Abberdaggus

Note that I revealed that you were overleveled as far as the jungle exploration and the dragon pillars was concerned. I've said nothing about the Fortress....

Fireday, 13 Rova 4719, morning "Old temple...." Pendergrast looks baffled for a second and then laughs it off with a wave, "Oohhh, that shameful fake? I would have obliterated that obvious forgery if you had not come along to interfere! Now it still remains to confuse and lead astray future students - years of good work will be wasted..." He sighs, "But I forgive you - it is a very good forgery and it is easy for less educated minds to be fooled. But everyone who has ever read my treatise on Mwangi history will know that the Bonuwat never ventured this far east from the coast. Claiming that the temple is an authentic structure erected by the Bonuwat people centuries ago would completely contradict my findings! Can you imagine what would happen if students of mine would arrive to study those ruins? They would undoubtedly be unable to recognise it as the fake it is. It would completely undermine my authority on the matter!" He has worked himself up to a righteous indignation at this point and he take a few deep breaths to calm himself down. "Well...I suppose there is little chance that anyone would stumple upon the forgery by chance anytime soon. Especially not with those dreadful cultists roaming about. Still....I do have a legacy to attend to..." Map

Hexploration through the jungle (incl. the dragon pillar encounters) were lvl 6. The mine area was lvl 7 - you were right on level through that area. The Charau-ka berserkers were rated at lvl 6 each. I don't know - this is the first AP in PF2e, so perhaps it didn't have all the final tweaks? Still, none of you died, so stop whining 😉 ...obviously due to your superior tactics...

Fireday, 13 Rova 4719, morning The night passes uneventfully except for a torrential down pour stretching over several hours of wet darkness. Renalis shelter keeps out most of the water, but even she can't prevent the river banks from becoming a soggy carpet of mud from the waterline to the trees. As the sun rises, a sweltering heat begins to build saturated by dampness. You praise yourselves lucky that this day can be spent aboard Pendergrasts boat floating gently down river instead of fighting your way through dense jungle. Pendergrast is not in the best of moods when Samrod tries to strike up conversation, but he is not in a position to simply ignore him. "Pfft!!", he scoffs with a haughty frown, "Superstition... fairy tales... nothing more than Pesh for the masses! Rules and rituals to keep the common people docile. I suppose it is very effective at that, but not something a learned scholar such as myself would ever waste my time with. Why do you ask?" Map

No, you just leveled up. Meta-wise you are 'supposed' to be lvl 8 at the stronghold. You are actually two levels ahead fighting the dragon pillars at this point. This part of the AP is not strictly linear.

Oathday, 12 Rova 4719, evening As the sun is already heading towards the western horizon, you figure that it may be time to start looking for a suitable camping site. This particular place in the middle of a swamp seem less ideal, and you may as well begin your trek back down towards the river where you left Pendergrasts boat. A few more hours slogging through puddles of mud and water has you leaving the swamp behind to find solid ground under your feet. As dusk begins to fall, you are stil up on the ridge overlooking the river, but this seems as good a place as any to set camp. Renali gets to work on spinning a camp. Tomorrow, you will get back to the boat and you can drift leisurely downriver towards your next destination. The question is: which destination will that be? According to the maps retrieved from Hezles lab, there is still one dragon pillar that you haven't visited yet and then the Fortress of Sorrow beckons. You may also have business back in Akrivel, but the journey will take around four days to Akrivel and probably more to get back (going against the stream up the river). You will probably also need to decide what to do with your Biloko prisoner. He seems docile enough at this point, but it is still another mouth to feed. Map

We can probably assume that Cirmaran will act the translator if you wish to engage in the interrogation. I assumed that to be the case when Wilder posed a question.

No problem - my weekend turned busy too.

Oathday, 12 Rova 4719, late afternoon The Biloko looks puzzled at Cirmarans question - he twists in what may have been a shrug if he hadn't been restrained. "Lumps of gold - two, maybe three. Our champions have them...". He tries to give directions and from the description you believe the Fortress is the same stronghold that Hezles notes and map referred to as Fortress of Sorrow. Wilders question is equally puzzling. The Biloko doesn't seem to know. They were simply brought here by the cultists and "introduced" to the dragon pillar, which seemed to ignore them. But he does mention that were warned not to approach alone without being accompanied by a cultist for the first time. Map

