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Cynan raises his hands in mock surrender and grins, "Sorry, I'm just yankin' your chain. I've already had the lecture on swarms, and been chased by angry bees thanks to a rather... practical Venture Lieutenant. Luckily, I carry my own solution." Cynan lets a little flame play across his raised hands.
He takes another draw on his cigar, "Traps worry me more: at least you can see a swarm comin' and if you can't you can hear 'em."
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"That's for certain!" Liasna chuckles at Janira's pointed comment. Still, she can't disagree. When Teflon's attention is otherwise diverted, she pauses to see what he does and... kind of pauses. After a moment's observation, she turns to Janira and tips her head.
"I'm going to head on over, seein' as my 'company' has found something interesting to do," she says to Janira, perhaps a bit apologetically. Then, with a somewhat sheepish smile, she admits, "I can't help but enjoy watching contests of strength... It's got to be all the muscles, you know?" She shakes her head at her own folly and adds, "Wanna come?" If Janira agrees, she grins at the halfling before changing locations, but regardless, she does go towards the others, curious to see just how far they're going to take this. It's looking like it'll be fun - that's for certain!
"Who's winning?" she asks, taking another drink before scooting backwards onto a table, legs kicking a bit, to watch.
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"Expertise. The word you're looking for is expertise." Yargos wags his finger lightly at Akash. "I specialize in the history of conflict: mundane wars, planar invasions, divine events--that sort of thing.
"Current events can be interesting too, though. Sometimes. Like this Mendevian crusader who is going to attempt the Test of the Starstone today."
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"I see," says Aram, "Well, humor is one thing when you're at leisure in the Wisp, but I speak from a place of experience and wisdom when I say: you'll live longer if you respect the enemies in front of you and the Pathfinders behind you.
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Akash raises his fingertips to his brow in a salute to the scholar. "Yargos Gill, yer a man a much learnin' an' intelligence, I 'ave no doubt. Truth be told, my forebears weren't all from this plane, neither. Ye mighta noticed, but folks tell me I'm a sylph, account a my bluish skin and all."
"Might be we'll call on ye again, if'n we need yer *expertise* in such matters. Pleased t've made yer acquaint'nce."
As Akash rejoins his fellows, he shares what he learned from the people he met.
"Shrade and Garl, the half-orc twins, are a couple a Pathfinders. They've got muscle we might call upon, if'n we need a little extra."
"Yargos Gill is yonder scholar. 'Is *expertise* is the history a war, the planes, an' religion. If somethin' stumps us, we could ask him a question er two."
He looks around at the team. "How 'bout you, what'd ye learn about these other personalities. Anythin' useful?"
Akash glances over at the bar. "Wonder if'n that Heryn Gale woman is finally ready to show us the wine his lordship sent us ta fetch."
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"Not bad for a human? Didn't I just see you fail with a single ale? You can't act like you weren't impressed. The name's Teflon by the way. I'm kind of a big deal." He says wearing a big smile with his playful ribbing of Shrade. "Really I was doing it to impress my new lady friend there, but shhh." This time whispering out of the side of his mouth as he sees Liasna and Akash approaching from opposite sides.
"Didn't mean to show you boys up, just thought you might like a demonstration on how it's done." Teflon winks at Akash and Shrade. "I do have a certain... talent when it comes to lifting and moving." He then gives a fairly inappropriate wink to Liasna as he's starting to feel the effects of the large amount of ale he has consumed in such little time.
"I'm not gonna lie Akash I haven't learned much other than I freakin love this place. Maybe we can learn a bit about this Sir Reinhart Garl just spoke of."
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"I didn't fail," Shrade shouts, "I succeeded admirably at getting drunk! Let's see you catch up first, then you can brag!" Shrade points to the dozens of empty mugs on their nearby table.
Just then, Heryn Gale approaches Skillet, "Gather your companions, and meet me behind the bar. I'll need help finding Drandle's bottle in the cellar."
As you depart, your new friends all offer their assistance, should you ever need it.
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Liasna giggles at the man's blatant gesture and winks back, murmuring a quiet, "You can show me that talent whenever you like," before finishing off her drink.
When the others rejoin them, she listens to what they have to say and points out, "We might be able to ask Janira for help or gossip if we run into something we don't know." She shrugs. "I'd certainly take her up on it - she's a swell and plucky lass and no doubt she'll give any of us a run for our money. I'm tellin' you, she's gone toe to toe with a minotaur!" Liasna grins. "But I'll let her tell that story." As Heryn approaches, she sets her emptied mug on the table and clasps Skillet on the back.
"Looks like it's time to find that bottle! Then I'll get you that drink I promised you." Her expression wasn't lewd or inappropriate, of course, but her tone might've had a slight hint of promise in it. A little bit, just a tiiiny little bit of suggestion.
Down they want, gathered and neat, like little ducklings all in a row. Stairs were hazardous things, after all, especially when less than entirely sober. That said, she wasn't drunk yet - perhaps a bit tipsy? - So she made it down without any incidents. At the strange crack that Heryn warns them of, she pauses, examining it. It looked like something she might normally hop over, but...
