Ratpack – Shattered Star Book 3, Session 9

[✨Merry Christmas to those who celebrate and Happy Holidays to everyone else who has a holiday at this time of year!  I got this typed up and ready to post in time, so I decided to not delay it any further. ✨]

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[Day 22 and 23 – Working and exploring the Spire]

[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened October 10, 2022.]

[SPOILERS!  If you are likely to adventure through the Shattered Star Adventure Path from Paizo, this campaign will be spoilers all the way down.]

Player Characters

Marativy – female ratfolk 8th level Ninja

Zitch Grimreaper – male ratfolk 8th level Witch with a donkey rat (capybara) familiar

Roscuro – male ratfolk 8th level Monk

Swamprover – female grippli 7th level Wizard

Hrefna – female changeling 7th level Omdura

Via Roll20

Templeton von Trapp – male ratfolk 8th level Summoner (Synthesist)

NPCs

Gridik Stormstride – male blue kobold 6th level Wizard (Invoker)

Ariphi – female tiefling 7th level Rogue

Mel Sharples – male halfling Cook (Expert of unknown level)

Alice Hyatt – female halfling Bodyguard (Warrior of unknown level)

Flo’ Castleberry – female gnome Bodyguard (Warrior of unknown level)

Autumn

Day 22 (continued)

Morning

Gridik and Swamprover [secretly watched over by Marativy] left Haverston’s Grange [the inn the Ratpack was staying at] in southern Downmarket to go to the Therassic Spire, a building that housed a group of wizards and sages specializing in things Thassilonian.  The went north to the gap that was The Warrens and cut over to Bis at Quarrimac’s Curatives.  In Bis they went south along the central road to Cavalcade.  Once in Cavalcade they followed streets and bridges to the border between Cavalcade and Highside Stacks.

The Therassic Spire was tall with no windows.  Steps led up to a front door that had a sign in Draconic on it.  The sign read “Closed until further notice.”  The door was locked.

Marativy could see that Gridik and Swamprover were stumped by the locked door and stepped up next to them, offering to open the door.  Gridik nearly jumped out of his pants as he had no idea Marativy had been following them.  Once his heart calmed some, he said, “Yes, please.”  Marativy easily picked the lock and opened the door for Gridik and Swamprover.  She then faded back into the shadows.

Gridik and Swamprover entered the Spire.  The foyer was a large room with stairs leading up on the left and right sides.  Ahead were two open doorways, each leading to a different room.  Not seeing anyone, Gridik called out a hello and announced himself.  After a few moments a clearly puzzled half-orc woman stepped out of one of the side rooms.  She stated that the Spire was closed as everyone was busy doing research.  Gridik used this as an opening and convinced the woman, introduced as Koif’a, that the Spire clearly needed additional help and he and Swamprover were experienced researchers from Magnimar so when can they start work.  Koif’a stated that they should come back in a week if they wanted employment, giving them a signed note stating the same.  Gridik thanked her and stated they would return the following day to start work.  Then Gridik and Swamprover left, leaving behind a bemused Koif’a.

Outside, Gridik and Swamprover discussed what to do next, settling on going over to the Tarheel Promenade to look for some history books about Kaer Maga.  After several hours of searching, Gridik finally purchased a copy of Archeological History of Kaer Maga (in Draconic) for 20 gp – quite a bargain.  The two then returned to the Grange in Downmarket.

Afternoon

Having toured the inner districts of Kaer Maga and before he dismissed Gav for the day, Roscuro asked Gav about the Ardoc family and if they sold their constructs.  Gav informed Roscuro that the Ardoc family made constructs on request only.  Wealthy families in the city liked to own them as status symbols.  Roscuro thanked Gav and told Gav to check back in the morning to see if the Ratpack needed his services.

Dinner

The Ratpack gathered from their various doings and shared what information they had learned with each other.  After listening to the information Gav had supplied, Marativy suggested that instead of grabbing a construct from the Ardoc family directly, one could be taken from a wealthy but less politically connected family in the city.  Alternately, maybe one of the group might do a service for the Ardocs in exchange for a construct.  This seemed like a good path and Hrefna volunteered to go check out the Ardoc factory the next day.

Day 23

Morning

Hrefna and Templeton headed over to the Ardoc factory to seek employment opportunities [or an opportunity to grab a construct before it was activated].  Hrefna ended up talking to some of the employees and was sent to the foreman, where she made her pitch to get hired.  [My notes don’t say they got hired, so I don’t think it worked.]

At the same time, Gridik and Swamprover with Marativy watching over them, returned back to the Spire.  After Marativy picked the lock again and let them in, Gridik and Swamprover went to the side room Koif’a had emerged from the previous day, looking for the half-orc.  The room turned out to be a study with several books in Ignan on the table but no Koif'a.  [Neither reads Ignan, but Gridik has a good eye for scripts and identified the language it was written in.  He also made a note to himself to learn Ignan.]

While Gridik and Swamprover were looking for someone to speak with, Marativy quietly made her way up the stairs on the left to start exploring the Spire.  In an alcove to the side of the top of the stairs she found an airshaft that went all the way up the Spire.  She climbed up to the next floor [the 3rd].  On that floor Marativy saw a gnome reading a book while walking directly towards the airshaft.  Marativy turned invisible [Ninja powers] and did her best to stay out of the way of the distracted gnome.  The gnome turned in front of the shaft and walked down a side passage.

Exploring the floor some, Marativy discovered a room with no people in it.  Scattered across some tables were a variety of books in languages she could not read.  She also found a bag off to one side.  Opening it to check its contents, she found a ring, a pouch of coins, and a change of clothes.  She took the coins but left the ring as it was too identifiable.

Back on the first floor, after looking around and finding no one, Gridik and Swamprover were about to go up the stairs on the left to explore when an elf descended the stairs on the right, stating “You should not be here.”

Gridik convinced the elf that they had been hired by Koif’a to assist (providing the note as evidence) and then asked to be put to work.  The elf took the note and told Gridik to wait there before going back up the stairs on the right, possibly to find Koif’a.  Swamprover took the opportunity to go up the left stairs and explore while Gridik waited.  Gridik was fine with this plan.

At the top of the stairs, Swamprover found the same air shaft Marativy had discovered.  However, as she was preparing to climb up the walls, she noticed a stone platform descending down the shaft at speed!  She immediately hopped out of the shaft and hid a couple steps down the stairs [not the best cover, but better than nothing].

The stone platform came to a soft landing and a dark elf stepped off it and turned away from Swamprover, descending a different flight of stairs [both sets of stairs on the first floor curved up and met at this landing on the second floor].  Swamprover realized it wasn’t an air shaft but a magical lift!

The dark elf descended the stairs to the entry foyer and found Gridik waiting there.  He immediately told Gridik to leave, but Gridik explained he could not as he was a new hire and an elf had taken his note of employment.  The dark elf shrugged and escorted Gridik to the other side room, which contained several study carrels.  The dark elf parked Gridik in one of the carrels and told him to wait there.  The chair and table resized themselves to fit a kobold, so Gridik was more than happy to wait.  [Hurry-up-and-wait is also common amongst academics.]  The dark elf then went back up the stairs on the right of the foyer.

At the same time, Swamprover was experimenting with getting the lift to work.  It gust seemed to require some magic talent and concentration to control and she got it to ascend fairly quickly.  When she stopped at a floor Koif’a was standing right there looking at her.  The grippli squeaked out that the elf had taken their note.  Koif’a stepped onto the lift and made it descend, escorting Swamprover back to the ground floor.  She walked Swamprover over to the room with the study carrels, finding Gridik already sitting in one.

