"A crux ... like a puzzle box? I don't know about that, but I can ask a friend. She's very knowledgeable about lots of things. But I can only talk with her once in a seven-day. Can we save that one for later, and do you have a better description?"
Fiosa prays silently to herself while the others interrogate the devil.
A Cheliaxian Crux:
Raven stirs in the corner. " I can volunteer some information. A Chelish Crux is a puzzle box. Often shaped like one of the ideal geometrical solids or a sphere. They were something of a fad in the city shortly after Thrune took power. You don't see them much outside of Royalist houses these days."
"I'm not sure I like the sound of this. Seems we're likely to be caught searching the mayor's house when it's full of guests. Celebrities or not he's likely to take a dim view of it. We could be tried as thieves or worse."
"A kyton, Liebdagaslink, the master called her. It's funny, most kytons rule chains, but she was bound by hers. Of course it's sad too. 'There's always an element of tragedy in comedy,' the master would say. I haven't been down to talk with her in days."
"Oh all manner of things. There's the dogs near the entrance, the shadows, the devil in the cells, the trolls in the pool. There's a pool of diseased filth inhabited by a polluted elemental, a changing maze that could trap you forever, the flawed one and the outcast king and his court."
|
Zarabeta's mind fills with inane questions of no relevance, and she keeps her mouth shut to avoid wasting any of their important questions on such irrelevant trivia as 'What do the trolls eat and where does their waste go?' and 'Is time flowing the same outside of this place so that we will return to the party long after everyone has gone home, or is it slowed or suspended so that we will return perhaps mere moments after we left?' and 'What madness could have taken a spellcaster of such power as to be able to create an entire world outside of our own to do so, then fill it with things of no value or import?' and 'Arael's missions seem to have us doing the work of the Dottari for them, could he have been possessed or replaced during his time of captivity and are we pawns in some deeper game?'
She bites her tongue and frets, using prestidigitation to change the color of her scarf from red, to blue, to yellow, and back to red again.
Fiosa keeps praying for (non-impish) guidance.
"All right, then, but we don't have to go anywhere. I will call her. She likes her answers short, and sometimes, if she's busy or in a bad mood her answer can be so brief as to be uninformative. So it's best if the questions are very specific. "
Livy's arms begin to make a swimming motion, or maybe it's like someone parting tall grass to deflect it from their face as they walk through it. Or maybe it's like someone parting a stage curtain...
"Setagle, come, I implore you.... Setagle, come I ask you.... Setagle, come I tell you ...."
It appears that Marius' mood is destined for spoilage.
"Setagle, come! I command you!"
A glimmer of red light like cooling embers sparks in the middle of the room then flares to brightness and fades to a ghostly image of a broad-winged devil. Setagle scowls at you all. It's lips pull back revealing long pointed fangs.
Livy dissolves into laughter. "Come! I command you! Oh -- Oh -- OH! AS IF! Ahhhh. Oh." Another outburst of laughter sends her pitching backwards to rebound from the wall.
Setagle waits patiently for Livy to regain her composure. The imp eventually does so.
"Setagle, I have some patients here. The Master's treatment worked! They are quite sane now. I told them as a reward that I would answer some questions, but they have a hard one. I hoped you might help."
Setagle's bulk settles. "Ask."
Livy pipes up. "My patients here are looking for a crux. You know a puzzle box ...."
In the transplanar window, Setagle settles her bulk and looks interestedly at the group. "A puzzle box --"
Components V, S, M (holy or unholy water and incense worth 500 gp), DF
Range personal
Target you
Duration 1 round/level
You contact your deity—or agents thereof—and ask questions that can be answered by a simple yes or no. (A cleric of no particular deity contacts a philosophically allied deity.) You are allowed one such question per caster level. The answers given are correct within the limits of the entity's knowledge. “Unclear” is a legitimate answer, because powerful beings of the Outer Planes are not necessarily omniscient. In cases where a one-word answer would be misleading or contrary to the deity's interests, a short phrase (five words or less) may be given as an answer instead.
The spell, at best, provides information to aid character decisions. The entities contacted structure their answers to further their own purposes. If you lag, discuss the answers, or go off to do anything else, the spell ends.
The heavyset devil chuckles mirthlessly. "Livia, life in that hole must be driving you mad. They can only be looking for one crux there, one belonging to your master Dargentu Vheed. Molikandus Defiled guards it now."
Livy tries to dope-slap herself with her feet, an action which sends her somersaulting backwards through the air. "Yes,yes. I know now. I just needed a reminder. Thank you, Setagle."
The imp flaps over to Waifrin. "We call him the Outcast King since the Master punished him, but Setagle still calls him Molikandus. I can lead you to him."
The imp glances sidelong at Zarabeta. "I can be very useful."
Fiosa keeps praying.
Livia, "Molikandus is...."
Setagle, "Molikandus was ..."
Both stop and look at each other. Livia bows slightly and Setagle continues, "Molikandus was a model, a paragon, an exemplar of the Barbazu. Dargentu Vheed fouly abused him, melding him with an eater of carrion and stool. He is now an abomination."
Setagle turns away and the portal is broken.
Livia looks carefully at where the larger devil's image was before speaking.
"Molikandus was my Master's favorite and all of us in the master's service here nearly worshipped him. Master suspected Molikandus of treachery and punished him like Setagle said. Setagle never believed that Molkandus would betray the master. I think she had a soft spot for him."
The imp shakes her head. "Now we call him the Outcast King."
"I think a rest would be prudent as well," Fiosa suggests.
Zarabeta tilts her head to think.
"If we rest, it may be awkward when we emerge. We can explain away an hour, but not a good portion of a day. We'll need an exit strategy."
"That said. I didn't choose my spells for a fight. I'll need a good night's sleep and a few hours to prepare."
Zarabeta replies, "Well, the way many of the guests were behaving, that should be an easy story to sell."
The party settles down for some rest. Zarabeta takes first watch. The imp flutters near her, whispering. The floor is hard. Sleep is elusive although eventually most of you fall into a drowsing doze.
SNAP!
Livia shrieks in pain and drops to the floor.
The party starts from their fitful sleep to see Zarabeta standing between them and a black-clad figure in the northern doorway. Tight shiny black leather skin and glowing red eyes and mouth to match the shock of red hair between two sweptback crescent-like horns. She holds a small (hand) crossbow and is pulling back on the shuttle to reload.
The imp lies twitching at Zarabeta's feet, transfixed by a small crossbow quarrel.
SD attack: ... Damage
Save Damage
Init, L
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/monsters/devil.html#_devil-imp
Initiative:
Intruder:
Round 1: Remember it is a move action to rise from prone.
Marius Initiative:
The sword flies true. It pierces the assassin's side and draws blood.