"I think it would be best to seek the Augurs first. Something's going on at the Spire. They might be able to tell you more, I don't know."
---
The next morning the party heads out to visit the Augars. Your sylph guide explains, "The Augurs of Kaer Maga are one of its most famous and influential factions. They're an all-troll ascetic group that use some strange form of haruspicy; they cut open their own stomachs and read their own entrails, trusting on their ability to heal themselves up after each reading."
Súrë leads you to an inn called The Sorry Excuse and locates an Augur sitting alone at a wooden table filled with troll-sized mugs of ale. He greets the oracle and introduces you (and introduces himself twice on accident). The troll takes you in with a glance, them motions for you to sit.
The troll introduces herself as Vargun. She appears incongruously civilized for a troll, with careful mannerisms, a thoughtful look, and a long purple toga with a horizontal slit in the stomach covered in old bloodstains.
"I presume the sylph here has already explained the nature of our organization. While it's something of an open secret that many of our divinations are, shall we say, more logical than magical, this is not always the case. There are those among us who still retain the old gifts."
"My brother Augustille is gifted. His visions are unique and frequently unmarketable, which is why he rarely leaves the temple. Yet someone wants to harness that ability."
"The Ardoc brothers are artificers and golem crafters-the most powerful family in Bis. They run everything in that district, and we have long-standing relationships between our factions that must be maintained. Yet one of their younger members-an arrogant little tinkerer named Berkanin-has gone off on his own and arranged the kidnapping of Augustille from the very foot of the temple steps, and holds him hostage even as we speak, 'studying' my brother like on of his machines."
"The Ardocs have ignored our requests to rein in their rogue brother. We cannot engage them within their own territory, nor can any of our usual agents. But you are different. Bring back my brother, and we will bring you the information-any information-you seek."
Rescue a kidnapped troll? Seems simple enough! Argust straightens at the table after the oracle has finished. We can do that simple-like, can't be Brelar?
Karn can sense the Shard of Gluttony nearby, perhaps beneath the city but the feeling is not quite familiar.
---
The district called Bis is one of the most storied vistas in Kaer Maga. Here the usual honeycomb maze of chambers inside the city's great ring wall gives way to a single enclosed, cavernous space. While the floors are cluttered with shops and boarding houses, many of which stand several stories tall, the true elite of the city have gradually crawled up the great walls of the chamber to distance themselves from the rabble. These are the Balconies of Bis, enormous buttressed ledges that stick out from the walls like shelves and support the manors and workshops of the wealthy, with the higher balconies being harder to reach and thus more prestigious. The lights of the balconies cascade down the walls like a glowing waterfall, while the primary light sources at the district's center are great lanterns that hang down from the ceiling 80 feet above, illuminating streets packed with residents, construct servitors both large and small, and the occasional Ardoc brother who walks through keeping the peace, offering opinions or passing sentences on criminals with his bloodstained chisel of office.
Following Vargun's instructions, you can find the balcony where Berkanin lives and works; his mansion-turned-laboratory is situated on the southwestern wall of Bis, a prominent balcony 40 feet above the floor of the district, with no other structures beneath it. From below, all that's visible is the extensive stone buttressing that supports the massive weight of the complex above. There is an arched entrance in the wall leading to an enclosed stone staircase.
The five-foot-wide stairway is situated inside the wall of Kaer Maga itself, accessed through the arched opening at ground level. As you approach the entrance to the stairs, the dozens of random lines carved into the archway twist and snap open, revealing blankly staring eyes of the same gray stone. A chorus of high, discordant voices calls out, "No solicitors, petitioners, inquisitors, or social calls! This is your only warning." With a sound like shuffling cards, all of the eyes swivel to focus directly on each of you. A single tiny voice then sings out, "This means yoooo-oou. . . ."
"No dice, guys. They're not having any. Come on." Once back a bit from the entrance, Bert murmurs to Brelar, "Anything that'd stop you from 'porting up to the balcony? I can probably free-climb it after I cast vanish on myself."
Argust marvels at the structures of the city, in particular this "Bis" area that he has found himself in. As the party reaches their current destination, Argust sputters, Me? Do I look like some kind of riff-raff? He then looks around, trying to figure out where the voices came from.
What do we do now, my liege? Do we talk to the voices?
Brelar investigates with detect magic.
"Let us see if my magic can assist us."
Brelar recognizes it as an automated magic mouth effect.