Gridik said the dark elf had told him to wait here for work to do.  Koif’a sighed.  She parked Swamprover in a different carrel [which resized to fit her] and brought the two of them work to do, realizing it would take less time and effort to put them to work than to get them to leave the Spire.  Later the elf, Farsen, came back and returned the note to Gridik…and also a pile of scrolls to collate data from.  Gridik and Swamprover set to work.

Meanwhile, Marativy continued to explore the upper floors of the Spire by way of the “air shaft”.  She found rooms with people in them on the upper floors and avoided those floors, eventually reaching the top floor of the tower.  The landing here was a decorated short hallway with a red carpet leading to the one door on the opposite wall.  Marativy started walking along the carpet but after a few steps the carpet animated and attempted to envelope her.  She leapt and twisted clear of the carpet quickly stepping over to the door and standing on bare floor.  Marativy scrutinized the door and found it was trapped.  Taking some time [and using her magic gloves] she disarmed the magical trap.

Marativy carefully opened the door and looked inside.  There was a lavish library on the other side with a seating area and some statues, but it appeared to be empty.  She stepped in, quietly closing the door behind her, and looked around.

A voice from above her, full of curiosity, asked, “Who are you?

“No one,” she replied and went invisible.

End of Session

Rat Whispers

[This session ended on a bit of a cliffhanger!  We speculated who the voice might belong to, but we didn’t find out until the next session.]

[One bit of rules clarification.  Rogues can disarm all traps, including magical traps, but Ninjas are limited to only mechanical traps.  Back in Book 2, the Other GM inserted a pair of magic gloves that allow the wearer to disarm magical traps.  This was him observing an issue we were running into and fixing it with a magic item rather than us recruiting yet another NPC.  He is from the school of play where the players do everything and rarely bring on NPC hirelings.  I’m old school and have no issues with us having plenty of NPCs to cover our weaknesses.  Both schools are valid, so I have no issues with his solution.]

Ratpack

Book 1: Shards of Sin Landing Page – Links to all Book 1 sessions

Book 2: Curse of the Lady’s Light Landing Page – Links to all Book 2 sessions

Book 3: The Asylum Stone Landing Page – Links to all Book 3 sessions

Last Session: Session 8

Next Session: Session 10

Ratpack – Shattered Star Book 3, Session 8

[Day 21 and 22 – Dinner with Abra, continued tour, and first foray to the Spire]

[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened October 3, 2022.]

[SPOILERS!  If you are likely to adventure through the Shattered Star Adventure Path from Paizo, this campaign will be spoilers all the way down.]

Player Characters

Marativy – female ratfolk 8th level Ninja

Zitch Grimreaper – male ratfolk 8th level Witch with a donkey rat (capybara) familiar

Roscuro – male ratfolk 8th level Monk

Swamprover – female grippli 7th level Wizard

Via Roll20

Templeton von Trapp – male ratfolk 8th level Summoner (Synthesist)

Hrefna – female changeling 7th level Omdura

NPCs

Gridik Stormstride – male blue kobold 6th level Wizard (Invoker)

Ariphi – female tiefling 7th level Rogue

Autumn

Day 21 (conclusion)

Dinner Time

The Ratpack met with Abra from the Duskwardens at a restaurant across the street from the Grange for dinner.  The Ratpack sought permission to explore the Undercity [the Duskwardens domain underneath Kaer Maga] and Abra sought assurances that the Ratpack would not cause problems nor require rescue.

Roscuro shared information about the group touring the outer districts of Kaer Maga as dinner conversation.  Once everyone finished eating, Abra requested that while discussing possible access that both he and Roscuro wear Rings of Truth, that would compel both sides to speak only truths.  Roscuro was skeptical, but agreed.

The following conversation clearly did not go as Abra expected.  The Ratpack was knowledgeable about potential dangers, especially those related to Runelord areas, despite knowing nothing of the Undercity.  Also, the Ratpack was very confident about being able to handle the threats as this was not the first Runelord-related dungeon they had cleaned out.

Abra agreed to go forward with getting the Ratpack permission to explore the Undercity, but also suggested the group speak with the Council of Truth, a set wizards and sages operating out of the Therassic Spire in Cavalcade.  They specialized in the city’s history and had a significant library, if one could gain access to it.  He suggested that potential sponsors for access might be the Augurs, the Ardoc family, or the Bloat Mages.

During the meeting, Marativy slipped away to perform a mission of her own.  She took to the rooftops and ran a block or so north.  She then looked for a place to set the severed hand she had been charged with delivering as a message from the Magnimar thieves' guild.  She found a small courtyard that was mostly empty then [it was evening and street traffic was dwindling], but would have foot traffic in the morning.  She turned invisible [Ninja powers] and dropped to the ground, placing the severed hand in a doorway that would get good sun in the morning.  She then moved away as stealthily as only she could and returned to the Grange.

After dinner [and after Abra left], the Ratpack discussed their options.  None of the group felt it wise to make contact with the Ardoc family as they had a potential job to steal one of the Ardoc’s constructs.  They all agreed that the Bloat Mages were very likely to notice the shards the group already had in their possession.  Given that the Bloat Mages sought increased magical power, it seemed likely they would attempt to steal the shards, making them undesirable/unreliable as allies.  This left the Augurs and the Council of Truth.

Hrefna cast Commune.  After several questions on where the shard might be, Hrefna asked if the Council of Truth would recognize the shard from Roscuro’s usual physical description of it and whether or not Gridik could gain access to the Spire without being sponsored.  Both questions were answered with a “Yes”.  This suggested that being more vague about what the group sought might be a better option with the Council – if they recognized what the shard was, their interests might be aroused.

Day 22

Zitch started work on upgrading Marativy’s Belt of Dexterity.  This would occupy him for 8 hours.

Gridik and Swamprover headed over to the Therassic Spire to see about getting access.  Zitch put his Ward on Gridik and Marativy shadowed the kobold and grippli to keep them safe.  [Their adventures will be written up in the Session 9 notes.]

Hrefna headed over to the Tarheel Promenade to seek a scroll of Lay of the Land.  After making inquiries, Hrefna was told that the Duskwardens were the only ones with that spell in Kaer Maga and she should inquire at the Duskwarden HQ in Bis for it.

Meanwhile, Roscuro and Templeton picked up Gav as a tour guide and explored the inner districts of the city.  In northern Downmarket, they wandered around the Amphitheater by the town lake.  Their information [from the Commune spells] was that an entrance to the part of the Undercity they wanted was in the amphitheater, but it was hidden and guarded by the Duskwardens.  After a casual look around, Templeton felt certain that the entrance was probably in the lake, just behind and below the amphitheater.  Roscuro was dubious about this idea, but neither wanted to tip off/aggravate the Duskwardens right then, so they moved on.

The next district east of Downmarket was Hospice.  Hospice provided relaxation and companionship, i.e., it was full of taverns, brothels, and secluded parks.  Gav gave his opinion on several taverns, but stated his favorite was The Sorry Excuse.  The trio also passed a temple to Calistria, Goddess of Lust and Revenge.

Following the general path of the roads counter-clockwise [I almost said widdershins here], the last district of the city was Widdershins.  Widdershins was the area on the north side of the lake and was where “the average and boring people live”.  [Think 1950’s  Small Town America but fantasy and you’ll have it.]  There were many city guard about, none of the businesses were interesting to adventurers [especially after just walking through Hospice] and the district was home to the Guard House, the HQ of the City Guard.  Templeton and Roscuro were polite and walked through the district without stopping.

