Wardens of the Sulfur Gulch

[Celticbear]

As you stand in the street outside the hidden lodge of Absalom, you think of the glorious adventures you have had in the pathfinder society. But the thoughts are crushed by one of the agents telling you to quickly come inside. You rush into what appears to be a smithy, but as you climb the stairs to the upper floor, it quickly starts to look like a library. A soot stained dwarf in a blacksmith's apron greets you with a smile and what appears to be an beautiful adamantine greataxe.

Let's get right to business, I need you all to go to Numeria into a place known as the Sulfur Gulch. That place used to be explored openly by the pathfinder society until a tribe called the Ghost Wolves took root there. They hate technology more than any other one of the barbarian clans in Numeria, and they hated us looking for it. Recently though, a ruin in the outskirts of the gulch was found, and the Ghost Wolves are having trouble clearing it. Your job is to deliver this axe to Ghost Wolves, clear the ruin, and strengthen the society's hold in Numeria. Any questions?

[Yas392]

Though she already knew half of the information as she delivered it, Yveryl pretends to be clueless as other pathfinders to maintain her act of being hired as she swing her fan lightly to one side, making a slight clapping noise.

"As a matter of fact, I do. Do you know what will be facing in the ruins? From what I heard little about Numeria, they do have the quite the number of automatons running around."

[Celticbear]

As the name suggests, sulfur gulch is a very gassy place, but don't expect anything above minor radiation. Restoration spells might be useful, and automatons isn't a bad guess. It is Numeria.

[Phasm]

Elisaine eyes the greataxe, clearly appreciative. "Ooh, nice work. Yours?" Judging from the hilt of the bastard sword poking up over the half-elf's shoulder and her beautifully crafted chainmail, she knows a few things about quality arms and armor. "So, is there a Pathfinder lodge in the area, or will we be finding our own accommodations? Is there anything in particular that you expect us to find in the Sulfur Gulch?"

[grifter730]

Brooder:

Brooder casually leaned against the wall at the back and listened intently as the soot stained dwarf spoke. The Society always had strange missions, and this one was no different. "Are we teleporting there, or are we expected to find our own transportation there? Aside from that, Numeria sounds intriguing to me. Always wondered if the automatons really could pass as humans."

[Athaleon]

Calas spoke up at the mention of a teleport. "Normally I'd say getting there's half the fun, but a job's a job, and how long would it take to get to Numeria over sea and land from here? Several weeks, I'd imagine, and we've a job to do—an important one I'd wager, considering we're apparently trying to make nice with a tribe that just showed up and booted us out of the area. As for restoration, who has that covered? Best I can do is patch up a few scratches."

[Gunhaven]

Kronug managed to stifle a chuckle at mention of where they were going for all of three seconds before the dam broke and he said in obvious amusement something in a different language "Se on hyvä asia, että menen hänen kanssaan sitten! On hyvä nähdä perheeni uudelleen, vaikka se on erilainen alue." He took off his arguably garish demonic mask and revealed his Kellid background like all the other barbarians in Numeria, the Worldwound, or the Realm of the Mammoth Lords. He then cleared his throat and said in a less confident common "Although I would prefer might makes right versus long discussions."

He put his luchador mask back on, tucked in his unkempt black hair, and adjusted his spiked green-hued scale mail before giving one final stretch. He then added "Perhaps a wand would work then? I'm better suited for smashing these humanoid things we may run into. A joint purchase to help against the fog. May we make such a purchase before you whisk us off?"

Figured I'd do English to German to Finnish for Hallit just to have that chance for mistranslation. What I meant to say was "It is a good thing i'm coming along then! it will be good to see my tribe again, even if it is a different region."

[Celticbear]

I've hired a boat to take you there and drop you off at a beach near the Ghost Wolves' main encampment. Once there, you will parley with anyone who meets you and says they're a Ghost Wolf, but ask to speak to their chieftain and bring him this axe.

[grifter730]

Brooder:

"I can handle some healing. Nothing as strong as the clerics, mind, so using a wand out of combat would probably be best. As far as traveling goes, I'll take whatever mode of transport being offered."

[Yas392]

Yveryl shifts her head a little.

"I could as well but if Brooder could do it, I'll leave the duties to him. I don't really need restoration. I already got sufficient defenses against harmful vapors. Just curious. How much gold each of us are going lay down for that wand?"

[Gunhaven]

Kronug did a count again before he said "Assuming we can get a lesser one from a Paladin, or one for 750, it'd be...150? That sounds right at least. And I'm sure I could fight off toxins as well but I'd rather be prepared for battle." If no one stops him he'll take the greataxe and look a little more like a classic barbarian versus a gaudy wrestler.

[Phasm]

"Healing is always a good investment. I'll chip in 150, no problem." Elisaine idly reaches up to toy with the pendant around her neck, a beautiful silver holy symbol of Desna enameled with the goddess' colors. "I'm a magus, so I can't contribute anything other than coin in that department."

