[Pathfinder Planescape] A Stone in the Tide Party #2

[DeusMalum]

The current party composition is as follows:


[Note, I’ll be reserving this color for NPC speech text. Please let me know if this color is a pain in the butt so I can change it sooner than later. Please reserve a color in your opening post and I’ll add it to this OP for bookkeeping.]

[Please field OOC questions and statistical info here if possible, using [] tags for ease of reading. Dice rolls should take place in spoilers. OOC chatter should go in here: OOC Thread]

In times long past, the region now known as the River Kingdoms were the hunting grounds of the elves of Kyonin, a land they called Telvurin. Though these days have long since passed into antiquity, the evidence of their ownership of the land still remains, places like the Sevenarches. One such locale is Caer Cigfrain, a border fort of the elves overlooking the Sellen River north of the lake town of Riverton, fallen and broken in some ancient battle that ripped the foundation of one of the fortress’ two stone towers up from the ground, toppling the tower and collapsing the fortress’ gateway.

Situated on a hill in an otherwise flat river floodplain, the ruined keep can be seen looming over the horizon from Riverton on a clear day. It has been unoccupied for most of the past several millennia, with travelers and locals occasionally spending the night behind its smooth, angular stone walls during a storm, or on a dare, but few stay more than day at the place, and those who do speak of an ever-present feeling of dread and unease that permeates the ancient stone. In the past few years, fey lights have been seen from Riverton, moving and dancing in strange rhythms and motions, as if the inhabitants of the First World have made of Caer Cigfrain another borderland on Golarion.

Up until now, strange lights and stranger noises at night have been the worst any in Riverton had seen from the ancient fortress, but that has changed. In the past month, strange, otherworldly creatures have been spotted at night in the plains around the fort, and those who venture too close to it are never seen again. The townsfolk are afraid, but ill-equipped to deal with such a threat. They have prompted the mayor of Riverton, Jurias Vernon, to post a reward for any who would investigate the keep to determine, and deal with, the source of its apparent haunting. Scraping together what he can from the town’s treasury, Vernon is offering a total of 3,000 gold coins to whoever can make the lands north of his town safe again.

This is where you come in. The five of you have decided to band together and seek out the posted reward. It was an unusually warm morning in Kuthona, the first month of winter, in the year 4712 AR as your party began the trek toward Caer Cigfrain, but that warmth has since fallen to winter’s chill as you near the ruined fortress and the day progresses. The air is crisp and clear, and filled with the lingering ambient sounds of nature in wintertime accompanied by the erratic howl of the cold northerly wind. The trek is lengthy but uneventful, with no sign of the creatures the townsfolk spoke of.

At last the keep draws near. The shattered gates of the fortress have long since rotted away, leaving behind a wide gap in the fortress wall filled now by evening shadow and jagged stone edges. The sun hangs low in the sky, and will set before you complete your journey. The walls of the fortress, where they still stand, are of an impossibly smooth, polished stone of a light grey coloring, weathered little by the passage of time. They stand fifty feet tall and seem to be built of a single, solid sheet of stone, as if the bones of the earth were summoned up out of the ground by the ancient elven crafters who constructed the keep. Within the northwest corner of the keep’s walls stands a single, lonely tower, standing at twice the height of the walls. The remains of its fallen brother litter the inner courtyard of the fort and the area immediately outside the gates. The earth within 50 feet of the keep is barren and empty, and the natural ambience has given way to stillness, as if the land itself waits in anticipation. By all appearances, the fortress is empty.

You are 50 feet out from the gap in the walls left behind by the destruction of its gate. Sunset is imminent. Your task is to enter the keep and investigate, searching for the cause of the strange lights and strange creatures reported by the townsfolk of Riverton. What do you do?

[Given we're starting late on a Wednesday night, let's set Saturday night as the close-out period for posts in this cycle, with an update to follow on Sunday.]

[iTookUrNick]

Brief description of the character and tactics (Bus):

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Lucius ''Bus'' Fairhaven, Aasimar ("fallen angel" heritage)
Red haired, freckled face. Lazy and a little cowardly, but intellectually active.