End of Session

Rat Whispers

[More information gathering this session.  Expect more next session as the group explores the city further and continues to search for entrances to the Undercity.]

[With Christmas, the Day Job being busy just before the closure of the work site until January 3, and now weather issues (temperatures in the teens is ridiculous in the Houston area), I’m behind in posting.  This post was delayed due to power outage in my neighborhood taking out the Internet connection.  My goal for this week of vacation/holiday is to get at least another two sessions typed up and posted and to finish editing Book III of my retro-clone of Original D&D.  If I have to choose one over the other, it will be to finish the edits so I can post my rules as PWYW on DrivethruRPG.  Sorry.]

Ratpack

Book 1: Shards of Sin Landing Page – Links to all Book 1 sessions

Book 2: Curse of the Lady’s Light Landing Page – Links to all Book 2 sessions

Book 3: The Asylum Stone Landing Page – Links to all Book 3 sessions

Last Session: Session 7

Next Session: Session 9

Ratpack – Shattered Star Book 3, Session 7

[Day 20 and 21 – Arrival and a tour for shopping]

[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened September 26, 2022.]

[SPOILERS!  If you are likely to adventure through the Shattered Star Adventure Path from Paizo, this campaign will be spoilers all the way down.]

Player Characters

Marativy – female ratfolk 8th level Ninja

Zitch Grimreaper – male ratfolk 8th level Witch with a donkey rat (capybara) familiar

Roscuro – male ratfolk 8th level Monk

Swamprover – female grippli 7th level Wizard

Hrefna – female changeling 7th level Omdura

Via Roll20

Templeton von Trapp – male ratfolk 8th level Summoner (Synthesist)

NPCs

Gridik Stormstride – male blue kobold 6th level Wizard (Invoker)

Ariphi – female tiefling 7th level Rogue

Autumn

Day 20 (continued)

As the Ratpack entered Kaer Maga through the ancient gaping hole in the side of the structure, the district they entered was The Warrens.  This is clearly the poorest part of the city with hovels stacked on each other.  Behind the stacks of hovels, to either side, were the cavernous entrances to Kaer Maga’s outer ring of districts.  The obvious main street through the Warrens to the inner city [where the Ratpack wished to go] was lined with packs of street urchins attempting to sell junk/get hired as guides/pickpocket those new to the city.

Like any other group of new arrivals, the Ratpack was immediately surrounded by urchins as they made their way down the main street.  Zitch and Marativy noticed one of the urchins steal some of Gridik’s scroll reagents while the kobold was distracted by a different urchin.  Marativy stole the reagents back without being noticed and re-planted them in Gridik’s backpack.  The rest of the Ratpack was aware enough to keep hold of their valuables.

After a bit, a higher grade of street urchin arrived and drove away the pickpockets.  He introduced himself as Gav Nahli and offered his "superior guide services" for a "mere" 5 gp per day.  Roscuro had been expecting something like this but haggled a bit to not look like an easy mark.  He eventually relented and accepted Gav’s services.

After explaining where they wanted to go [Haverston’s Grange, where the Pathfinder Society had arranged rooms].  As the group resumed travel through the Warrens, Gav provided a bit of a travelogue, pointing out the location of the Pillars of Dream as the group passed the side street leading to them.  Gav explained the Pillars were as old as the structure the city was built in and touching them led to the toucher falling asleep for several hours.

Once past the Warrens, the group entered Downmarket, one of the three districts inside the torus that held the outer districts.  [Imagine a glazed donut.  The three inner districts are where the donut hole is.  Now hollow out the donut so that it is a circular tube and then take a bite out of the northwest corner.  Where the bite is is The Warrens and the other districts are inside the hollow donut.]  The group walked nearly to the lake inside Kaer Maga and then turned south.  Haverston’s Grange was near the southern end of Downmarket, just past the Auger Temple.  The Augers were trolls who foretold futures with their own entrails, cutting open their own stomachs to do so.  Once at the Grange, Roscuro paid Gav and asked that he show up in the morning for more guide services.

In the Grange, the Ratpack spoke with Lynette the combination barkeep and innkeep.  Roscuro explained they had a reservation through the Pathfinder Society.  Lynette confirmed that there were four pre-paid rooms reserved for a week.  After that the Ratpack would need to pay on their own.  Roscuro agreed to this.

While the rest of the group got settled in their rooms, Roscuro ducked out with Marativy to stop by the Auger Temple.  Roscuro wanted to get a feel for the organization and maybe some useful information.  The duo found a couple trolls standing in front of the temple talking with each other.  One of the trolls turned to face the two ratfolk and Roscuro asked for a divination about his current business.  The troll walked them over to a side area and then explained that auguries cost 15 gp.  Roscuro paid, curious to see how this worked.  The troll then cut open its stomach to examine its own entrails before stating that it saw in Roscuro’s future an individual with a shadowed past, deep secrets best left untouched, and an unexpected friend.  Neither Roscuro nor Marativy were convinced that anything supernatural had just happened, but they thanked the troll and left.

Back at the Grange, the group had dinner, which was spicy dwarven fare.

Day 21

Over breakfast [2sp per person at the Grange], the Ratpack discussed options.  They decided that learning the lay of the land in Kaer Maga would be a good idea and some shopping for magical reagents was necessary.  When Gav arrived, they paid him to take them to find magic shops.  Gav recommended they go to the Tarheel Promenade district as it was the center for all things arcane in the city.  There were a couple routes to get there from Downmarket and the Ratpack selected the route that went around the covered portion of the city to see the various districts.  Also, they wished to avoid having to pay tolls to get through the gates in the walls between the inner districts and the outer districts.

Gav took them north and then cut through a small part of the Warrens to get to Oriat, the northern-most outer district.  Oriat was the home to the city’s artists, philosophers, and hipsters.  Gav warned that the Brotherhood of the Seal, a monastic order that resided in Oriat, was undergoing some form of schism and the monks were fighting each other periodically.  Best to avoid that.

Walking through the outer districts clockwise, the next district was Ankar-Te, the center of the undead trade in the city.  Gav had the group stick to the main street through this district.

The next district was the Tarheel Promenade, which occupied the southeastern quadrant of the outer city.  The two notable shops in the district were the Wheel Unbroken [expensive] and Gadka’s Magical Oddities [discount].  Marativy, following Zitch’s instructions, purchased the necessary materials to upgrade her Belt of Dexterity [from a +2 to a +6].  Neither shop had all of the materials necessary, so Marativy split her purchases between the stores and made both proprietors very happy after purchasing 8000gp worth of reagents in both shops.  Gridik was able to locate two of the spells he wanted [Nondetection and Spontaneous Immolation] and bought a scroll of each.

After spending time shopping, the group continued the tour of the outer districts.  The next district and possibly the smallest was The Bottoms.  The Bottoms was home to abolitionists and freed slaves.  Just past the Bottoms was Cavalcade, another small district that was home to the city’s manufacturing businesses.  There were several streams running through this district with many bridges and waterwheels in evidence.

The next district was Bis, which occupied the western side of the outer districts between Cavalcade and the Warrens.  This district was wealthy and the home of the Ardoc family, makers of constructs and automatons.  Gav pointed out the Ardoc family compound and later their factory as the group walked through the district.  Several guard constructs were seen at several street corners and Marativy noticed small flying observation constructs up on the roofs of a number of buildings.

The group then clipped the corner of the Warrens to re-enter Downside.  Roscuro paid Gav for the day and told him to come back in the morning.

Dinner Time

The Ratpack met with Abra from the Duskwardens at a restaurant across the street from the Grange for dinner and to discuss options to explore the Undercity.

