BTO was in Hawaii and DG was late due to Skype issues.  When he did get on, he asked where we were at with regard to the Free Archetype offer that Brian had emailed the week before.  It had not come up.  Dan hadn’t had a chance to do enough research.  Dave wasn’t even sure what to do with his Druid let alone another archetype.  And Paul hadn’t checked his email all week.  Once it was explained to him, he was 100% on board.  This would allow him to take his first Bard feat at 4^th instead of 10^th (due to his need to finish off his Marshal dedication.).  He could achieve the Fighter(Marshal)/Bard of his dreams.  DG took Kineticist with the Wood element to give him some capabilities he wouldn’t get from Monk without using focus points.  So those two updated their characters in Foundry. 

A couple of rule clarifications.  Because there was no mention in the book to the contrary, you had to meet the preqs to take the free archetype.  For most, that’s a +2 in the prime stat.  There was mention of waiving them but only if players were being “forced” to take a particular archetype which we are not.  However, it was also ruled that the free archetype exists in parallel to your original character so the “two feats in an archetype before you can start a new archetype” did not apply.  They still apply to your base character progression.  Paul wanted to know if he could use one of his fighter feats to take an additional bard feat at 8^th.  Brian ruled against that for now.  They are on separate tracks so you can’t use class feats for the free archetype and vice versa. It is our assumption that BTO will stick with Rogue/Witch, advancing in both now.  Lastly, pathfinder builder has an option to include the free archetypes but only if you bought the paid version for $5.99.  Dan did so and Paul was considering it.  In theory, if you can do something there, it was “legal.”  However, Foundry isn’t that smart.  It pretty much lets you do what you want.  So, the legality of some of these rule nuisances depend on what program you have access to.

Back to the game.  After defeating the Gibbering Mouther, they explored the cave and found a passageway south.  After following it a bit, they concluded it was the same passageway (and the same Gibbering Mouther) we had run into under Otari.  We tried to get going when it was realized some were still down hit points.  DG successfully argued that during that hour of exploration mode, we could have healed up.  So, we were ready to go.  Late start.  We went back to the library to find most of it burnt.  All those books.  The room with the giant idol was also burned away.  We did find sand all over the place.  If you remember, we found a barrel of sand for fire fighting in one of the small rooms.  But that meant someone was using it.  Probably Augrael again.  But the fire damage ended about there.  We headed for the Dwarf we failed to save last time.  The reading Fey had moved one room over but was still occupied.  He seemed extra annoyed by our presence but did nothing.  We continued.  Luckily Oakwood remembered the trapped door and used his Mage Hand to avoid it.  Through a couple of secret doors and we were back to the Will O Wisp room.

The Dwarf from town was still alive but in dire shape.  Still chained to the table, groaning for help.  The WoW was nowhere to be seen and there was no blue light.  TerStegan took a crack at the locks.  With a +1 from Oakwood’s Aid, he rolled a 20 for a crit success.  That opened two locks.  The next lock, they failed.  His picks had one failure left in them.  They succeeded on the next two and he was freed.  Meanwhile, Brisco was doing a medical assessment.  The guy was in bad shape.  Evidently, he had been captured by a blue skin bald woman a year ago and brought down here for torture. (For the rest of the night, Brisco asked if any new person we met was blue.)  Brisco did a Treat Wounds and used a Healing Wand charge to get him from almost dead to badly wounded.  He also had all kinds of conditions on him.  We decided we had to get him back to town.  We made it back to the cart without issue, although it was slow going with him, and headed back to Otari.

Before we got to the turn off for the clubhouse, we ran into our rival teen gang including Oakwood’s sister and TerStegan’s sort of girlfriend, Amicia Rajani.  Brisco managed to dart into the woods but with the cart and the dwarf, the rest just met them.  They claimed to be going camping but they were acting suspiciously.  Amicia, in particular.  They were equipped appropriately but they could also be heading to the Gauntlight.  We advised them not to go but they would not be dissuaded.  The goblin examined the wounds and bandages of the dwarf and made some adjustments.  We think they were valid.  Oakwood asked his sister how she was feeling, outside earshot of the rest.  She said better but was evasive, looking toward Amicia.  Eventually, we passed on by, although the goblin decided to stay with the wounded back to town.  Brisco lingered in the woods, hoping to overhear some clue after the rest of us left but got nothing.  He tried to follow them but missed his Stealth roll.  He caught up.  He sent his familiar to the cabin, in case they did something there, as the rest of us headed to town.  At a mile distance, he could sense the emotional state of Saps.  It was concerned/panicked.  We decided to send the fastest, Oakwood, to the cabin as the rest pressed on.

