Helme steps up and pierces the strix on the floor, leaving a nasty wound.
The red strix moves in with its - now rearranged - snag net and one of the slipknots latches onto Eadric's foot, leaving him tied up in the net.
wrench the net from the strix’s grasp.
The other strix attempts to fly away from the fray, leaving openings to attacks from Helme and Eadric. It lands on a northern wall.
Turn 3+4 - go if bolded
Oma
Eadric -20 HP lethal; entangled
Strix
Cypher
Tenibri
Helme
Red -18
Yellow -17, flat-footed (-2 atk up to turn 9 (including))
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Eadric lashes out with his spear at the strix falling to to the floor all around him, "Ha, I'm most excellent now, Sis!" He says to Helme, tickled that she has adopted his vernacular, and glad for the assistance "That's one down, and one groggy, we totally- Whoa!" The net catches him off guard, and he looks up to the strix holding the other end, "Hold tight, Bro!" He says with a smile before charging away from the flying creature holding the other end of the net, snapping the rope taught.
Eadric lands a solid hit on the fleeing strix, and it seems it is about to collapse, but soldiers on (at least until Helme makes an AoO and hits)
He yanks at the net that holds his leg...
... but the strix holds tight, so he's not free just yet.
Meanwhile, Oma fires another bolt at the net-wielding culprit and hits yet again.
Turn 3 - go if bolded
Oma
Eadric -20 HP lethal; entangled
Strix
Cypher
Tenibri
Helme
Green -44 dying
Red -22
Yellow -34, stable (-2 atk up to turn 9 (including))
Tenibri's eagle snaps at the yellow strix when it falls from the sky.
When the strix recovers and flies up to the wall, the eagle pursues in a flurry of sparkles and iridescent plumage.
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"Hey!" Tenibri yells at the strix dragging on Eadric. "You need to put him down!"
He draws more energy with arcane words and gestures, conjuring a packed ball of snow and ice to throw.
You conjure a ball of packed ice and snow that you can throw at a single target as a ranged touch attack. On a successful hit, the snowball deals 1d6 points of cold damage per caster level (maximum 5d6), and the target must make a successful Fortitude saving throw or be staggered for 1 round.
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A little annoyed that the strix out muscled him, Eadric starts to wriggle about in the net, but quickly realises that he stands no chance of escaping... That is, until Cypher works their magic, "Woah, thanks Cyph!" Immensely grateful for the help, Eadric starts wriggling with renewed vigour and and enhanced dexterity.
As Tenibri lobs a snowball at the last remaining strix - and misses -
Cypher helps Eadric with his entanglement. Meanwhile, Tenibri's avian claws at the strix, but only manages to land a hit with one talon.
Helme, on the other hand, gives the strix a mean look and curses the creature with shaky hands and inaccuracy.
To retaliate, the strix drops the net to the ground and pulls out a spear, which is promptly used to attack Eadric once again...
... but he deftly dodges the attack. The strix barely holds himself in the air. The wounds must be severe at this point.
Turns 4+5 - go if bolded
Oma
Eadric -20 HP lethal
Strix
Cypher
Tenibri
Helme
Green -44 dying
Red -28 (-2 atk up to turn 10 (including))
Yellow -34, stable (-2 atk up to turn 9 (including))
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"Most excellent!" Eadric exclaims as he slips the net. He nods to Cypher and readies his spear as he turns his attention back to the strix in the air, determined to show that their faith in him is well placed. He deftly dodges the strix's latest attack and jabs his own spear forward while it is off balance.
The strix's lifeless body clumps to the ground with the sound of a few bones cracking as it does. The tower grows eerily silent, except for the wind shuffling the leaves of the forest to the west.
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Cypher let's their spell peter out and gives a "Wo-hoo!" as they jog over and give Eadric a hug and a kiss.
Way to go Eadric! You did splendid! Score one for the White Thistles! Oh you poor dear, they roughed you up pretty badly huh? Let's get you fixed up shall we?
They look around at the dead and dying strix.
Hm. Wonder if they had anything good stashed around here.
The place is pretty desolate. Besides the gear the strix used to fight you, it's fairly empty.
And you find a total of 39 gold in smaller currency on their bodies.
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Hehe, yeah, I guess they did a little." Eadric says, blushing and checking himself over for unwanted holes and leaks, "Woah! Look at that one..." He exclaims as he prods a gaping wound on his shoulder and grunts at the pain. He then rummages through his pack for his twig-like healing wand, which seems to be held together by alchemist's glue and twine, and hands it to Helme, "I sort of, like, sat on it... But it'll still totally work, I'm sure of it. Would you mind trying, Sis?"
He looks around with the others, "So, like, do we need proof that we cleared this place, or do you think they'll totally take our word for it?"
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Cypher smiles.
Well, they'll take my word for it at least. It's not exactly out of the way to check either, though a few fresh strix feathers might do the trick. We'll just stop by the Thistles, drop the feathers off, and let them know the job is done...
They look over the area and "Hmmmm..." They reach into their wasteband and pull out the emergency knife and scratch some graffiti of a thistle into a wall.