End of Session

Rat Whispers

[This session was mostly a big exposition dump with a little shopping on the side.  It took a while for all the players to understand that the inner and outer districts didn’t just have a wall between them, but the outer districts were enclosed in a tube.  I omitted mentioning the Highside Stacks, a district that is accessed from the outer districts of Cavalcade and The Bottoms but is also somehow outside the structure and hangs over parts of Downside and Hospice?  I have no real idea how it works, especially as there is a stream shown that appears to start at the lake and flows south through Highside and Cavalcade without explaining how it makes the jump up to Highside.  I assume “magic” is used but maybe the map drawer missed the detail.  Hard to say.]

Ratpack

Book 1: Shards of Sin Landing Page – Links to all Book 1 sessions

Book 2: Curse of the Lady’s Light Landing Page – Links to all Book 2 sessions

Book 3: The Asylum Stone Landing Page – Links to all Book 3 sessions

Last Session: Session 6

Next Session: Session 8

Ratpack – Shattered Star Book 3, Session 6

[Day 20 – Up the Storval Rise.]

[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened September 19, 2022.]

[SPOILERS!  If you are likely to adventure through the Shattered Star Adventure Path from Paizo, this campaign will be spoilers all the way down.]

Player Characters

Marativy – female ratfolk 8th level Ninja

Zitch Grimreaper – male ratfolk 8th level Witch with a donkey rat (capybara) familiar

Roscuro – male ratfolk 8th level Monk

Swamprover – female grippli 7th level Wizard

Hrefna – female changeling 7th level Omdura

Via Roll20

Templeton von Trapp – male ratfolk 8th level Summoner (Synthesist)

NPCs

Gridik Stormstride – male blue kobold 6th level Wizard (Invoker)

Ariphi – female tiefling 7th level Rogue

Mel Sharples – male halfling Cook (Expert of unknown level)

Alice Hyatt – female halfling Bodyguard (Warrior of unknown level)

Flo’ Castleberry – female gnome Bodyguard (Warrior of unknown level)

Autumn

Day 20 (continued)

As the Lucky Jenny pulled up to one of the Sirathu docks, Othlo Jenk, the captain of the Lucky Jenny, shared with the Ratpack some information about Sirathu.  Sirathu was a small village that primarily served as a port for Kaer Maga, which sat at the top of the Storval Rise, a cliff of immense proportions.  There were a few taverns for those who missed one of the caravans to the top of the Rise and had to wait until the next day to get to Kaer Maga.  The few shops were mostly for the locals.  Finally, the Duskwardens organized the caravans at the foot of the cliff, so the Ratpack should go there once the ship finished docking.

The Ratpack dis-embarked from the Lucky Jenny and sought out the Duskwardens at the based of the cliff.  There was a large set of bronze doors set into the cliffside around which were several groups of travelers standing in roped off areas, waiting.  As the Ratpack walked up, a human in a brown and gray uniform and light armor approached them and introduced himself.  He was Abra Lopati, one of the Duskwardens.  He explained that there were two routes up the cliff: the fast path and the slow path.  The slow path zig-zagged up the cliff face and took about a day to reach the top.  The fast path, the Halflight Path, takes about two hours but costs money and goes through a blocked off portion of the Undercity, so monsters might attack.  As the Ratpack looks like they can handle themselves, the fee was only 2 gold per person.  Roscuro raised an eyebrow, but paid for the entire Ratpack out of party funds.

The Ratpack was matched up with a merchant and his two sons to head up the Halflight Path.  Abra explained the rules (no talking so as to avoid attracting monsters and some similar safety rules) and handed each member a small token on a leather string.  These were halflight charms and provided light.  Most of the Ratpack grudgingly took them because they were required [every member of the adventuring group had darkvision and needed no light].  The group was then escorted to the brass doors and led through them to the Halflight Path.

An Hour Or So Later

Part way up the path, Abra noticed a bricked up archway that looked wrong.  Just as he was commenting on it, three seugathi busted through it and attacked with surprise.  At first the Ratpack was dismayed, having fought a seugathi under the Lady’s Light.  They quickly determined that these three were nowhere near as tough and rapidly defeated them [compared to that earlier fight].  Abra was noticeably impressed.

An Hour After That, Near Sunset

The group arrived at the top of Storval Rise, just out side the main entrance to Kaer Maga, a blown out section of the city structure, now full of ramshackle buildings and known as The Warren.  The Ratpack asked Abra how to find Haverston’s Grange, the location they had reservations with.  Abra provided directions.  Roscuro then asked how a group might gain access to the Undercity without causing trouble.  This time one of Abra’s eyebrows went up.  Abra said to ask a Duskwarden like himself but he would need to know some details about why the group needed access to the Undercity.  The Ratpack arranged to meet with Abra for dinner the next day to discuss as they wanted to hurry to Haverston’s to get their rooms.  He agreed to meet and discuss further their request for access.  Abra re-entered the Halflight Path and the Ratpack entered The Warrens.

End of Session

Rat Whispers

[No, really – after fighting the demonic seugathi in one of the side rooms under the Lady’s Light, we were expecting THREE of them to be very tough.  It wasn’t as their spell resistance was lower and they had far fewer hit points.  It was refreshing to fight monsters we could handle without worrying about a TPK.]

Ratpack

Book 1: Shards of Sin Landing Page – Links to all Book 1 sessions

Book 2: Curse of the Lady’s Light Landing Page – Links to all Book 2 sessions

Book 3: The Asylum Stone Landing Page – Links to all Book 3 sessions

Last Session: Session 5

Next Session: Session 7

Ratpack – Shattered Star Book 3, Session 5

[Days 6 to 20 – Rest of the river trip, ending with arrival at Sirathu.]

[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened September 12, 2022.]

[SPOILERS!  If you are likely to adventure through the Shattered Star Adventure Path from Paizo, this campaign will be spoilers all the way down.]

Player Characters

Marativy – female ratfolk 8th level Ninja

Zitch Grimreaper – male ratfolk 8th level Witch with a donkey rat (capybara) familiar

Roscuro – male ratfolk 8th level Monk

Swamprover – female grippli 7th level Wizard

Hrefna – female changeling 7th level Omdura

Via Roll20

Templeton von Trapp – male ratfolk 8th level Summoner (Synthesist)

NPCs

Gridik Stormstride – male blue kobold 6th level Wizard (Invoker)

Ariphi – female tiefling 7th level Rogue

Mel Sharples – male halfling Cook (Expert of unknown level)

Alice Hyatt – female halfling Bodyguard (Warrior of unknown level)

Flo’ Castleberry – female gnome Bodyguard (Warrior of unknown level)

Autumn

Day 6

The Ratpack loaded back up on the Lucky Jenny, the gnomish magical paddleboat they had hired, and left Wartle on the Yondabakari River.  During the day’s travel, Hrefna cast Commune to gather some information on our quest.  We learned were two important things as a result.  First, that there were multiple entrances to the location containing the relic shard we sought.  Second, Leroux, the assassin and kidnapper who had taken our friend Winston, was in Kaer Maga.

Day 7

The Lucky Jenny continued upstream on the river and Hrefna cast Commune again to gather more information.  Hrefna started narrowing down which districts in Kaer Maga had an entrance to the dungeon we needed.  She also verified we would not be attacked by a monster while crossing Lake Syrantula in a couple days.

Day 8

The Lucky Jenny continued upstream on the river and Hrefna cast Commune again to gather more information.  Hrefna finished learning which districts had dungeon entrances we might need and gained some additional information about those guarding the entrances.  It was a mixed bag of information and left us with more questions.