Well, you know of one more dragon pillar, so there is one way to find out 😉

Oathday, 12 Rova 4719, late afternoon All it takes is time and a bit of effort for Boradur to chop the wooden draconic visage to chips and destroy the arcane runes inscribed in the plinth. But before doing that, the champion takes the time to study the runes in more details. He quickly recognises the runes as arcane - a magical tradition he is not exactly his strong suit. Still, there is some similarity between those and the divine tradition that he is more familiar with, so he does piece together a few things. Much of this is merely a confirmation of what you have discovered the hard way: The dragon pillar is enchanted to shoot eye beams at creatures not specifically recognised as allies - the runes are quiet intricate and it would seem that by 'allies' the dragon pillar not just recognises Cinderclaw cultists, but it can also 'learn' to disregard targets designated as 'allies' by a cultist. It requires visual targeting and this particular pillar is empowered to shoot acid sprays at the target. You have already devised several ways to disable the pillars (the 'sack over the head' idea appeared to work like a charm - only a pity that it was attempted at one of the few pillars which actually had a physical effect that the sack cloth could not resist). From his studies, it is clear to Boradur that the pillar could also be disabled by strategically erasing some of the runes. It requires a delicate touch, however, as doing it wrong or with brute force could backfire. Mechanics As you have discovered, one option to disable the pillar is trying to topple it over with an athletics (expert) check. Another option is erasing some of the runes with a thievery (expert) check. You also previously did one with a dispel magic spell - though a relatively high rank is needed to have a decent chance of success. Map

Oathday, 12 Rova 4719, late afternoon The Biloko stares at Cirmaran blankly for a second before his meaning dawns on it. "Ah - you mean the Cinderclaws...?" The name the cultists have given themselves is pronounced awkwardly, but it does not seem to provoke either a sense of reverence or loathing in the little fey. "They came...many moons ago....offered gold for guarding....that thing..." His restraints make gesturing difficult, but its head nods in the direction of the felled dragon pillar. "Our best fighters...our champions...went to the Fortress to guard the cult leader." It looks at Cirmaran with expressionless eyes - neither enmity nor fear shines through, only a sense of defeat. Wilder briefly studies the objects found, but his tired head can't make any sense of them - perhaps after a good nights sleep. However, he packs it all up and makes sure to leave nothing behind of magical nature. Mechanics An 18 is not gonna cut it at this level. But at least it is not a crit fail :) Map

I stand corrected! I remembered that I wanted to make sure that at least one of you could use them (Boradur at that time), but I couldn't recall that I was in such a generous mood that I included the alchemical versions as well.

Oathday, 12 Rova 4719, late afternoon Wilder wanders off in search of anything of interest as Samrod and Cirmaran engages in haggling over the newfound treasure. Occasionally, he invokes a charm to sense the presence of magical auras and it doesn't take long for him to sense something coming from the hollow tree, where the Bilokos awere hiding. Within, Wilder finds the remains of a small campfire along with scraps of bones, some dried roots, nuts and jungle fruit. One sprig of berries look remarkably fresh as if just plucked off a tree. There are also a roll of thin twine and a small collection of bells and wind-chimes in various forms. Mechanics Wilder learns that the most powerful magical effect is 6th rank. Map

Yeah - you know, four critters with a full quiver of 20 arrows each, less the few they intended to drill into Cirmaran. And no, I didn't add those to save you the trip back to Akrivel. It was hardcoded into the AP - funny coincidence that you should run across a band of archers just as you run out of arrows yourselves. I believe the recepies were for healing potions, which are magical in nature - not alchemical. So magical crafting would be appropriate here. With those recepies you should be able to brew healing potions of any level if you like. The Biloko will be rolling, if or when it tries to get lose. That would be an escape attempt against Cirmarans thievery DC = 24.

Oathday, 12 Rova 4719, late afternoon The Biloko keeps babbling as Samrod begins to tie it up. It offers no resistance and a sense of apathy seems to have set in. There is little need for Cirmarans heightened vigilance. Boradur gets to work on the dragon pillar, chopping it into pieces with his hand axe. It takes some time as the totem is crafted from sturdy material, but at this point, you have plenty of experience and the work has becomes more or less routine. In the meantime Cirmaran disarms the single live Biloko and continues to loot the three corpses. They were all armed with primitive shortbows and they were fully stocked with arrows for their bows. A quick inventory reveals a grand total of 76 arrows to split between the archers as they see fit. Their longspears are rather crude, and while still deadly they would probably not be worth much to a merchant. Apart from that, the Bilokos do not have much in terms of personal possessions, though one of the dead ones has a necklace of stringed teeth from a wide selection of jungle beasts interspersed with shards of semi-precious stones. The teeth are most likely worthless, but the stones may fetch a bit. Mechanics There is actually official mechanics on tying up a prisoner. The tying up does not require a roll, but does. This is in line with PF2's general principle that only one roll is needed in a contest (with the opposing side providing an appropriate skill DC). In this case the Bilokos escape attempt would be against Samrods Thievery DC (I would allow sailing lore, snare crafting or something similar as well). Perhaps Samrod is not the perfect candidate for the job? Also, congratulations on defeating another dragon pillar. You receive 1 hero point! Map