There. Not fit for a museum, but does the job.
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"Nice!" Eadric says, admiring the graffiti, "So we'll drop by the Thistles, then back to the academy? I'm totally beat, and like, a nice warm bed without a ship swaying under it sound most excellent right about now." Before leaving, he picks up one of the masterwork longspears that worked so well against him, and turns to Oma, "Sure you don't want to, like, try a bow or something, Bro? Looks much simpler to use..." He asks with a friendly pat on the back.
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Tenibri looks over the gear, and picks up one of the cloaks. "This is nice."
He brings it to his face and sniffs. "Well, it could use a cleaning... but the magic is nice!" He quickly summons some simple arcane energy to clean the cloak thoroughly, then tries it on.
In-between cloaks, you get the first glimpse of the fact that the pattern of white dots previously only visible on his face clearly must cover his whole body. But, he slips into the new cloak quickly, covering it all up again.
"Hey, it's a great fit! Good thing those strix like to wear black; it'll go with everything I have!"
________________
After successfully dulling Cypher's blade and looting the strix, you descend back to Pezzack, and into its Guts to head for the Inkwell. Although busy with distributing flyers and drinks, Lorrin notices you and walks over. "Welcome back! Any good news for me?"
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"Yeah totally!" Eadric says, nodding along behind Cypher, "There's, like, no doubt that the Thistles are the most radical group behind clearing that tower. Ha, I bet you'll be totally rushed off your feet soon with all the new members flocking to the cause." He glances at the flyers and smiles at Lorrin, "Maybe you should, like, update those things or something? How about, "Thanks to us Thistleses, there's like, no chance of a Third Ashes from those gnarly Strix!"
"Word gets around. Some already speak of Thistles sending someone to the tower. I would like to thank you for this.", he takes the feather from Cypher. "I'll frame it above the bar, in a visible place."
"Oh and - I was recently contacted by Poppo from the Academy of Applied Magics. He said you might be interested in this information. Loyalists were busy lately.", he winks at the party, and hands over a flyer.
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Cypher pouts at the flyer and looks up to the thistle agent.
Well, that's just terrible, saying these awful things about us... I don't suppose you might be willing to do your friends a solid, and write up some pamphlets of your own? Anybody who would listen to the loyalists over you wasn't gonna like us either way, but I don't want the regular folks believing these awful things about us.
"We could do that. I'll get something ready, but I'll need your help." Lorin scratches his head.
"Tomorrow, perhaps? It's getting late and all that..."
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"Woah! That's most definitely not true!" Eadric exclaims on seeing some of the slanderous propaganda, "Well, okay, that could totally be true, but like, they're making it sound way worse than it probably was." When Cypher mentions pamphlets, Eadric brightens, and with a big smile, asks Lorin, "Can you make a big one? I mean, like, real 'cause I have a most excellent idea..." He yawns, "But, yeah! That's totally something for tomorrow. Fighting those strix was, like, most tiring."
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Tenibri spends some time overnight reviewing what he's learned of Cheliax's history, and how the Pathfinder Society has been involved. In the morning, he shares some key incidents that he knows of that Lorrin can use to help improve the message of the flyer, that help illustrate the unreliability of information sourced from the Thrunes or their loyalists.
"Since we have a full day before the performance, I still think we should try to make contact with the Galtans. They're the other freedom-loving faction in town, so we can use their help to create more chaos tomorrow. It will help get Olandil out, and who knows... maybe lead to Pezzack's own freedom!"
"We should find Poppo."
________________
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Eadric explains his 'cunning' plan to help counter the propaganda to the others over their morning meal. He isn't able to help with knowledge or design, but he is keen as ever to lend a hand if able. As such, he suggests that he could hang posters, flyers, and banners in the most hard to reach places in town. He might even consider a little graffiti where the city watch will balk at the prospect of climbing to get at it. Needless to say, subtlety is not one of his strong suits.
"I'm all for freedom, Bro!" He says, eagerly anticipating another interesting day of do-goodery, "And if it helps our pal get out, that like, doubly excellent."
You all head for the Academy for the night to speak with Poppo. He seems to be surrounded by open books and multiple scrolls, working diligently.
Once he finds a few spare minutes for you, you ask him about contacting the Galtans. He instructs you to order three bowls of
shrimp-stuffed cabbage at Madge’s noodle cart, and wait by the cart for a member of the Galtan faction to appear and hear out your proposal.
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"Shrimp-stuffer cabbage?" Eadric asks sceptically, "I mean, Bro, I'm totally up to try anything once, but like, is that really a thing?" Nevertheless, Eadric is more than willing to take one for the team if it means helping out the people of Pezzack, "I'll do it!" He exclaims, as if he was challenged to eat all three bowls by himself, "While I'm eating, you do the talking." He says with a smile to the rest of the group as he gets ready to leave.
A hooded figure emerges from a nearby alley, quietly observing you as Eadric goes to town with the cabbage. He coughs out an "Ahem..."