Day 9

Morning

The Lucky Jenny continued upstream on the river and Hrefna cast Commune again to gather more information.  Hrefna learned that Leroux was not searching for the shard, the person who hired Leroux is, but they are not in Kaer Maga.  She also learned that the Ratpack was not under observation nor was the shard that could spy on Marativy’s shard in the hands of anyone collecting the shards.  Some additional experimentation taught the group that the spell Nondetection was not strong enough to block the ability of the shards to see the next shard in the chain.  [Some of this information was learned on later days, but the GM did an info dump here to speed things up.]

Afternoon

The Lucky Jenny arrived at Whistledown, a town where the Yondabakari River exited Lake Syrantula.  The Ratpack pooled what knowledge they had on Whistledown:

• It has the largest gnome population per capita of anywhere.
• Major land and water trade routes cross here.
• The houses are decorated with wind-whistles that sound when the wind blows, making the town very musical.
• The town is the source of quality musical instruments.

Several members of the Ratpack did some shopping.  Gridik picked up a rare rare 1st edition tome, signed by the author, for a mere 25 gold coins.  Unfortunately, he did not find any of the spells he was looking for but Templeton purchased a bag of holding.

For dinner, the Ratpack met at Thagon’s Rest, a quality inn that served the best food in town.  It was sized for gnomes, halflings, and ratfolk (size Small races), so after eating Ariphi and Hrefna retired to the Azure Cup, which was sized for humans.

Day 10

The Ratpack re-embarked on the Lucky Jenny and set sail across lake Syrantula.

Day 15

The Luck Jenny arrived at Melfash, on the far side of lake Syrantula, where the Yondabakari River entered the lake.  Melfash was built on stilts on the lake and had numerous water wheels powering various workshops.  It was also the beginning of territory claimed by Korvosa, so the more restrictive laws of Korvosa were now in force.  The stop here was brief before continuing up the Yondabakari River.

Day 17

Late Morning

The Lucky Jenny arrived at the town [maybe large village] of Abken.  The town was surrounded by wooden walls due to the monsters wandering the plains to the north.  The Ratpack asked the gate guards about the town, Gridik asking if a wizard lived in town.  He was told that a wizard, Jorsh, did live in town “in the two-story building.”

Gridik, Zitch, and Swamprover went into town to speak with the wizard.  Jorsh turned out to be affable and was willing to trade spells he knew for spells he didn’t know.  Gridik was able to trade a copy of Tiny Hut for a copy of both Make Whole and Warding Weapon.  The copy session took 4 hours to complete.

Meanwhile, Roscuro, Marativy, Hrefna, and Ariphi bought lunch and then spent the afternoon in a tavern drinking, swapping stories with the locals.

6:00 PM

The Ratpack left Abken just as the town gates were being closed for the night and re-boarded the Luck Jenny.

Day 20

The Lucky Jenny arrived at Sirathu at the base of the Storval Rise, upon which sat Kaer Maga.

End of Session

Rat Whispers

[The daily descriptions got skimpy at the end as we ran out of time in the session.  We wanted to conclude the river trip this session so we could get on with the adventure.  That said, having the wizards check each town for shops or fellow wizards to swap spells with was something I enjoyed doing.  It makes wizards feel like part of a society rather than individual mad scientists.]

[There was a month between this session and the previous one for a mix of reasons, not the least I contracted my second case of Covid at the end of August, despite being vaccinated with two boosters.  I contracted it from my wife, who caught it at a business social.  This time around it was much worse than the first time I had it and I missed two days of work and went light on work another three days.  It was conveniently a slow period in my schedule and I work from home, so I could doze in my chair and eat soup.  I did have to put off all my plans for the Labor Day weekend and a dinner with the neighbors we had scheduled to avoid infecting others.]

Ratpack

Book 1: Shards of Sin Landing Page – Links to all Book 1 sessions

Book 2: Curse of the Lady’s Light Landing Page – Links to all Book 2 sessions

Book 3: The Asylum Stone Landing Page – Links to all Book 3 sessions

Last Session: Session 4

Next Session: Session 6

Happy Thanksgiving!

So the Day Job was super busy last week and I never had time to write up the next session notes for the Shattered Star campaign.  This week is busy as I only have two work days, them my mom is coming to visit for Thanksgiving.  Then I'm having Second Thanksgiving with another family that are close friends on Friday and play board games all day.  Saturday is "Try to catch up on released movies" Day and Sunday I have a once a month campaign I play in.

So clearly, there will not be any session notes posted typed up and posted until next week.  My apologies for the delay.  I expected to skip this week, but did not expect the rush of work last week to materialize.

Happy Thanksgiving for those in the States!  Sorry for the delay to everyone else.

Later!

Ratpack – Shattered Star Book 3, Session 4

[Day 4 and 5 – Conclusion of the fight with the lesher and rescued villagers evacuated.]

[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened August 15, 2022.]

[SPOILERS!  If you are likely to adventure through the Shattered Star Adventure Path from Paizo, this campaign will be spoilers all the way down.]

Player Characters

Marativy – female ratfolk 8th level Ninja

Zitch Grimreaper – male ratfolk 8th level Witch with a donkey rat (capybara) familiar

Roscuro – male ratfolk 8th level Monk

Swamprover – female grippli 7th level Wizard

Hrefna – female changeling 7th level Omdura

Via Roll20

Templeton von Trapp – male ratfolk 8th level Summoner (Synthesist)

Autumn

Day 4 (Continued mid-fight)

The crow swarm followed Swamprover out of Caylen’s home and into the street, where it flowed over the grippli, Zitch, and Hrefna.  Swamprover reversed course and ducked back into the house, slamming the door shut behind her.  Two of the wolves moved to attack Templeton, but both failed to land hits on him.  One wolf moved and attacked Marativy successfully and the last wolf attacked Zitch [my notes do not indicate if the attack was successful].  The lesher attacked and easily hit Roscuro despite the monk’s ki defense but it failed to infect Roscuro with a plant parasite.  Blinded by the swarm, Zitch flew straight up to get out of the swarm.  Hrefna was also blinded and again failed to break free from the roots holding her in place.  Roscuro stepped to a point where he could attack two of the wolves and the lesher, renewed his ki defense, and unleashed a flurry of blows.  One blow killed a wolf, one seriously wounded the other, and the two of the final three attacks landed solidly on the lesher.  Marativy stepped to Roscuro’s space and did a full attack on the lesher, hitting twice with flanking sneak attacks [as ratfolk, both Marativy and Roscuro have Swarming, which provides flanking if we both attack the same target (among other things)].  Templeton grabbed Hrefna and ripped her out of the roots before flying over to the lesher.  This triggered multiple attacks [of opportunity] from the wolves, all of which missed.  Hrefna stepped away from the others to avoid becoming an enticing target for the crow swarm.

The crow swarm moved over Templeton, Roscuro, Marativy, and the lesher.  Safe inside Caylen’s house, Swamprover started searching the rooms for any sign of Caylen or his wife, finding Caylen on his bed, covered in plantlife.  The remaining three wolves, bleeding from wounds inflicted by Templeton, attacked Templeton, Hrefna, and Roscuro, but only the one attacking Hrefna hit.  The lesher stepped back and then unleashed its root growth attack, encompassing Marativy, Roscuro, Hrefna, and the wolves in the conic area of the attack.  No one was immobilized this time, but Marativy and Hrefna still took damage and all three remaining wolves were killed.  Zitch flew a little closer to Hrefna, placed Protective Luck on her, and cackled to maintain it and the other castings still active.  Roscuro stepped out of the crow swarm and attempted to use the Suggestion power of the Shard of Lust.  It failed entirely [lesher are immune to mind effects].  Marativy stepped in a different direction out of the swarm and attacked the lesher for some damage.  Templeton was blinded by the crow swarm and had trouble finding his way out.  Hrefna moved to a safer position and cast cure moderate wounds on herself.

