to speak to the spirit. It pays less attention to you than one might to the sound of water dripping in the tunnels.
What do you do?
[] Loot the place, Cob has the right idea even if he got it from the enemy
[] Try to speak to the guards
-[] Write in
[] Write in
OOC: The reason this took so long is that absurd crit from the lizard at the start, I did not know how to write around it. Hopefully this works.
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- Location
- Russia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I am afraid that we are not specialized in peace negotiations...
- Location
- Argentina
As I said before, we need to adapt this playstyle to cheating.
We need to bluff them into thinking the orcs want to attack them too, and that we can get the Mongrelmen to back off to save their asses.
We might even get then to pay us for doing them a favor.
Coating truth in lies, making us of how terrified they are, we might get them to listen. And we might get away from this while filthy rich in knowledge and money. And with the druid we captired firmly in Mongrelmen hands, we even get a possible leader with which to tempt them.
Also let Cob keep looting around while we talk.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Hmm, yeah, this is tricky. So, I'm thinking @Tomcost has the right idea here. Rather than trying to Diplomance our way through shoddy peace talks, we should instead be Bluffing our way toward a reward for slaying the evil tyrant.
Biggest question is probably how audacious we want to be. We could maybe go full ham and really rack up, but I think we would have a better chance for success if we don't get too greedy. Better to get out safely with some loot than end up trying to fight our way out with a couple extra pieces of treasure, IMO. We've depleted a lot of our resources for the day to get this far, after all
Biggest question is probably how audacious we want to be. We could maybe go full ham and really rack up, but I think we would have a better chance for success if we don't get too greedy. Better to get out safely with some loot than end up trying to fight our way out with a couple extra pieces of treasure, IMO. We've depleted a lot of our resources for the day to get this far, after all
- Location
- Argentina
[X] Try to speak to the guards
-[X] Cob continues looting
-[X] Go along with the air of someone who clearly knows what he is talking about
--[X] "Who is in charge now that the usurper is dead? Your God might be free, but Sshesh has
left your tribe weakened beyond what you see from inside your caves. We might be on time to
save it from its multiple enemies"
--[X] The Orc tribes nearby have been eyeing this tribe, hoping to feast from Sshesh's flesh in a moment's distraction, and the usually docile Mongrelmen have been ruffled enough to rally against you. With Tezarss and your spirit speaker gone, we might be the only ones that can stop both tribes from assaulting you at the same time. Yet, we are here for a reason. We demand as the price to intercede what we came to look for. The cursed knowledge of the one who almost doomed you all.
-[X] Cob continues looting
-[X] Go along with the air of someone who clearly knows what he is talking about
--[X] "Who is in charge now that the usurper is dead? Your God might be free, but Sshesh has
left your tribe weakened beyond what you see from inside your caves. We might be on time to
save it from its multiple enemies"
--[X] The Orc tribes nearby have been eyeing this tribe, hoping to feast from Sshesh's flesh in a moment's distraction, and the usually docile Mongrelmen have been ruffled enough to rally against you. With Tezarss and your spirit speaker gone, we might be the only ones that can stop both tribes from assaulting you at the same time. Yet, we are here for a reason. We demand as the price to intercede what we came to look for. The cursed knowledge of the one who almost doomed you all.
- Location
- Argentina
I am
Thank you for your support anyway.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
I like the gist of this, but I think it might be a bit too wordy. Remember that our audience is pretty unsophisticated.
Maybe something along the lines of:
"Rejoice, we have freed your god from captivity and slain the tyrant who imprisoned it!"
and
"Reward us properly and we will convince our friends the Mongrelmen, who even now move to attack your tribe, that you should be spared. That way you can defend yourself from the nearby Orcs. Rather than come to your aid as we have, they seek to enslave and destroy you for the crimes of the tyrant."
Can't put a plan together at the moment, I'm busy training a new employee. LOL, it took me most of an hour to write this message.
[X] Tomcost
- Location
- Argentina
I like the gist of this, but I think it might be a bit too wordy. Remember that our audience is pretty unsophisticated.
Maybe something along the lines of:
"Rejoice, we have freed your god from captivity and slain the tyrant who imprisoned it!"
and
"Reward us properly and we will convince our friends the Mongrelmen, who even now move to attack your tribe, that you should be spared. That way you can defend yourself from the nearby Orcs. Rather than come to your aid as we have, they seek to enslave and destroy you for the crimes of the tyrant."
Can't put a plan together at the moment, I'm busy training a new employee. LOL, it took me most of an hour to write this message.