Well, she wasn't drunk, but she wasn't at full capacity either. Liasna moved over the plank carefully, not wanting to rush lest it snap. Heryn had moved across it slowly and seeing as the woman was probably down here a lot... Well, there was no sense in ignoring what she did. Better to mimic her than swarm across the thing, right?
If she makes it without incident, she calls, "Try and go slow," and stands near the plank to help her peers across. If her hand lingers overly long on Skillet's, well, that's no one's business but their own, right?
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Akash follows Liasna across the creaking plank, at the same pace she and Heryn had walked.
He glances sideways at the bard, arching an eyebrow. "Awright, Cyan, spare us the jokes about the sylph bein' light on his feet."
On the far side, he peers over the edge, using his darkvision to see if anything's below.
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"Well, thanks for the light. I think that's my signal to go."
Cynan stands and gives the man a final nod before heading to the cellars with the group, "I'm glad to have met you, here's hopin' it ain't the last time."
---
As they come to the plank bridge, Cynan responds to Ashak, "You ain't that funny, anyway." before shuffling carefully along the plank when nobody else is on it.
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Once everyone is safely across the crack in the floor, Heryn leads you into the wine racks, "We are looking for the Barrowwood Estates Cabernet Sauvignon, 4690 AR. I think the label should be dark purple." To Teflon, she says, "To be quite honest, I didn't even realize we had this particular vintage, so I don't know where it will be. Drandle seemed positive that we had it, though."
A minute later, Akash shouts, "Found it!" but when he tries to take the bottle off the rack, it doesn't move. Instead, a secret door opens in the back wall. Heryn backs away in surprise, "Umm . . . I don't know what that is. You should make sure it's safe. You've been trained, right?"
After a short tunnel, you see a small room with a desk covered in papers. The room is lit by a glowing stone above the desk, with four dark tunnels leading away.
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She jumps a bit at Akash's shout, but only shakes her head. When the bottle turns into a secret door, well. Liasna raised an eyebrow. From Heryn's reaction, she was both unhappily surprised and very unlikely to go with them. Not that Liasna could blame her - they were just supposed to be lookin' for a bottle, not unearthing secret doors from beneath the woman's feet!
"We'll go and see what's going on down that way," she reassured her. "You can just wait here or head back up if you'll feel better. I'll come let you know when we find whatever it is Drandle Dreng sent us here to find."
With that, she moved with the others, quarterstaff in hand, perhaps sharing a joke or two with the swashbuckler on the way. Upon getting to the room, she strides towards the desk, curious as to what secrets it might hold.
"What have we here...?"
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Akash pauses at the secret door and holds up his hand. "Before we enter, let me detect any magical auras present in the room."
The druid casts detect magic, concentrating long enough to detect the presence or absence of magical auras, the number of different auras and the strength of the most powerful aura, and finally, the strength and location of each aura.
As Liasna sashays by him, Akash casts guidance on her.
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"The stone casting light above the desk is magical. Its aura is faint, so maybe it's a low-level spell cast within the last few minutes. We might not be alone."
Akash draws his scimitar and checks his grip on his darkwood shield.
Akash moves to the center of the chamber and, using his darkvision, peers down the tunnels leading out of the room.
"What do you think this place is? Any clues among the papers on the desk, Liasna?"
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Skillet moves up alongside Liasna, his mouth wide open in awe at their discovering of the secret room. "Smart thinkin', Akash." Following his lead he pulls his rapier in preparation.
"Keep digging Liasna, don't worry, we got your back." He says with a smile, half peering over her shoulder, half checking her out as she is leaned over the desk investigating the papers.
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For every 5 that you beat the DC, you may ask for one piece of information from this list.
Round Surprise - 1
Effects none
Terrain none
- Red -
- Yellow -
- Akash -
- Liasna -
- -----Round 1-----
- Cynan -
- Teflon -
As Liasna and Cynan begin to search the desk, two scorpions scramble out of the tunnels and try to attack. Thankfully, their stingers find only empty air.
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With an almost absurd calm, Cynan lifts an eyebrow at the presence of the scorpions, "Oh, scorpions, those critters ain't so bad..."
He launches into a nerve-settling, wryly-amusing story about scorpions and a shapeshifter which helps everyone to stay calm and focused.
Inspire Courage (Su): A 1st level bard can use his performance to inspire courage in his allies (including himself), bolstering them against fear and improving their combat abilities. To be affected, an ally must be able to perceive the bard’s performance. An affected ally receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls. At 5th level, and every six bard levels thereafter, this bonus increases by +1, to a maximum of +4 at 17th level. Inspire courage is a mind-affecting ability. inspire courage can use audible or visual components. The bard must choose which component to use when starting his performance.
Even as he begins his tale, Cynan draws his longsword.