Oakwood ran into Saps before he got there.  He had a note from the high priestess addressed to the heroes of Otari.  Evidently someone had stolen the ceremonial sword of Rosegaurd Rajani and she needed our help solving the mystery.  She had given the note to some girls heading towards the Gauntlight and asked them to drop it off.  Not sure why they didn’t mention it but it was pretty obvious they were hiding something.  It said that Carmen Rajani is being accused since he’s been trying to gain procession of his family’s heirloom for years.  The guards thought it would have taken an expert thief and/or magic user to get it.  Oakwood scooped up Saps and headed to town.  When he ran into the goblin, he begged her to stop his sister from going to the Gauntlight.  He made a decent roll and the goblin decided to go to his family bakery and get some fermented muffins before going.  (Oakwood’s mother had warned him to never eat those muffins.)  Meanwhile the rest made it to the dwarf’s family bar.  His mother was most grateful.  She gave us a strong metal shield with her family crest on it.  Unfortunately, no one would use it.  It’ll be unfortunate when it shows up in the local pawn shop.  (100 gp)  The high priestess was sent for and did some stuff for the dwarf.  He needs sleep more than anything else.  (And maybe some PTSD counseling.)    And then briefed the group on the theft.  The same info from the note.

We all met at the Dawn Library and did our best CSI.  At first glance, the glass case was busted and the sword gone.  We puzzled as to why the guards thought magic was needed for a smash and grab.  But on closer examination, the glass pane was “phased” out of the case without disturbing the mounting brackets and then broken.  Brisco suggested using our Mending cantrip scroll to put the glass back together to get some clues however Clarisa wanted to transcribe it first.  That would take time and we sort of moved on.  Brisco changed into a dog, hoping his nose would learn something.  He made a roll but there were just too many people through here for that to have any chance.  Everyone was assuming Mr. Rajani took it, however Oakwood suggested (seconds before Brisco) that it might have been the daughter.  If she was going into the dungeon (why, we don’t know) maybe she thought she needed the sword. 

He headed to Longsaddle and found him talking to an irate Mr. Rajani.  He resented the accusation and did not consent to his shop and home being searched.  When he spotted Xeelie, he was eager to talk to her.  (Too bad Brian wasn’t there.)  We were all invited in.  His daughter was missing and wanted Xeelie’s help finding her.  We weren’t aware of any relationship between her and the Rajani family but we weren’t Xeelie either.  We searched her room.  We found three things.  We found letters, tied in a bundle.  They were mostly addressed to TerStegan with one to Oakwood. But obviously never sent.  We decided not to invade her privacy by reading them.  We found that one pane of her window had been removed and broken much like the library.  It was too small to use as an escape.  The working theory is that it was practice for the spell used there.  We did not recall her having any magical training.  Just a blacksmith/craftperson.  Lastly, we found Xeeile’s doll familiar Lucy.  However, Xeelie had Lucy so this was a duplicate.  Our theory was that she was dabbling in pact magic like Xeelie to get the spells needed.  Maybe coerced by a higher power?

We felt time was of the essence.  We told the father we had some ideas and were acting on them ASAP.  We told Longsaddle a bit more so that he could take the heat off the father.  We left the cart at the bar, figuring it would slow us down, and headed to the Gauntlight.  We tried some tracking but the path was too worn.  We arrived just as darkness fell.  At which point, Brian shared one more piece of information.  Near here, on the water is an old smugglers hideout.  The kids from town have been known to camp/party there from time to time.  With magic muffins? So, we decided to head that way.  As we approached, we could see the light of a fire.  Teens, smugglers, demons? And stopped there.  So, no combat but maybe a nice break from endless dungeon door roulette of death.