TL;DR: After Otari's ghost sends them to recover the Rose Guard relics, the party sneaks invisibly past the impersonator thugs out of the vaults, secures leads on all four artifacts from Mayor Osif, then accidentally triggers a COVID-style filth-fever quarantine at the Dawnflower library that they only barely defuse by cleansing the disease and saving a dying child.
The party met the ghost of the Rose Guard hero Otari deep in the vaults, who revealed that a magical barrier can only be broken by the Rose Guard's artifacts. Cid contracted filth fever down there, and a band of thugs had been impersonating the town guards.
| 00:00:01 | Table talk: the no-rule and YOLO framing Out-of-character session-zero-style discussion led by the GM (Speaker A) about avoiding saying 'no' to players, reframing limitations as alternatives to find together, and treating the virtual tabletop (Tailspire) maps as loose interpretations. References a prior frustration where a player wanted to use a spyglass/long-range tree position. GM signals today will be a 'YOLO in Pathfinder' style session. [S29 · 00:00:32 · turn 0005 · scene 001] |
| 00:10:38 | Recap with Otari's ghost and the plan to find the relics Recap of the standing situation: the party is with the ghost of Otari, who has told them to find the Rose Guard relics. A magical barrier in the depths can only be broken by the artifacts. The party decides to return to town to pursue the artifacts. [S29 · 00:11:29 · turn 0079 · scene 002] |
| 00:13:50 | Escape from the vaults: rot field and the impersonator thugs The party dashes back out of the vaults. They pass the rot/disease field with a +4 bonus (already aware of it) and easily succeed. The GM and Speaker D discuss random-encounter mechanics (3d6 vs d20 tables). Hearing voices ahead in the large fourth-floor tunnel, Veve casts group invisibility (shared, 30 ft radius, 10 minutes) and the party holds onto each other while sneaking past. They overhear the dwarf-led thugs who had impersonated guards, now openly armed (crossbows, shortbows, warhammers, one with a climbing kit), complaining the adventurers had cleared the area. The party avoids them and teleports/exits safely back to town by afternoon. [S29 · 00:14:24 · turn 0106 · scene 003] |
| 00:35:09 | Back in town: deciding to see the mayor Party returns to Otari town in the afternoon (~3-4 PM). They decide to seek out the mayor about the Rosary Argentis (Rose Guard sword) and leads on the other artifacts. Cid is feeling early, near-placebo symptoms of his filth fever (scratchy throat, possible headache). Veve splits off to the Dawnflower library to research a new uncommon level-3 spell. The party learns the mayor (Menham/Osif) also runs the lumber mill outside town in the afternoons, so they head there. [S29 · 00:35:57 · turn 0296 · scene 004] |
| 00:43:16 | Audience with Mayor Osif: the Rosary Argentis and artifact leads At the mill, a half-orc foreman the party has met before walks them to Mayor Osif's office. The party explains finding Otari's ghost, the magical barrier broken only by Rose Guard artifacts, and shows the Kalian/Galian key (one of Otari's personal effects, recognized in a portrait of all four Rose Guard). The mayor provides leads on the other artifacts: Zarmavdian's spellbook 'Threshold of Truth' is in the Anathenian Archives in Absalom (restricted); the Huntress's Cloak is buried in her tomb; the Rosary Argentis (the sword) the mayor will secure in a couple days. He requests the party return the Kalian key and sword to Otari's archives afterward; Venerus deceptively/non-committally agrees (will saving throw used to press later). [S29 · 00:54:12 · turn 0465 · scene 005] |
| 01:01:30 | Filth fever exposed: the library quarantine outbreak begins GM clarifies out-of-character that filth fever is being played like COVID; the party must maintain social distance from Cid or risk recurring fortitude saves. The party takes Cid to the Dawnflower library for treatment. When Venerus mentions 'filth fever' to Bandy Vanderbesch, panic erupts: the priests slam the doors, lock down the library, and put the whole building under quarantine ('Covid lockdown'). Cid is hauled off as 'patient zero' into an isolation shrine room, stripped of armor. Veve (invisible) is trapped inside; Venerus passes his fortitude save and is cleared. A 'hit squad' of priests goes out to trace contacts and the town starts social-distancing protocols. [S29 · 01:02:28 · turn 0538 · scene 006] |
| 01:18:24 | Visigoth and Morblint: chasing the Threshold of Truth While Cid and Veve are quarantined, Visigoth (Speaker D) finds the bookseller Morblint at the 'Odd Stories' shop. Visigoth gets a +1 lore bonus toward Zarmavdian knowledge from Morblint's rambling. Morblint reveals: the Threshold of Truth spellbook is locked in the heavily restricted Anathenian Archives in Absalom, accessible only to certified wizards/scholars; he never got in despite years of trying but befriended a head librarian there and offers to write Visigoth a recommendation letter (ready tomorrow). Venerus eventually joins the shop. Visigoth (originally from Absalom) accepts the help. [S29 · 01:31:37 · turn 0776 · scene 007] |
| 01:44:00 | Homebrew ruling: background lore scales to expert + the Huntress's Tomb lead Table rules discussion (largely out-of-character) led by Speaker B/D: background lore skills are weak because they stay trained, so they house-rule that a character's background lore is upgraded to expert (not scaling to master). Applied to Venerus's Rose Guard lore and Visigoth's theater lore. Venerus then rolls a 26 Rose Guard recall knowledge: the Huntress's tomb is sealed below Otari, requires the mayor's holy symbol of Aspenthar/Sephen to open, and the party alone will be permitted entry. Bandy reveals the tomb was deliberately locked after a priest reported concerning things; she offers to accompany the party down once the quarantine is handled. [S29 · 01:47:59 · turn 0912 · scene 008] |
| 01:57:38 | The quarantine climax: cleanse affliction and saving the kid Long disease-resolution sequence over ~24 hours of in-game quarantine. Four people went into the danger zone: Cid (patient zero), Veve, a young girl 'Sally', and a pirate-looking tengu adventurer. Cid and Venerus are eventually cleared; Veve and the others worsen to stage three (stage 4 = unconscious, stage 5 = death). Visigoth/Cid (the divine caster, Speaker D) returns with prepared Cleanse Affliction and runs an extended counteract-rules debate (counteract level math, disrupt vs reduce, what level to assign the disease). A key ruling: the disease's level is the ghoul/'ugly' source, not Otari, dropping the counteract DC to level 2. With a +4 bonus the caster cleanses the child (saved), then Veve (cured), and finally the tengu. Everyone survives. [S29 · 02:22:02 · turn 1169 · scene 009] |
| 02:44:50 | Wrap-up: pointing toward Absalom Session wind-down. GM notes (out-of-character) that the artifact hunt is homebrew material outside the published module, and the next arc will send the party to Absalom (described as a Metropolis / 'New York'), where finding spells can be nearly free. Players bank hero points (Visigoth/Venerus get one earmarked specifically for spell-research). Venerus flags they should earn money before Absalom. Veve defers her spell-finding rolls until Absalom. Session ends in the late afternoon (~5 PM) in-game. [S29 · 02:45:33 · turn 1385 · scene 010] |