When you approach the figure and ask for ways to help their cause, they confirm that you are the group that cleared the strix from the tower yesterday.
"The Galtans do appreciate what yu have done, but if you wish to help us further, we would ask for a small favor. It won't take much of your time, either."
The figure hands over a letter. An officially looking one.
"This used to be an official letter found on one of the recently deceased loyalists. Orders from a commanding officer. It was altered, however."
Reading over the letter, it shows that the Loyalist faction struck a deal with the strix 5 years ago, and the Loyalists promise them further rewards for additional help in suppressing the other factions in Pezzack.
"I'll level with you. This is a forgery. It would help our cause, however, to have this planted on one of the strix in the tower, or nearby. Easily visible, for when the citizens go and check out the tower. We'd take care of that within the next few days, assuming you go up there again and plant this."
"It doesn't matter.", he shrugs. "The only people who COULD recognise this as a forgery are the Loyalists and if it is found by common folk, they would just accuse the Loyalists of covering it up."
He looks around slowly. "People of Pezzack don't like Cheliax very much. This would probably be the last straw."
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Eadric, pleasantly surprised by his meal, looks up at the mysterious figure, "Sounphs glooph!" He says, mouth still full of shrimpy cabbage, "Shoulph be eathy..." He thinks about reading the letter, but decides against getting his greasy finger prints all over it, and instead just swallows and gives Tenibri a smile, "Looks like you're totally going to get your wish, Bro. Lets do it!"
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The wayang smiles a deep grin. Many times in his career as a Pathfinder he'd tried to have a revolutionary impact... but never with as much promise as he'd seen here. How well he could remember the embarrassing futility as he screamed at the populace wandering Slaver's Row back in Absalom, being ignored at best.
Here, here they might be able to really make something happen!
"Thank you, I think we're all happy to help. Let's make this powder keg blow!"
The party ascends to the tower once again, to find two dead strix. One of them must have survived, despite the wounds, and escaped. You conveniently put the scroll near one of the bodies. It sill surely be discovered if someone comes up here.
You spend the remainder of Toilday working on flyers with Lorrin. In a spectacularly coordinated effort, you create several large flyers and, after dusk, hang them up in high places in town. Earlier during the day, you could have heard whispers of Society being a bunch of murderers for killing a Loyalist member in te Throne Defiant, but those seem silenced now. Apparently, the flyers have been successful. Satisfied with your day's work, you return to the academy to get some dinner, and shut-eye. While the former is a bit complicated due to the overwhelming smell of fish guts and oil, Poppo provides, and after a brief conversation about the events that transpired in the last few days, he returns to his study to continue his work on "your's and Olandil's way out if things turn hairy", and promises it will be "a whale of a time" if he is successful.
You wake up on the following day with plans to attend Olandil's performance in mind, and you have sufficient time until noon to get your stuff ready. As you depart, Poppo bids you a nice day and asks that you return to the academy once you have met with Olandil. Preferably in secret.
With that in mind, you head out for the Manukirt warehouse, the venue of the performance. Arriving in advance, you have a chance to scan the crowd, and see that it is quite cosmopolitan in terms of both race and faction allegiance.
Olandil shows up in front of the warehouse on time as Jaks Arunai and begins reading poetry so incomprehensible that it is basically gibberish; the same sort of gibberish that Madge uses to pass secret
messages. Once he has the crowd’s attention—signaled by them booing and pelting him with clods of dirt and rotting vegetables—he raises a white ash rod tipped with an onyx gem.
The sunlight splits on the gem and spreads a pale prism across the crowd. With a supernaturally booming voice, Olandil declares, "Today, I shed light upon one of Pezzack’s greatest secrets. Jacks, the man you trust as a member of your very own faction, is the Printsmith! And Jacks has been hiding his identity from you all. All your secrets are laid bare to Pezzack’s greatest journalist, soon for the entire city to see! Panic! Panic and regroup! Pay no attention to outside affairs!"
He gestures emphatically as he speaks, but his gestures do not match his words; instead, they are a series of Pathfinder hand signs. "Follow me into the warehouse. Secret passage to underground, back left corner, behind fish barrels.” He continues to sign as he steps off the stage, but the meaning of the signs becomes more difficult to discern.
In the chaos that ensues, you have no problems following Olandil's directions to the underground tunnels undetected. The dank tunnels reek of musty seawater that oozes from the stone ceiling and leaves the walls coated with a wet sheen. A few fresh torches suggest the derelict tunnel is still in use.
A few minutes after entering the tunnels, you catch up with the man. You introduce yourselves as Pathfinders, and Olandil almost cries tears of joy. "Thank the Gods! I almost thought I'm on my own here. It seems like Poppo delivered."
He gives each of you a brotherly hug, and proceeds to inquire: "Right. Time to get out. We're teleporting back to the Lodge in Absalom?" He looks over you. "No, no. You look like the fighting types. Except for you two, I guess", he points to Cypher and Tenibri. "So we can either teleport or fight through the strix hordes! Lovely! How do you want to go about it?", he asks, eyes still a bit wet, but opened wide.