[X] Tomcost
I will see about it later. Can't quite think about a convincing lie that is quick too.
I agree on it being too wordy, though.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
How about this?
[X] When in doubt, BS
-[X] Leave Cob to his looting for now. The Suggestion should run its course soon enough, but if it becomes a problem ask Mina to use her Slumber Hex on him to snap him out of it.
-[X] Kori activates his headband to gain Detect Thoughts, then greets the guards. He tries to act authoritative and confident, reading the guards' surface thoughts to better tailor his words for the audience. If the guards cannot speak for the tribe, urge them to quickly find someone who can.
--[X] Wording might change, depending on what Kori learns using his headband and how they respond, but something to the effect of: "Rejoice, for we have freed your god from captivity and slain Ssesh, the tyrant who imprisoned it!"
---[X] "Ssesh was our enemy, so he had to die, but no other Xulgath needs to perish today. Although our mission here is finished, if you reward us properly we will hurry to convince our Mongrelmen friends to halt their attacks."
----[X] "Ssesh has made many enemies in a short time, the local Orcs among them. If the Mongrelmen withdraw, you will be able to better defend yourselves from the Orcs who even now prepare to overrun your tribe."
-[X] Mina will cast Guidance cantrips on Kori when the opportunities present themselves, and both she and Gorok will attempt to use Aid Another to help Kori's Bluff checks.
[X] When in doubt, BS
-[X] Leave Cob to his looting for now. The Suggestion should run its course soon enough, but if it becomes a problem ask Mina to use her Slumber Hex on him to snap him out of it.
-[X] Kori activates his headband to gain Detect Thoughts, then greets the guards. He tries to act authoritative and confident, reading the guards' surface thoughts to better tailor his words for the audience. If the guards cannot speak for the tribe, urge them to quickly find someone who can.
--[X] Wording might change, depending on what Kori learns using his headband and how they respond, but something to the effect of: "Rejoice, for we have freed your god from captivity and slain Ssesh, the tyrant who imprisoned it!"
---[X] "Ssesh was our enemy, so he had to die, but no other Xulgath needs to perish today. Although our mission here is finished, if you reward us properly we will hurry to convince our Mongrelmen friends to halt their attacks."
----[X] "Ssesh has made many enemies in a short time, the local Orcs among them. If the Mongrelmen withdraw, you will be able to better defend yourselves from the Orcs who even now prepare to overrun your tribe."
-[X] Mina will cast Guidance cantrips on Kori when the opportunities present themselves, and both she and Gorok will attempt to use Aid Another to help Kori's Bluff checks.
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- Location
- Russia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Is there enough lie in this?
Well, "Orcs who even now prepare to overrun your tribe" is clearly a lie, but ither parts are true. Ssesh was our enemy, Mongrelman could consider our "friends" (definitely allies in current situation), they are going to attack, we are interested in reward.
Yes, I am paranoid about activation of our curse.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
I would say this is solidly in the Bluff category.Is there enough lie in this?
Well, "Orcs who even now prepare to overrun your tribe" is clearly a lie, but ither parts are true. Ssesh was our enemy, Mongrelman could consider our "friends" (definitely allies in current situation), they are going to attack, we are interested in reward.
Yes, I am paranoid about activation of our curse.
Ssesh wasn't really our enemy, considering he didn't even know we existed. He was our target. It's a fine distinction, but one that matters.
I also have Kori falsely implying that we came to save the Xulgath from Ssesh, when in fact we just wanted to cut the head from the serpent to pave the way for the Mongrelmen counterattack.
- Location
- Argentina
[X] Goldfish
Now, I like this more than what I did. Sorry for not having the time to write a proper lie before.
Of course. We are not used to this playstyle, but this is how you play someone with Bluff instead of Diplomacy.
Now, I like this more than what I did. Sorry for not having the time to write a proper lie before.
Of course. We are not used to this playstyle, but this is how you play someone with Bluff instead of Diplomacy.
Update will be tomorrow as we figure out how to do diplomacy without... er doing diplomacy and then you have to get back to those orcs, sans proof of your victory. Fun times
Profitable though.
Profitable though.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Or we can avoid the Orcs entirely and get a Xulgath escort out the front door?
Or we can avoid the Orcs entirely and get a Xulgath escort out the front door?
You could yes, though that would mean you leave pissed off orcs behind you. Are you planning to stick around this part of the Darklands?
Might be a good moment to see about those funny lands with the bright light on top if you are planning to ignore the orcs