The crow swarm moved back over Templeton and Marativy.  Swamprover, noticing that Hrefna’s healing aura had moved, moved back into it as she was still seriously wounded from the swarms.  The lesher stepped over to Roscuro and hit him once.  Zitch cast snowball at the swarm and continued to cackle.  Roscuro performed a flurry of blows, starting with the very depleted swam of crows, dispersing the swarm on his third hit.  He attempted to land his final attack on the lesher but missed.  Marativy stepped to flank the lesher with Hrefna, but failed to hit.  Templeton performed a full attack on the lesher and hit it twice.  Hrefna followed with a full attack on the lesher [my notes do not indicate if she hit but the fact that the lesher attacked her in the next round suggests she did].

Swamprover opened the door to Caylen’s house, calling out she has located Caylen.  The lesher attacked Hrefna twice, hitting once.  Zitch flew into the house to cast lesser restoration on Caylen [and avoid having the lesher manifest there when we kill it].  Roscuro focused his ki on an extra attack and unleashed a flurry of blows on the lesher, killing it with the third hit.  The lesher exploded in response, flinging out parasites as shrapnel.  Hrefna and Templeton were both hit and infected by parasites.

Marativy cut the parasite out of Templeton’s eidolon while Roscuro assisted Hrefna in pulling out the one infecting her.  In the house, Zitch cast lesser restoration on Caylen and then immediately placed a healing hex on him.  The parasite ripped its way out of Caylen and attempted to flee out of the house, where the rest of the Ratpack piled attacks on it until it was paste.

After catching their breath, the Ratpack split up into two teams and searched the other houses to locate and rescue infected villagers.  They saved 8 more villagers , but another one died from the damage done when the parasite ripped out of them [it rolled more damage than we rolled healing].  All nine of the rescued villagers were still asleep.  Zitch cast detect magic and could tell the sleep was magically induced but waning.

After a quick discussion of options, Zitch cast secure shelter and the Ratpack encamped inside with the sleeping villagers.  Hrefna also cast alarm around the shelter and the Ratpack stood regular watches through the night.

Day 5

Morning

The villagers woke up in the morning and were very hungry and confused.  The Ratpack explained the situation and then raided the village for food and spices to cook a large but simple breakfast.  While everyone was eating, the Ratpack questioned the villagers about what they remembered.  They “the sleep” apparently started about a week ago and there were nearly 50 villagers still missing.

The Ratpack discussed options.  They wanted to pursue the lesher wherever it re-established itself, but none of them were trackers or had much wilderness expertise.  Additionally, leaving the villagers here was too dangerous as the lesher or its minions could return at any time and kill them all.  They conferred with the villagers and decided to take the villagers back to Wortle as soon as possible.

Once the villagers finished eating and felt they had some strength, they spent some time collecting food and belongings for the relocation to Wortle.

Noon

Zitch cast conjure carriage twice, providing enough capacity to move everyone back to Wortle.  Everyone loaded up and the carriages left Brannock.

5:00 PM

The Ratpack, mostly riding on top of the carriages, heard the sounds of dire ape hunting calls in the brush.  With everyone a little more alert, Zitch had the carriages continue south to Wortle.

8:00 PM

The two carriages arrived at Wortle.

The Ratpack immediately turned the rescued villagers over to the authorities, explaining the fate of Brannock.  This took some time.

9:00 PM

Roscuro walked Cayden’s mother’s home and reported to Seline that her son was alive and over at the town hall with the other refugees from Brannock.  Roscuro explained the full situation to Seline truthfully and honestly.  Seline thanked him and went into another room to get a small box, which she handed to Roscuro as the promised reward.  Roscuro offered to escort her to Caylen at the town hall and she accepted.  There was a bittersweet reunion between them at Caylen’s wife was among those missing.

11:00 PM

Back at the ship, Roscuro finally opened the box Seline had given him.  Inside was the promised heirloom belt plus a note and a small leather pouch.  The note was from Seline and explained that she had told others with missing family in Brannock about Roscuro’s group going to Brannock to find out what happened.  They had put together a small collection of coins as a thank you.  Inside the pouch was 200 gold coins.  Roscuro immediately put the coins into the party fund.

Roscuro had Zitch check the belt for magic as it seemed to be in suspiciously good condition.  Zitch confirmed it was magical and was in fact a Belt of Dexterity [+2].  Roscuro took off the Belt of Dexterity [+2] he was wearing and put on Seline’s belt.  Marativy asked about the other belt and Roscuro gave it to her.

Marativy then asked Zitch what he needed to increase the enchantment on it as she had been saving up for a very powerful version.  They discussed it and Zitch agreed she had enough gold to buy the supplies…if they could find a source to buy them from.

Midnight

Before going to bed, Roscuro took the time to pen a letter to Sheila Heidmarch [Captain of the Pathfinder Society in Magnimar].  In the letter he detailed what had happened at Brannock.  He suggested that the Magnimar government might request adventurers to finish the job against the lesher but the Ratpack was continuing on with its original mission.  He enclosed a drawing of the lesher that Marativy had made into the letter.  In the morning he would find a ship heading downriver to Magnimar and pay to have the letter delivered.

End of Session

Rat Whispers

[The players had a much bigger conversation on what to do next after learning there were 50 missing villagers than I included in the write-up.  We wanted to find them but had to admit we were completely unprepared for such an endeavor.  We had none of the necessary ranger skills, plus we had 9 survivors that were barely strong enough to stand, let alone tramp through the forest with us or defend themselves in the ruined village if we left them there and they were attacked.  We eventually settled for a guaranteed rescue of 9 villagers.]

Ratpack

Book 1: Shards of Sin Landing Page – Links to all Book 1 sessions

Book 2: Curse of the Lady’s Light Landing Page – Links to all Book 2 sessions

Book 3: The Asylum Stone Landing Page – Links to all Book 3 sessions

Last Session: Session 3

Next Session: Session 5

Ratpack – Shattered Star Book 3, Session 3

[Day 4 – Fighting the leshen and its allies.]

[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened August 8, 2022.]

[SPOILERS!  If you are likely to adventure through the Shattered Star Adventure Path from Paizo, this campaign will be spoilers all the way down.]

Player Characters

Marativy – female ratfolk 8th level Ninja

Zitch Grimreaper – male ratfolk 8th level Witch with a donkey rat (capybara) familiar

Roscuro – male ratfolk 8th level Monk

Swamprover – female grippli 7th level Wizard

Hrefna – female changeling 7th level Omdura

Via Roll20

Templeton von Trapp – male ratfolk 8th level Summoner (Synthesist)

Autumn

Day 4 (Continued)

Standing in the door of the mayor’s house of Brannock, the adventurers looked around the plant covered village square.  Just off the square, down the main street, Roscuro spotted a home matching the description of Caylen’s house, the house he had accepted a request to check in on.  Unfortunately, the direct path from the mayor’s front door to the front door of Caylen’s house went under the branches of the full-sized oak growing out of the village well.

Roscuro, being of a suspicious bent, looked for an alternate route that did not go under the unnatural tree, concerned the tree might attack [they were facing a hostile plant creature in the process of attacking the village].  If the Ratpack hugged the front of the mayor’s house south, crossed a small side lane, and then followed a low stone fence to the street the house was on, they could then hop the fence and sprint across the street to the house.  Roscuro outlined this plan to the rest of the Ratpack and the mayor before the group headed out.