[Athaleon]

"I have..." Calas trailed off as he added the sums in his head, "about three hundred I can put in towards that wand. And I suggest we all pick up some reading material, or some such diversion for the boat ride."

[Yas392]

Yveryl opens her coin purse and closes it.

"It's good to be prepared for the worst scenario. I think I can spare 150 gold."

[Gunhaven]

Kronug gave a slight nod and said "It shouldn't be too hard to find this close to Mendev, right? The whole Worldwound and that." Satisfied with the progress made so far, the warrior added "I will wait at the docks. What is the ship's name?"

[Celticbear]

Blue Bane. The ship has a history for killing blue drakes and dragons. You'll be well protected there.

[Gunhaven]

Kronug gave another nod as he pulled out the aforementioned 150 gold and handed it to...Calas. He said "You can have my portion. I will be waiting on the boat." With that the warrior left with the great ax to find this ship they were supposed to board.

[Athaleon]

Calas gathered up the gold and poured it into his coin bag. "That makes seven fifty; should be enough. I'll shop around a bit and meet you all at the ship. If anyone wants something from the market, let me know."


Diplomacy: [roll0] to try to haggle for a better price with the merchants. If he does get a better price he will pocket

He will also look for reading material (pertaining to Numeria if possible) and some kind of board game to pass the time during the trip.

[grifter730]

Brooder takes out his pistols one at a time, checking it, and re-holstering it. Satisfied that they're well oiled and functional, he trails Kronug and makes his way towards the Blue Bane.

[Celticbear]

Calas comes back with a wand, a tarrow deck, and multiple books that are well older than the usual. The Blue Bane's crew are expecting you and the trip towards Numeria begins.

You got the wand for 650 gp, and with the books you found anyone who spends the trip studying it gets a +2 circumstance bonus on knowledge enginnering. Only Two people can read it during the trip though.

[Yas392]

"A ship with a lot of history behind it. This trip might not be so boring after all."

Yveryl makes her way to the harbor.

[Phasm]

Elisaine decides to swing by the market on her way to the docks, picking up a deck of playing cards and any used books that look interesting, useful or entertaining. The trip from Absalom up the Sellen River to Numeria will be long, and one can only work on new spells or swap lies stories with one's shipmates for so long.

[Athaleon]

"Any of you mechanically-inclined? While looking for the wand I picked these up, could come in handy." He showed the rest of the party the engineering books. "I know a bit about this stuff but I'm not an expert by any means."

[Phasm]

"Not really, sorry." Elisaine idly flips a coin in the air, seeing how many times she can make it rotate before catching it. "I know a good bit about arcana, the planes, weird things that live in caves- you know, oozes and such?- even geography. Which could come in handy for reading star charts if we see any of those. But I never got around to engineering."

[Athaleon]

Calas just shrugged. "If no one else wants 'em, I might as well read them myself, if only to keep myself occupied."

[Celticbear]

While on the trip, anyone can make diplomacy or similar checks to find out about the crew or the place you are going to.

[Gunhaven]

Kronug isn't one for comforting talk or knowledge. When the question of who can use the book he simply motions at his imposing figure and says "I am one for more direct action. I know a bit about leaders and the like, just to know who I should protect really. But until then I'm more physical." As if to prove his point the Kellid will do his best to help the crew on the ship as an extra set of muscles. Otherwise he'd just be wrasslin' them.

Gonna try a strength check to be an extra pair of muscles. [roll0]
If anyone tries to get fresh with him then an intimidate check to put that to an end. [roll1]

[Yas392]

"Books and I do not generally mesh well, my good man. If I need knowledge, I usually ask around or meet with experts. You'll be surprised how much they know. Anyways, I already planned out what I will be doing on board."

Yveryl spies a few sailors and crewman on the ship and walks to them.


Let's see if she can squeeze some juicy info from the crew. [roll0]

[Celticbear]

Kronug impresses the crew and gives him some respect.

Yvreyl's diplomacy attemt was nearly good, but he didn't get any useful information about anything related to the adventure.

[Athaleon]

In between reading his books, Calas often got up to stretch his legs and chat up the crew. He was mainly looking for more information on where they were going, but he'd be content with any sort of small talk just to break up the monotony of the ride.


Diplomacy to Gather Information, on Numeria or just small talk about the crew themselves.

[roll0]

[grifter730]

Brooder wasn't one for ships, more of a horse person, but he had nothing against it. The wind felt nice, and the air away from the muck of town was refreshing. He spent the quiet moments recollecting stories and other things he's read or heard about Numeria.


Knowledge Local: [roll0]

[Phasm]

Elisaine isn't really a diplomacy sort of person, nor is she one for local gossip. But thanks to her headband of ponderous recollection, she does have quite a store of knowledge about geography. The half-elf spends quite some time searching her magically-enhanced memory and writing down everything she can recall about Numeria in general and the Sulfur Gulch specifically.