Conjurer wizard, specialist in teleportation (hence 'Bus') and crowd control spells (clouds, pits, webs, walls...).
Among other things, he can provide Haste for everybody at the start of combat, plus Enlarge person in the following rounds.
Rope trick will make sure our rest is uninterrupted.
If we want/dare to try, he is fully equipped to bind an outsider of choice.

His Fairy Dragon familiar has telepathy 100 ft, good stealth and can become invisible, making him a good scout if durability is not an issue.

Active Effects: Mage Armor, Overland Flight, Protection from Arrows.

Bus takes the initiative in organizing the team, strong of the expertise he gained during his service. He will never be a leader himself, but usually people let him handle logistics so that they do not have to.
He clears his voice before speaking, earning the attention of his companions: the narrow-minded brawler, the mob enforcer, the mad worshipper and that other 'thing' (best not to dwell on what thing exactly). There are times when Bus wonders how he got miked up with such a group, but then remembers that it is always best to have such reputable fellows on one's own side...

"Alright gentlemen, here we are. I suggest we press on today, even despite the approaching darkness. You may start examining the courtyard in order to garner some clue on what we are dealing with here, while me and my familiar make a flying sweep of the area. Keep ...ehm... all your eyes open. As usual, we will be in contact telepathically, so please lower your voices to avoid attracting any unwanted attention. If we do not find anything, our next step will be to enter, all together, the tower that remains standing".

[Proud Tortoise]

Orenar, nibbling on a small tree branch, takes a few rounds to change to his perceptive array. Then he drops his worldly guise, manifesting 10 eyes, a few gaping mouths, a tentacle and a heavy fin. He drops the branch and searches the courtyard, eyes rolling in every direction and mouth gaping at the air.

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Perception check (work, forum die roller!): [roll]1d20+16[/roll]
Also uses his trailtasting mouth to smell the air, searching for scents.
WHY is the die not rolling? Am I using the wrong format? (To save time, can you roll that 1d20+16 for me when you reveal the search's result, Deus?

[DeusMalum]

[Here's hoping it works. If not, I'll make a thread in Dice Rolls subforum.]

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(1d20+16)[18]

The dim light is little obstacle, and your eyes scour what you can see of the courtyard from outside the keep. You don't notice anything out of the ordinary, but something sticks in your mind. Not only do you not notice anything unusual, but the sheer LACK of things to notice is odd enough on its own. Besides the remains the of the broken tower, the courtyard is dead and empty, with no plant life, no insects, no vermin.

[Edit: I'm going to go ahead and assume you're going to exclude the party from having to deal with the negative effects of Manifest Form.]

[iTookUrNick]

Bus' Perception rolls:

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I forgot about it...
Bus: Perception (1d20+9)[20] (without alertness)
Familiar: Perception (1d20+11)[17]

[DeusMalum]

Bus sees the same thing described above. The courtyard is completely devoid of anything notable aside from the shattered stone of the fallen tower.

[iTookUrNick]

Also, Detect Magic everywhere, just in case.

[DeusMalum]

From where you're standing, 50 feet out from the walls, your Detect Magic doesn't let you see any auras beyond just inside the gates. From what you CAN see, there aren't any magical auras within 60 feet of where you're standing, besides any magical items your party brought along.

[Iron Victory]

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"Whatever you say, Bus. Let's just wrap this up and get paid." The burly aasimar dismounts Challa, giving his lion a friendly pat. Dengrel and companion perform a brief courtyard sweep before approaching the tower doors. His eyes sweep over the monster that is Orenar, "Hey freak, find anything?" Resting against the fortress's stone wall, he takes a long swig from his wineskin. "It's too damn cold out...", he mutters to nobody in particular.

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Perception
Dengrel: (1d20+16)[31]
Challa: (1d20+13)[30] [scent]

Please let me know if my colour choice is invalid.

[Chromascope3D]

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He smiled, as he always does. He began speaking in that foul tongue. He laughed. The words dripped out, oozing into the back of Bus' mind, Yessss, massster.
He looked around, and continued, I see nothing massster. Shall we continue on?

[Proud Tortoise]

Orenar's eyes all swivel towards Dengral. With two mouths he hisses, "Nothing. Abssssolutely nothing," deliberately trying to intimidate Dengral.