Round 6 Cirmaran is not one to let go, once he has set his sight on defeating an enemy. His second to last arrow penetrates the throat of the wounded Biloko, killing it instantly. The other Biloko glances back, its facial features twisted in a state of sheer panic. It sees its last companion falling and the dreaded flying Cirmaran closing in fast and it knows there is no way out. Falling to its knees, it throws away its bow and raises its hands in submission. At first it emits a series of strange animal like sounds, but then it calls out in broken MwangiMerci!! Merci!! We yields to the slayer of the dragon..., understandable by Cirmaran. Meanwhile, slogging through mud and knee deep puddles, Samrod, Boradur and Wilder slowly advance on the pulled down dragon pillar. They find it toppled over with Cirmarans rope still tied to it. Its glowing eyes have extinguished and it appears harmless. Mechanics Don't you mean the spell? 😉 Map

Round 6 The heroes lower their arms as the Bilokos turn to flee into the jungle - except for Cirmaran. To the rogue, the risk of allowing a foe to return to fight another day clearly outweighs any sense of mercy. He blends into the shadows behind a tree and fires an arrow at the closest enemy. The aim is lazy, but the Biloko does not pause to dodge and takes the arrow in the back. He stumbles on, however, panic and adrenaline keeping him on his feet. Cirmaran takes up pursuit, and it is clear that there is no way the Bilokos are able to outrun the flying rogue wading through the muck of the swamp. But Cirmaran has another problem: he is down to just two arrows. One Biloko is very hurt and it should not pose much of a challenge for the master marksman to take down that one with a single shot - but the other one is still going strong, so Cirmaran may have to get close and personal to finish that one off. Mechanics I started keeping track of Cirmarans ammunition count in back at the mine and started with the 40 arrows he had on his sheet. He is running through his ammo pretty quickly.... Combat status: Cirmaran: Standard cover, hidden Order Cirmaran, Boradur Wilder and Samrod Dragon pillar Bilokos Your turn now - if you do not wish to continue the pursuit, combat ends. Map

Round 5 Samrod proves himself to be Cirmarans equal with a bow as he plants an arrow deep in the front Biloko's chest. The crocodile-faced creature stumbles in its tracks from the impact of the arrow, but it keeps coming even if it can barely stand. Samrod follows up with an electric shock. Wilder adds his fireball to the inferno, engulfing all four Bilokos in a searing sea of flames. Their screams echo across the waters. The closest Biloko crumbles like a charred piece of paper, dead before it even hits the waters. The one all the way in the back seems to run straight into the center of the ball of fire and completely incinerates in a matter of seconds. The remaining two Bilokos jump for cover and escapes the worst of the explosion, though one of them seems pretty badly hurt. Both survivors are clearly shocked by the ferocity of the retaliation. Seeing half their band obliterated by the gesture of a hand they quickly come to the conclusion that these foes are more than they bargained for. Beside - the dragon pillar has been brought down, so what is there left to protect? In a state of howling panic, both jungle predators turn tail and flees as fast as their little legs can carry them.... Mechanics Combat status: Samrod: Shield up Cirmaran: Standard cover Order Cirmaran, Boradur Wilder and Samrod Dragon pillar Bilokos Your turn now - if you do not wish to take up pursuit, combat ends. Map

Round 5 Boradur takes a good grip on the rope with both hands, plants one foot firmly in the soft mud and braces the other against a rock and when Cirmaran calls out, he begins to pull with all his considerable might. The rope strains against the force and Cirmaran watches his knot anxiously - it seems to hold! At first nothing happens - then, as Boradur grows red under his beard, the rope begins to move, slowly at first and then suddenly very quickly. There is a loud crashing sound coming from up ahead in the direction of the dragon pillar - the unmistakable sound of a large stone and wood object toppling over. Cirmaran can confirm that this is indeed what happened. The Bilokos look back in horror and then begins to howl even louder in frantic rage. Mechanics Combat status: Samrod: Shield up Cirmaran: Standard cover Order Cirmaran, Boradur Wilder and Samrod Dragon pillar Bilokos Wilder and Samrod are up. Map