If its just a mouth that talks why can't we just walk up there and knock on the door or somethin'? Argust wouldn't have a better plan that the direct approach anyway. How else who he know someone wanted ta see him?
"Well, if all those things do is make noise, why don't we get a scroll of silence? Karn can read it, and after that we just walk in. I'll watch for other traps and open any doors we find."
The party heads through the archway, listening to the programmed message once again. The stairs wind up into the wall for a long ways until they emerge onto a cobblestone path leading through a well-landscaped garden. Five feet from the top of the stairs, the path passes through a freestanding stone arch carved into the form of two angels facing away from each other and blowing trumpets, backs arched and great wing tips touching at the apex.
Argust marches up the stairs quietly, listening for more mouths of magic.
Brelar checks for magical auras with detect magic around the arch. "Bert, you may want to have a look as well. It's where I'd put a trap anyway..."
"That, or make them constructs."
Bert does not see any traps but Brelar notes another magic mouth effect on the archway.
"Brelar, can you dispel it? Otherwise, I can make myself invisible and sneak past it. Not sure about the rest of you, though."
Brelar nods at the halfling and casts dispel magic at the magic mouth.
Brelar dispels the effect, leaving the archway clear!
Raising an eyebrow to Bert, "Better?"
"Sure. Let's go!"
Bert goes ahead of the party, darting from shadow to shadow.
The party creeps forward over the large balcony sculpted and landscaped into a wide garden running all the way to the unfenced edge, where short vine trail off into empty space. The plant life that clusters in low mounds is a mixture of shade-loving forest undergrowth and brilliantly colored mushrooms and other fungi. The entire garden is lit to a soft twilight by eight-foot-high lampposts with glowing yellow-orange gloves at their tops, and neat stone footpaths carve winding trails around and between them.
As Bert sneaks ahead into a bush, two of the viney plants notice him dart out and begin to move for the halfling!
"Fire you say?" Brelar smiles. Brelar drops a fireball nicely between them.
Damage: DC 20 Ref for half.
Knowledge (nature):
Brelar burns away part of the plant creatures! The burnt spots are unable to grow back!
---
The tendriculoses advance on Bert and try to bite him!
The first tendriculos sinks its jaws into the hapless halfling and holds him fast. "Ow! Hey! Not this again!" Bert calls on his luck and squirms out of the creature's mouth.
Argust rushes to the aid of the halfling, attempting to slice the creature to pieces!
for
Brelar unleashes a fire jet on tendriculos #2!
Damage: DC 20 Ref for half
Bert squirms out of the grip of the plant!
Argust moves up and chops off a chunk of vine!
Brelar follows up with a fire jet while Karn gives Argust enhanced strength!
---
The first one goes after Bert again!
The other one tries to attack Argust!
Bert dodges nimbly as the tentacles flail around him, none of them connecting with him. "This isn't much fun, you know! You should pick on something your own size!" He draws his oversized rapier and stabs at the one on him, missing cleanly, then takes a short step away from the thing.
Argust takes a lucky shot from the plant beast and decides that more pruning is in order! He'll shift down in front of Karn and use Cleave if the creatures are actually next to each other.
for
for
for
Brelar casts scorching ray at tendriculos #1
Ranged touch (ray 1):
Ranged touch (ray 2):
Damage 1:
Damage 2:
With a stab from his rapier, Bert takes down one of the viny monsters!
Argust then finishes off the second tendriculos!
Bert stows his rapier, then examines the wounds left by the creature's jaws. "Karn, before we move on could you do something about this?" Once healed, he'll continue to scout stealthily ahead.
Bert tries to sneak into the house and opens the ornate wooden double doors to reveal a small entry hall. An identical set of wooden doors stand ahead-identical except for the tiny mechanical eyeball with wings and arms mounted nearby, its limbs pinned out in a majestic pose. To either side a marble podium holds a small potted plant.
Also standing in the room are two figures made of brass and steel-clockwork soldiers-whose gears whir to life as intruders come within range. They raise their halberds to stop your entry.
The mechanical soldiers step in to prevent Bert from entering:
Argust will rush in, trying to protect his little friend from further harm!
for
Argust rushes in, drawing the attention of the constructs.
Bert withdraws this round, now that the cavalry has shown up.
Brelar creates a spiked pit under clockwork #2.
Bert withdraws behind the party.
Clearly the second clockwork soldier was recently lubricated and it jumps out of the way as the pit forms beneath it. The other, however, loses its balance and falls in!