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Although Intimidate checks are only for NPCs, Orenar does have a +25 on intimidate checks, so he's obviously pretty darn intimidating.

He then turns to Bus, suppressing his Manifested form. "I don't think there's anything in the courtyard. Perhaps we ought to go inside."

[DeusMalum]

[Iron Victory, your color choice is fine, but keep in mind I said you're 50 feet outside the gates, not inside the courtyard. Either way, you also don't notice anything in the courtyard from where you're all standing.]

[iTookUrNick]

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If I may, I suggest using Italics for telephatic messages and normal or bold for verbal ones.

"All clear. Everybody proceed to the courtyard and look for a way in. Stay frosty"
As usual, not the best choice of words from Bus. It's all very quiet, very cold, but then it's normal in a place like this, isn/t it? He looks West, and wonders if things are going to change after sunset.

[Proud Tortoise]

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Why do we have telepathic messaging?
Also, I hereby dub it "TMing".

Orenar goes to enter the tower. He picks up his branch again and finishes eating it.

[iTookUrNick]

@PT/all about telepathy:

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My familiar has telepathy with a 100ft range. I will try to keep him in range, thus up to 200 ft between party members, and relay all communications between them. These are standing orders. Whenever you use it, you will receive a positive chime if the message has been relayed to the intended recipient, a error chime if it has not, and nothing if the familiar is not in range/disabled.
If the distance is up to 100ft, he will stay near me by default.

[DeusMalum]

[Thanks to everyone who got actions in before the deadline, I'll have a more substantive post tomorrow.]

[DeusMalum]

As you pass the fortress's gatehouse, the sun begins to set. Before Orenar can cross to the tower's door, a single, clear tone is heard, sounding like the ringing of an enormous bell. The sound seems to emanate from the top of the tower, though from where you stand you can't see the source. As you look on, the uppermost windows of the tower begin to glow an emerald green, like that you've described by the townspeople of Riverton.

Bus, if he's still maintaining the spell, detects at least a dozen magical auras pop up without warning or source, their sudden surge of power threatening to overwhelm his heightened senses. All around you, plants begin to grow, springing up spontaneously from the barren, dead earth and spreading outward. Green vines begin to snake up around the walls and tower of the fort, and in moments the area is filled with the vibrant green shades of a lush jungle. The sounds of the jungle follow not long after, the tittering and buzzing of insect life, and the cries of predator and prey.

You stand just within the courtyard, though with the sudden thick vegetation it's impossible to see back outside to the land beyond the fortress' gates. The full dimensions of the courtyard covered a hundred fifty feet by hundred fifty. The tower's door should still be to the northwest.

[Note: We're not in combat yet, so no need for initiative or setting up an order of action. Also, does anyone have any objection to my rolling initiative for everyone when combat DOES start? That way we can avoid an extra posting cycle just to determine who gets to go when.]

[Proud Tortoise]

Orenar drops his branch and manifests his true form in surprise.

He turns to the party. "What... Was that?"

[DeusMalum]

[Incidentally, if anyone has Knowledge (the planes) feel free to roll it.]

[Iron Victory]

Readying his weapon, Dengrel hops astride Challa. "What in the Nine Hells just happened?" The lion lets out a nervous growl.

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Knowledge: The Planes
(1d20+13)[21]

[iTookUrNick]

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Go ahead and make any obvious roll for me. Anything to keep up the pace.
K: planes (1d20+24)[34] I'm thinking I might know more than a little about what's going on :D

Also, just in case it is needed:
Preception: (1d20+11)[30]
Steath: (1d20+13)[31] (among the trees and such)
Fam: perc: (1d20+11)[12]
Fam: stealth: (1d20+20)[25]

Bus averts his gaze, while his conscious minds lets go of the spell: no sense blinding yourself before an ambush. If this is is an ambush, after all: there are no enemies in sight, although definitely a lot of places to hide. Also, the whole thing looks like... could it be...