At first things looked good.  The group made their way in a double line with the crows just watching them move.  As Roscuro and Marativy reached the end of the stone fence, all the birds took wing and formed into a huge swarm that attacked!

The swarm rolled over Roscuro, Marativy, Swamprover, and Hrefna.  Swamprover held her composure through the pecking and scratching of the swarm and cast Shout, knocking a very small number of the birds out of the air.  Swamprover then ran to the front door of Caylen’s house, exiting the swarm.  Zitch flew from his position near the back of the line around the swarm and joined Swamprover at Caylen’s door.  He then put Protective Luck on Roscuro.  Hrefna, standing taller than Swamprover, was blinded by the swarming crows and, after activating her Purify aura [+3 to saves], staggered out of the swarm by following the stone wall.  Roscuro activated his Boots of Haste, stepped a little to the south, and then unleashed a flurry of blows on the swarm of birds, knocking several out of the air [rolled multiple hits and good damage, but halved versus swarms as not area of effect].  Marativy followed Roscuro’s lead, stepped to the same space and performed a full attack routine with her weapons, but only hit once.  Templeton pounced into the swarm and attacked with all of his claws, killing several birds [also halved as not area of effect].

Compounding the bad news, a second swarm of crows formed up as more of the birds poured into the village square.  This second swarm moved over Swamprover and Zitch, at the front door of Caylen’s house.  Swamprover stepped into Caylen’s house, turned, and cast Lightning Bolt, hitting both swarms of crows.  Zitch drew his wand of Lightning Bolt [using the last charge] and hit both swarms [although the original swarm made its save].  Hrefna, currently outside the swarms, cast inflict light wounds and touched the now seriously depleted original swarm, causing a couple birds to squawk and die [max damage, but halved as not area of effect].  Roscuro focused his ki for an extra attack in his flurry of blows, hitting 5 of 6 times, two of which were critical hits, heavily depleting the swarm of crows.  He then took a step out of the swarm's area.  Marativy followed Roscuro out of the swarm and performed another full attack, killing the last of the crows in the original swarm.  Templeton moved to the edge of the remaining swarm and attacked it [my notes don’t say if he hit or not].

The remaining swarm followed Swamprover into the house.  Swamprover stepped deeper into the house and cast Lightning Bolt again, killing many crows.

Then the pack of wolves arrived.

Three of the wolves were able to reach members of the Ratpack and they attacked Marativy, Hrefna, and Zitch, missing only Zitch.  Zitch took this as a cue to fly up and out of their reach.  The adjacent wolf was able to land a devastating attack of opportunity on Zitch as the ratfolk flew away [critical hit for most of Zitch’s remaining hit points].  Zitch placed Protective Luck on Hrefna, who was surrounded by wolves.  Hrefna switched her aura to her Healing aura [Fast Heal 3] before focusing all of her Divine Might on one of the wolves.  Roscuro stepped over to the wolf Hrefna had just hit and performed a flurry of blows on it, killing it.  Marativy moved to support Hrefna and attacked the next wolf but fumbled her sword, dropped it!  Templeton pounced, attacking both the swarm of crows and one of the wolves, barely hitting some crow and missing the wolf.

The crow swarm followed Swamprover deeper into Caylen’s home.  Swamprover, bloodied from the numerous small wounds healed a small bit [less than the damage taken this round], stepped towards the front door and cast Lightning Bolt again, thinning out the swarm some.  The remaining four wolves advanced and attacked.  Of the multiple targets, they hit Roscuro and Marativy, just missing Hrefna due to Marativy’s bodyguard action.  Zitch placed Protective Luck back on Roscuro [the original casting had faded] and flew a small bit away from the crow swarm.  Hrefna attacked and killed the wolf attacking her.  Roscuro moved to Marativy’s position, avoiding 4 attacks of opportunity, and hit the wolf that attacked Marativy.  Marativy retrieved her sword acrobatically, attacked and killed the wolf Roscuro had hit, took a step to attack another wolf [allowed as part of a full attack routine], but missed.  Templeton pounced behind the line of attacking wolves and spread his attacks among the wolves, hoping to cause as many as possible to bleed - killing one and causing two others to start bleeding.

Then the lesher arrived, the huge plant creature towering above the ratfolk and their allies!

The swarm of crows continued their pursuit of Swamprover who was running low on hit points.  Swamprover stepped to the front door and cast Shout again, killing a number of the birds in the swarm.  The wolves, directed by the lesher, moved and attacked Templeton twice, Roscuro once, and Hrefna once.  Templeton and Hrefna were both hit for large hits [12 and 15 hit points, respectively].  The lesher then advanced and used a root growth attack over a 30-foot cone, which immobilized and injured Hrefna [for another 19 points of damage] and injured Swamprover, Marativy, and Templeton [these three made their save so half damage and not immobilized], failing to do the same to Roscuro [made his save and had Evasion, so no damage].  Zitch, still flying, swooped down to the barely standing Hrefna and placed a Healing Hex on her [healing 15 points of damage].  Hrefna then attempted to break free of the roots, but found them too strong.  Roscuro stepped over to the lesher, focused his ki on defense, and then performed a flurry of blows on the lesher, hitting three times [for a total of 32 points of damage].  Marativy stepped to Roscuro's space and attacked the lesher, critically hitting it and triggering an attack of opportunity by Roscuro.  Roscuro hit for low damage [only 7 points this time].  Templeton attacked the wolves before flying up and over them to Hrefna in order to bodyguard the omdura.

[Fight paused due to time]

End of Session

Rat Whispers

[So this session was a big messy fight and we were starting to get very worried about a TPK.  Both Hrefna and Swamprover were very low on hit points (Swamprover was in single digits) and all the monsters seemed to be able to hit at will.  Our morale recovers by the next session.]

[In hindsight, the Other GM wasn’t running the crow swarms correctly and they should not have been as dangerous as they were.  He had people take damage if they started their turn in a swarm and swarms should only do damage at the end of their move.  Swarms (of bird-sized animals) take half damage from piercing and slashing weapons, but monk attacks are considered blunt weapons and so not subject to the half damage.  Swarms moving onto a target or past enemies provoke attacks of opportunity, so we should have received many more swings at the swarms.]

Ratpack

Book 1: Shards of Sin Landing Page – Links to all Book 1 sessions 

Book 2: Curse of the Lady’s Light Landing Page – Links to all Book 2 sessions

Book 3: The Asylum Stone Landing Page – Links to all Book 3 sessions 

Last Session: Session 2

Next Session: Session 4

Ratpack – Shattered Star Book 3, Session 2

[Days 1 to 4 – Sailing up the Yondabakari River with stop over at Wartle for side quests.]

[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened August 1, 2022.]

[SPOILERS!  If you are likely to adventure through the Shattered Star Adventure Path from Paizo, this campaign will be spoilers all the way down.]

