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For evil prevail all it's needed is for good man to do nothing. And you may remember that the captain something stopped us right after we leave Amara Li's office and asked us to banish every undead we encounter. And i totally agree with him that it's necessary, i would not leave that damned suffering for eternity. Anyway, here's is what I'm gonna do, I will tie myself to a rope and face the damn thing. In case the worst happen Exitium and anyone else will hold me by the rope. I'll pour some holy water over it, go down there, get those bones and bury it properly, like I'll do to Maurit. That is no big deal. I'll meet you later if you don't want to help.
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honestly everyone I don't think any of us know what we are dealing with but it tried to possess wuliem even though he shook off its influence. My guess whatever evil that resides within the well can be destroyed but I don't know how. We could however report it to the society and have them investigate it. This day has been long and taxing and I for one am ready to return to the safety within the walls of absalom. There is still the concern with the kobold traps and supplies i suggest we dispose of them and then return to the venture captain.
As you look into the well, there is a subtle change in the howling, as if it has noticed you, or sensed your life energy...
You perceive it in time and could act before it - whatever it is - but there is not much you can do.
You hear a powerful suggestion in your head, as if an anguished echo from centuries past, telling you to, Jump in the well and end your suffering, end it all. It affects you deeply and you try to jump in further, but only lose your footing a bit as your are, fortunately, restrained by Exitium.
Exitium continues to lower you into the well and you reach the bottom without further incident. The skeleton at the bottom is ancient, as old as any of the bones you've seen, and it appears to be someone who jumped in the well and died from a broken skull and neck.
You find nothing else in the bottom of the well.
Gathering up the bones in a sack, you are raised back up the well. You sense that you are doing the right thing by intending to properly bury the bones.
When Ralklain is at the edge of the well, he seems possessed for a moment, and mumbles "Yes!" and something else, jumping into the well, but is fortunately restrained by Exitium. Recovering, he is lowered into the well, calling and being raised back up a little later with the bones in a sack.
As soon as Ralklain and the bones are out of the well, you all sense a subtle change in the howling, as if the well is beginning to lose some of its power.
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As far as the supplies go, if they are essentially worthless to us, we should just destroy them so that the kobolds cannot prey on hapless travelers.
One last loose end is the person that ran off after casting on us in that one fight. Do we try to find this guy (if its even possible) or do we return the katana and agreements now?
Also... do we want to remove the one we found in the sword or leave it in there?
The supplies go up in FLAMES
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personally wuliem i think that would be a fantastic idea. I imagine this document that was inside the katana was the true purpose we are here. I think we have been pawns in a much larger game. There is a very decent chance that maurit lost her life because she was on this very same quest but failed. if there is anywhere before we get to town that someone could translate the documents without charging a great deal I would like to take the time to have them translated.
Leaving Asad's Keep, the sun seems to have moved only barely, though it feels like you've been inside the dungeon for a long time, indeed, and it takes you some time to dig two graves, one for Maurit Zergo and one for the nameless skeleton from the well. When you complete a small ceremony for the latter you all feel an odd relief, and Wuliem and Ralklain hear, as if echoing through the centuries, a voice in their heads, "Thank you for giving me peace."
The way back is just as arduous and you are appreciative - after turning in what you have found and your initial reports... - of a good night's rest in bed.
In the morning, you gather together again and report to Venture-Captain Amara Li, head of the Lantern Lodge. The normally reserved and proper Li is unabashedly ecstatic upon receiving the jade katana of her ancestors and she showers you with praise, saying that she is always in your debt, and that you are always welcome within her Lantern Lodge. She also explains the matter of the letter written in Tian with the broken seal featuring a kirin flying amid three clouds. The letter introduced the ambassador as Xeng Li, and described the gift to Taliq Asad — a jade katana, a representation of the Li family’s honor and its ties to House Asad. It appears that the ambassador was treated very dishonorably indeed and likely never gave the trade agreement to Asad, still hidden as it was in the katana.
You then receive a visit from Major Maldris, who has heard of your destruction of Maurit Zergo and of the skeleton and of the ending of the haunted well through his contacts in the Society and he expresses his congratulations to you for your good deeds. “I know it was difficult,” he says, in an unexpectedly quiet and reflective manner. “The undead sometimes cling to life, but they always turn to evil. I did not know of Maurit Zergo's existence as a ghoul, but that was a hard lesson that you had to learn, to better serve the common good. As Pathfinders, we should always serve the common good and always fight for freedom.”
Finally, Trade Prince Aaqir al’Hakam is very appreciative of the trade agreements that you have given him, although he seems disappointed upon hearing of your return of the jade katana - or, its contents - to Amara Li, having expected it as Qadiran property. Still, he helpfully explains that the words on the Kelish statues, the fountain, and the relief were Earth and Fire, Water, and Wind, respectively, and were maybe even command words of some sort. He also congratulates you of the defeat of the kobolds and the destruction of their trap-making supplies, not wishing that the Kelish keep would serve again as a threat to Absalom - or to profitable trade.
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Good show, Matt! I thoroughly enjoyed this. Apologies for dropping out at the end a bit: I got stuck with all kinds of things going on this last weekend, and Monday was a real bear at work (busy eleven-hour day). If you do decide to run another adventure, count me in! Alia needs redemption in a bad way.