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Round 1-2
Effects inspire courage +1
Terrain none
- Red -
- Akash -
- Liasna -
- -----Round 2-----
- Cynan -
- Teflon -
Akash conjures and throws a ball of supernatural cold, but just misses the yellow-tailed scorpion. Cynan begins a story meant to calm the nerves of his inexperienced allies, then draws his own weapon.
Teflon buries his sword point several inches into the scorpion's shell, then draws it back out of the lifeless body with a spray of ichor and internal organs.
The remaining scorpion pounces on Akash, hitting him with claw and stinger.
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"Good heavens!" Liasna exclaims, startled by the sudden attack. She takes up her quarterstaff and attempts to bring it down on the remaining scorpion to keep it well away from herself and, you know, her friends.
"That was... not so helpful," she frowns at her stave. Between the touch of magic she'd received from Akash and the rather amusing story, she'd thought she'd do better, but alas, the results were less than optimal. Still, she thought they ought to be able to take it out between the rest of them.
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Akash steps back and heals himself, lucky to have resisted the venom this time. Liasna tries to bludgeon the remaining vermin, but shows her skills must lie elsewhere; then Cynan slashes off one of its legs just below the knee, and Teflon finishes the beast with a rapier-sized hole to its lungs.
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After the combat subsides, Heryn peeks into the room, ”Is it safe now? Are you sure? Did you check all of those tunnels?”
And once she has been reassured, the bartender’s curiosity gets the best of her, ”This is amazing! I never knew there were secret passages beneath the Wisp. I wonder who built them, and what they were hiding.
"What do those papers talk about?”
The files on the desk chronicle the personal exploits of Selmius Foster, a famous Pathfinder whose name you all recognize from your training. Most of his more infamous adventures are referenced here, but it is obvious there’s also another investigation that he had been pursuing before he died: the lost records of a Pathfinder named Eylysia.
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Akash uses his wand to heal himself.
"My, yer a polite one. If we're doin' this Andoran-like, state yer bleedin' pref'rence, lest this kvetchin' take all day. Like as not we'll see 'em both, 'fore we're done, so which'n is closest? Let's hit one on the way to the other. His em'nence can wait till we run outa clues."
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"I'm like 80% sure Dreng knew what we would be finding when he sent us here. I see no reason to tell him we were competent enough to find it. I think the mausoleum sounds like a good enough first stop. Liasna, what do you think?" He wipes the scorpion blood off his blade before searching the rest of the room for anything of use.
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"Eurgh," she grimaces at the scorpions' corpses. She shakes her head and straightens her staff. "We're fine, Heryn," she calls back to the poor woman. "We haven't checked all of them, but we've found what we're looking for." She paused consideringly. "I suppose you could just shut up the secret passage and get the place fumigated or something."
Returning her attention to the documents they'd found, she nods in agreement with Cynan. Akash's own input is certainly amusing, but Teflon's input was more interesting to her.
"I agree - Dreng must've had some idea of what he thought we'd find or he wouldn't have bothered to send us." Liasna smiled broadly at the swashbuckler. "Let's go see what the mausoleum has to show us. We can take whatever we get from there and see what the Arcanamirium has." Looking around them, she points out, "One last look around and let's be on our way, shall we?"
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"Let's ask the half-pint lass upstairs with the gift a gab. If'n she don't know, she'll prob'ly make up a good story," Akash suggests.
"Course, ye could always ask the half-human twins, long as ye hold a table o'er yer head while ye chug the Wisp's fine ale."
Akash shudders at the thought... and at the bitter aftertaste. Need ta introduce this servin' wench to some good Pimms.
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Cynan gives a shrug, "Manners, I have found, can be a key, an armour or a weapon... and yet they're freely available. I can't imagine why anyone would leave them at home."
Then he gets to the point, "Mausloeum first? I had something of a lecture on preparation in the taproom: anyone here handy with restless spirits of the non-drinking kind?"
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"Restless spirits of the non-drinking kind?" Liasna raises an eyebrow. "Well, I can't say I've much experience with them, but I imagine any positive energy'll do 'em a bit of pain, no?" She considers her hands and the powers she'd been bestowed with. "Other than that, I don't suppose I'm all too helpful."
She keeps tabs on Teflon's conversation with Heryn, curious to see what Heryn has to say.
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"Hmm," Heryn looks around the room, and down each tunnel before responding to Liasna, "these tunnels must connect to the sewers. Can't you smell that? Looks like you're right, best thing to do with this room is seal it up. I would love to have more storage space though!"
The bartender shakes her head at Teflon's question, "Nope, can't say as I've heard of those folks."
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As the party passes back through the barroom, Akash looks to see if Janira is still around.
"If the little lassie's 'alf the expert she claims, she might rec'nize some a these names an' places, save us a little time galavantin' about the city. Keep yer wits about ye, tho'. Them 'alflin's are known to be light-fingered."
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You easily find the Sarenite graveyard in Eastgate, but the custodian doesn't seem inclined to let you leave without a fight, much less let you explore the graveyard. She greets you with her heavy mace in hand. ”Trespassers!”