"That's odd". Unexpected, surely. Hovering just above them, amidst the foliage, Bus adress the resto of the party, communicating his theory and planning their next course of action: "Mr. Rahzora, Mr... Orenar, I must reiterate my suggestion to keep quite whenever possible. These, the plants and vines, are not dangerous, but there might still be danger coming from an unknown source. The top of the tower has brightened, that makes our obvious goal. I'll try and get a better look at it from a safe distance while you move towards the bottom". Obviously, Bus does not anticipate any danger in what is doing, or he would not be doing it in the first place.

[Proud Tortoise]

Alamix snickers at Bus and moves toward the base of the tower, still in manifested form.

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Knowlege(the Planes): (1d20+13)[28]
Perception: (1d20+16)[21] plus Scent ability
Stealth: (1d20+1)[18]

[DeusMalum]

[Alamix? Also I'll have responses up for what your rolls uncover this afternoon or tonight. The lab above my office sprang a rather large leak over the weekend and my Monday morning has been spent surveying the damage and trying not to murder a few hapless scientists.]

[Chromascope3D]

"H'grtlach," he states. After surveying the botanical influx, he ponders for a moment. He makes no movement to conceal himself, instead moving to the tower, where he begins testing the strength of the climbing vines.

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He activates his Cloak of Darkness ability
Knowledge (planes): (1d20+16)[32]
Perception: (1d20+9)[22]

[iTookUrNick]

@Cmdr Fallout:

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Did you look at the dual-cursed oracle archetype? If you did, why did you decide against it? I'm not making any suggestions here, I'm just curious about your rationale, since the archetype I mentioned is like a Luck domain bonus on steroids.

Also, you can speak freely in Abyssal. I'll translate.

[Proud Tortoise]

[Sorry, Orenar. Mixing up my characters.]

[DeusMalum]

['sall good. Figured as much, but I had to scramble through your backstory for a second to figure out if you had an undisclosed split personality.]

With the exception of Dengrel, who can't seem to recall something relevant to your situation, your studies of planar phenomena lead you to the realization you're standing smack dab in the middle of a planar conjunction. That is, a portion of a plane has been hastily stitched onto another, in this case the recipient being your native plane. The originating plane, based on the flora and -from the sound of it- fauna, is most likely the First World, the lush, chaotic template that seems to have been a prototype world for the one you occupy now. It's famous for it's voracious predators, heavily-armored prey animals, bizarre-but-familiar creatures, and oh yes, immortal, soulless, and alien Fey creatures.

Of course knowing where you stand and how isn't so big a question right now as why. These sorts of things do occasionally happen randomly, but the account of the villagers implies a month of occurrences following a pattern of behavior. That would imply this isn't happening randomly, but is driven by some power or intelligence. But who or what that could be is anyone's guess.

As you move forward, wary of your surroundings, Bus notices, from his vantage point above the rest, movement among the foliage. A rustle of leaves, a shadow against the fading sun, you can't quite make out its features but have a reasonable guess for where it is. It's movement through the brush indicates a stalking of your companions, but it makes no indication of having noticed you. As you look around, you notice a number of skulls, some animal, some human, decorating the trees around you, as if propped up like grim hunting trophies.

None of the rest notice anything at the moment, including Bus' familiar.

[Proud Tortoise]

Oblivious to the danger, Orenar continues toward the tower.

[iTookUrNick]

Bus' heart skips a beat when he perceives the creature's presence. He doubles his efforts at staying hidden, knowing that it might make a difference later. That also means casting no spells for the moment. Fortunately, he can still warn his allies.

"Please do not react too openly to this statement, but I think there might be a dangerous creature stalking you through the foliage above your position. I do not know what it is, but it has not spotted me yet, probably due to dumb luck on my part. Again, just giving a heads-up. Figuratively of course, do not look up all together.

Anyway, it this thing does not show itself before we enter the tower, we might want to try and lay down some sort of ambush ourselves once inside and see what happens. But I'd wager we will not get that far".

[DeusMalum]

As you warily continue towards the tower, the shape in the trees abruptly breaks off, moving at a rapid pace through the foliage towards the east. You hear what sounds like the pained cry of some enormous deer, which ends in a gurgle. You're about a hundred feet from the tower.

[Got a post up in the other thread but I'm being called away. Please hold up, I'll try and get a response up later this evening or tomorrow morning at the latest.]