Knowledge: geography: [roll0]

[Celticbear]

Elisaine doesn't get any important details about Numeria that you didn't already know.

Brooder gets a specific quote that goes as follows: They say the ghosts of the ship wrecks in the Gulch still walk the halls of their crashed ships, killing any intruders.

Calas finds out that the ghost wolves have been having a rough time trying to get into the ship wreck, as giant metal men have killed anyone that's tried.

One day when you all wake up, something feels off. Make me perception checks.

[Phasm]

Yay, another boring day at sea. Elisaine slowly comes awake in her narrow bunk, yawning as she contemplates what to do today. Maybe one of the other Pathfinders would be up for a card game?

Wait a minute. Something seems... off.

Perception: [roll0]

[grifter730]

Remembering tales of Numeria, Brooder recalls that the ghosts of the ship wrecks in the Gulch still walk the halls of their crashed ships, killing any intruders. He mentions it to his companions, in case it's of any use. Aside from that, he passes the day trying to fight off boredom more than anything else, but he's an ex-soldier, and as such was used to such lulls. This particular morning though, he awoke to a strange sensation.


Perception: [roll0]

[Celticbear]

Just to clarify I am waiting for you all to roll perception checks.

[Celticbear]

Calas, Elisane, and Brooder will act in the surprise round as they see a blue dragon in the distance. It is about 100 feet from the boat due southwest.


Initiative of the dragon: [roll0]

[Athaleon]

"Dragon!" Calas pointed the creature out for the benefit of those who hadn't spotted it, before frantically casting a spell to speed his and his allies' movement.


Standard Action: Cast Haste on himself, plus all party members and random crew in range (I doubt more than 11 people would be within 30').

[Phasm]

"Why in all the Hells is there a dragon out there?!" Elisaine glares up at the sky, seriously annoyed. When she wished for something to break up the monotony of a sea voyage, she didn't mean a dragon! A blue dragon at that, one of the "rawr, I will chomp you with my enormous pointy teeth!" dragons.

Well, time to earn her keep. The half-elf gives Calas a grateful nod before concentrating on her own magic. With a softly uttered phrase, Elisaine begins blinking into and out of the Ethereal Plane; a decidedly unsettling effect, as it looks like she's constantly vanishing and reappearing. She draws her sword and looks up, tensing for action.


Initiative: [roll0]

Knowledge (arcana) to see what she knows about blue dragons: [roll1]

Cast blink and draw sword.

[Gunhaven]

Kronug let out a bark of laughter at the mention of a dragon. The stories that could be told! The glory at wrestling a flying opponent down to the ground! It would be tricky but he was fully convinced that if anyone could ride a dragon into the sea it would be him.

YEAAAAHHHHH LET'S GO SURFING!
[roll0]

[Yas392]

Good start!

Yveryl gives a thumbs up at Calas's quick thinking.

How wonderful! A dragon on our first trip. I must say its a brash, young breed who is looking for treasure or to boost its fearsome reputation. The older ones are usually more reserved and deceptive. We should spread out. We don't want to get caught by its pungent breath, do we? If it is close enough, maybe we could invite it down to talk and drink tea with it. It's better than a direct fight, isn't it?

She then mutters a spell and disappears.


Cast vanish on self and moves away from crew, drawing her starknife.

[grifter730]

Brooder eyes the dragon suspiciously. He tended to shoot first and ask questions later, but a rare few things would make him pause. Dragons are one of those things. The blue color denoted the likelihood of its friendliness, yet he still dared hope it would pass them by. He wasn't too hopeful though, as he mutters a silent prayer.


Cast Divine Favor

[Celticbear]

The dragon notices the casting of spells on the Bluebane's deck and starts to fly towards the ship.

Fly check [roll0]

[Athaleon]

Calas gulped hard as the saw the dragon wheel towards the ship. The hesitation was over in an instant; after a hasty call of "be back right quick!" he used his newly enhanced speed to dash back down to his quarters and retrieve a few essential items.


Just so I have it right: We just woke up, felt something wrong, went straight up to the deck with whatever we slept in, and spotted the dragon? In that case Calas is running back to his quarters to retrieve his weapons and armor.

[Celticbear]

You're right, though at this level adventurer paranoia would just make you put on leather as sleeping clothes and plate mail at breakfast, so to speak.

[Phasm]

Time to get up there and do what Elisaine does best! The half-elf whispers a few magic words. She rises into the sky, nearly weightless as the magic imbued in her armor takes effect. "Come on, everybody! Let's go!"


Use fly ability of celestial armor.

Fly: [roll0]

And yes, she is paranoid enough to sleep in her armor. :smallwink: Celestial armor counts as light armor.