Round 4-5 Wilder lights up the swamp, creating a contour that Samrod can fire at. He releases his arrow, which barely hits its mark, causing damage. The dragon pillar is currently out of sight, so it remains silent until acquiring a target. Meanwhile, the Bilokos keep advancing, however, slowly through the mud. The two in the front, waving longspears now clearly advance into sight, whereas the other two in the back are just emerging into sight. They hiss and howl their warcrys as belligerent as ever inspite of suffering from the scorching blast of Wilders fireball. Cursing his luck, Cirmaran surges forward once more to pick up the two ends of rope and once more attempt to bind them together. This time he is confident that it will hold (hopefully) and he calls back for his friends to give it a good tug. Mechanics Picking up something from the ground is also an action, so Cirmarans 1) flies, 2) picks up the rope, and 3) bind them together. Yelling is a free action. He is still behind the tree, which provides standard cover - just not greater cover. Boradur hasn't taken any other action yet, so I assume that he is already holding the other end of the rope. The Bilokos just moved last turn, so no attacks from them. You can see all Bilokos, but only Cirmaran has a visual on the dragon pillar (and vice versa). Combat status: Samrod: Shield up Cirmaran: Standard cover Order Cirmaran Wilder, Boradur and Samrod Dragon pillar Bilokos Wilder, Boradur and Samro are up. Map

Round 4 Wilder spots the moving shadows of the approaching Bilokos and immediately sends a fireball to explode behind them, engulfing the two he can see and hopefully other enemies in the vicinity. Wilder can see the two of them dive for cover, but not much else. Samrod scouts into the boggy wilderness for any sight of a foe and he makes out the two Bilokos as well as Wilder does. Mechanics Sorry - I expressed myself poorly: The Bilokos do not come in different color. The colors I refer to were purely for game mechanical purposes to distinguish between otherwise similarly looking foes. So, feel free to pose a different question :) Samrod and Boradur does have line of sight on the two front Bilokos, so they can take a shot if they like (no need to ready, unless you wish them to get closer). Distance between the nearest Biloko and Samrod is 60 ft. Combat status: Samrod: Shield up Order Cirmaran, Wilder Boradur and Samrod Dragon pillar Bilokos Boradur and Samrod can take their shots if you like. Map

Hey, you supplied the roll by yourself, I didn't ask for it.....but I'm glad you did 😉 Besides, one could argue that nothing you do in the heat of battle is simple. I could easily imagine that I would f... up anything I could do in my sleep if I was under pressure.

Round 3 If there is something the nimble sailor is born to do, it is tying two ropes together. He's done it a thousand times, he could do it in his sleep. Sure, he is also being waylaid by fierce jungle predators and an unholy implement to the god of destruction, so there is a bit of pressure, but how hard could it be? He fastens the ropes in record time, not bothering to test the strength of the familiar knot, before he flies back by his friends. The strip of mud currently occupied by the group has little vegetation to hide behind, but he can at least take a small measure of cover behind the sturdy Samrod. Cirmaran plants his feet solidly in the sticky mud and yelling to his friends to help pulling, he gives the rope a good yank....and almost falls on his butt as the hastily bound knot comes undone from the sudden tork. Still standing sheepishly with the slack piece of rope his hands, Cirmaran can at least take comfort from the fact that the vegetation and the drifting mist has broken the line of sight to the dragon pillar. Though you can all see the shadowy shapes of the front two Bilokos advancing. Mechanics I had already decided that anything, but a nat 1 would get the job done (typical DC for a task that requires simple training is 15). And what does Cirmaran get? 😄 Sorry - but it is a little funny... The line of sight is slightly abstracted relative to the map. It is mostly to establish a perimeter, beyond which you could gather without triggering the encounter. Just imagine that if you step much closer than where Samrod is now, you will regain line of sight on the dragon pillar - and vice versa (though possibly behind cover from the tree in the middle). Of course, if the Bilokos get closer, they will gain line of sight on your current position at some point. Combat status: Order Cirmaran Boradur, Samrod and Wilder Dragon pillar Bilokos Boradur, Samrod and Wilder are up. Map

How about we do it like this: Whenever you take an action, consider yourself if you feel a die roll would be appropriate, and make the roll you think fits best. I love the idea of mobilising lore skills for something like this (they are not often used). I will set the DC accordingly - very low for most mundane tasks that would be automatically succesful under normal circumstances. Occasionally, I might ask for a roll as well - especially if it is an action involving other characters/enemies (like the pulling a sack over its head) or if it is a non-routine task. PF2e seems to be built on the principle of only one roll per action - so it might be one or the other, but no need for both. Well, you don't have to hero point every bad roll. Sometime you just have to face the consequences and save your hero points for when they are really bad. 😉 That is pretty much my rule of thumb. I may skip them for low-threat encounters - and sometimes I forget. But then I have you to remind me!