Player Characters

Marativy – female ratfolk 8th level Ninja

Zitch Grimreaper – male ratfolk 8th level Witch with a donkey rat (capybara) familiar

Roscuro – male ratfolk 8th level Monk

Swamprover – female grippli 7th level Wizard

Hrefna – female changeling 7th level Omdura

Via Roll20

Templeton von Trapp – male ratfolk 8th level Summoner (Synthesist)

NPCs

Gridik Stormstride – male blue kobold 6th level Wizard (Invoker)

Ariphi – female tiefling 7th level Rogue

Mel Sharples – male halfling Cook (Expert of unknown level)

Alice Hyatt – female halfling Bodyguard (Warrior of unknown level)

Flo’ Castleberry – female gnome Bodyguard (Warrior of unknown level)

Autumn

Day 1 (continued)

During this day of sailing up the Yondabakari River, Gridik and Swamprover spent time adding spells to their spellbooks from scrolls they had recently purchased.  For Gridik, this took the traditional form of transcribing the spell to The Storm Compendium with special inks and stylus.  Gridik transcribed Fabricate Bullets and Defensive Shock.

Swamprover, beings a Familiar Adept, used her familiar, Snek, as her spellbook and instead uses a special ritual to feed the magic from the scrolls to Snek.  Gridik is not one to denigrate another’s style of magic but he does consider this an odd way to store spells for a wizard.  Zitch learns new spells the same way as Swamprover, but Zitch is a witch and Gridik knows they do things weirdly.

Evening

The Lucky Jenny pulled over to the bank of the river and anchored for the night.  Mel cooked dinner for the adventuring party.

Day 2

Morning

Gridik finished transcribing spells to his spellbook, copying over Reloading Hands and Unerring Weapon.

Afternoon

It started raining after lunch but not so heavy as to slow down the trip.  The rain tapered off after sunset.

Evening

The Lucky Jenny pulled over to the bank of the river and anchored for the night.  Mel cooked dinner for the adventuring party.

Day 3

Noon

The Lucky Jenny arrived at the town of Wartle just past Noon.  Wanting to stretch their legs, the adventurers debarked and explored the town.  The plan was to spend the night at Wartle so the two taller members of the group can sleep in beds sized for them.

Roscuro purchased a nice set of dominos to help pass the time on the boat.  He also investigated street food vendors in the market square.  Zitch, also in the market square, noticed a human walking oddly.  The human was walking in straight lines and ignored everyone around him.

Zitch used his ring of telepathy to notify Marativy, Roscuro, and Templeton of the situation and his plan to look closer.  Attempting to interact with the human was difficult until Zitch stood directly in the man’s way.  The man appeared to have travelled a lot recently and not taken any care of his clothing, which showed small tears and rips as a result.  He also appeared to be exhausted.  The man started getting belligerent, which drew the attention of a town guard.  Zitch noticed a small tendril of plant matter clinging to the man's chest mostly hidden by the man’s shirt.

Hrefna, wandering through the town heard the noise of the belligerent man, Zitch, and the town guard arguing and approached to see if Zitch needed any assistance.  Noticing the human appeared to be exhausted, Hrefna cast Lesser Restoration on the man.  This caused an unexpected reaction as some sort of small plant thing erupted from the man’s chest and attempted to flee the area!

Amidst a hue and cry from the townsfolk and the guard, Hrefna reacted quickly and attacked the plant thing with a Radiant Charge.  This literally exploded the plant thing, getting small, quiescent bits of plant matter on all those in the vicinity.  This focused the guard’s attention on Hrefna and the town guardsman, Hrefna, and Zitch had a noisy conversation to sort the whole thing out.  Zitch used his ring of telepathy to let the others the situation had resolved itself and now they were just arguing with the town guard about it and questioning the human involved.

Roscuro took the time provided by "not being involved with the excitement" to track down the town's public notice board.  There were two postings that seemed relevant.  The first was a warning by the town council that some citizens of Wartle going into the forest north of town had disappeared.  The second was from a family that had lost contact with relatives in the village of Brannock, located in the forest north of town, and sought assistance in re-establishing communication.

After a short consultation with Zitch, Marativy, and Templeton through the telepathic link, the Ratpack decided to investigate the situation.  Roscuro tracked down the family that posted the notice about family in Brannock.  They lived in a modest home.  The matron of the human family was Seline and she was pleased that someone was willing to look into her problem.  Roscuro sat with her and listened as she explained the situation.  Her son, Kayden, had recently married and moved to Brannock with his wife.  Brannock was expanding and there were good opportunities for him there.  Usually Seline received a letter from Kayden once a week, but none have arrived for the past three weeks.  Seline could only offer a family heirloom belt as a reward.  Roscuro agreed to look into the matter with his companions.  He asked for a letter from Seline explaining the situation to Kayden so Kayden would know that Roscuro was on the level.  She provided one and Roscuro left to go meet up with the rest of the group.

Evening

The Ratpack shared information on the situation.  Zitch and Hrefna were certain that the plant creature was a leshen and it likely infected Ceal [the human] around Brannock.  Zitch and Hrefna had talked with Ceal but he had no memory of the previous two weeks nor the plant creature that had infested him.  They had paid for food and a night’s rest at a local inn for him as he was clearly exhausted from the ordeal.

Day 4

Morning

Zitch cast Conjure Carriage and the Ratpack [except Gridik and Ariphi] loaded up on and in it for the trip to Brannock.  Along the way, Zitch noticed crows evenly spaced on the trail and warned the rest of the Ratpack they were likely being spied upon.

Noon

The Ratpack arrived at Brannock.  The village gate was open and had a great deal of plant growth covering it.  Inside the village walls all the buildings had significant plant growth draped on them and a fully grown oak tree filled the village well.  The town was silent.

Using instructions provided by Ceal, the adventurers located the mayor’s house.  Roscuro knocked at the front door, but received no reply.  The adventurers went inside the mayor’s home and started looking around, hoping to find a journal or something similar to learn what had happened.

In the bedroom they found the mayor, covered in plants and apparently sleeping.  Hrefna raised her healing aura and then cast Lesser Restoration while the rest of the Ratpack prepared to kill the parasite when it fled the mayor’s body.

The casting of Lesser Restoration forced the parasite from the mayor’s body, but this one was much larger that the parasite faced in Wartle.  In the process of ripping free from the mayor’s body, it nearly killed her and only Hrefna’s healing aura kept her alive.  The Ratpack rapidly rained attacks on the parasite, killing it.

With the parasite dead and the mayor now awake, Ariphi carefully cut her free from the plants covering her using her adamantine dagger.  The group [with the mayor] then moved to the front door of the house, ready to save other villagers trapped in their homes by the plants.

When Roscuro opened the front door he found the roofs of all the nearby buildings covered in crows, all staring directly at the adventurers.  In the distance, the Ratpack heard the calls of a pack of wolves rapidly approaching.

Clearly the leshen was not going to let the Ratpack just walk away.

Zitch cast Heroism on Roscuro and Marativy in preparation for the fight to come.

End of Session

Rat Whispers

[I’m pretty certain that all of this content was all material added by the Other GM.  We didn’t quite catch the name of the leshen when the Other GM told us what it was.  He apparently was borrowing it from either D&D or the TV show The Witcher or both.  I’ve heard of leshies from Pathfinder and D&D and that’s what I thought he said.  Others heard something different.  As a result, we the players kept using different names when referring to the creature, at first accidentally, but in later sessions on purpose, eventually culminating it being called the leshy-rama-lama-ding-dong.  This amused us greatly, the GM not as much.]

Ratpack

Book 1: Shards of Sin Landing Page – Links to all Book 1 sessions

Book 2: Curse of the Lady’s Light Landing Page – Links to all Book 2 sessions

Book 3: The Asylum Stone Landing Page – Links to all Book 3 sessions

Last Session: Session 1 - Final conversations and getting on a boat

Next Session: Session 3

[EDIT: Ariphi and Gridik did not travel to Brannock but stayed with the Lucky Jenny, partially due to lack of space in the carriage and partly to make sure the Lucky Jenny did not leave.]