A harried warrior bearing an illuminated wayfinder runs across a chasm. Leaping with him is an acrobatic woman in leather armor, and an emerald spectre trails behind them. The warrior turns back to her. “Faster, Asha! The entrance!” He’s panting as he speaks, and something about the cadence makes you realize that you’ve heard that voice before. Though this voice is young and smooth, rather than raspy, you’re certain it’s the voice of Grand Master Torch.
Torch waves Asha toward the entrance just before the emerald apparition mutters a terrible curse that engulfs him in flames. Torch howls, trying to roll on the ground, but to no avail. He keeps burning. A flask of holy water strikes the spectre from behind as Asha returns, her sturdy limbs lifting Torch over her shoulders as she tries to carry the him to safety. The ceiling shakes, and there’s a look on her face as a chunk of rubble catches and traps her leg. She pulls at it, wincing, but it doesn’t come free.
DIE! The emerald spectre returns. In its rage it rips at the ceiling, collapsing it on the pair. With an anguished look, Asha hurls Torch towards the entrance, and he lands outside the dungeon with a thud as the rest of the rocks fall.
“ASHA!” He screams, and this time it’s the raspy voice you remember. The man staggers outside into a sandstorm, terribly burned and alone. He pulls out a barely intact scroll and reads the incantation, struggling to speak, then forces out a message for the spell to carry: “It's Ven. Everyone's dead. I'm just west of the site. Send an extraction and recovery team. Please hurry.”
He waits in the desert, staring down at his wayfinder. No response comes. He rocks back and forth. “They’re coming. They promised. They’re coming.”
It takes him a while to notice you, Eadie, and when he finally sees you, the winds have settled from the storm, and there’s a blinding sun behind you. “Asha?” he whispers. “Am I dying? Is that why I see you?”
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
And here’s the handy-dandy guide to who’s up!
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Round 1 / 2
Active conditions: Resist Energy, Life Bubble (2 hours), Magic Circle vs Evil, Freedom of Movement, Blessing of Fervor
Fendel
Eadie (in a mindscape)
Rufeo (in a mindscape - 1 success) + Ki’ala
Quenly + Dragon
================================
Ermias Dallia
================================
Tahonikepsu
Dhiara
Ariana
================================
Black Moon (-23)
Captive Jewels
- Amethyst
-
Diamond
- Emerald
- Sapphire
- Spinel
-
Topaz
================================
Dunia
BOLD is up!
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Seeing that Rufeo has not yet emerged from Sinuhotep's mindscape, Dunia plunges in after both of them.
A mortal Sinuhotep traverses a catacomb with a conjured djinni ally who saves him from numerous perils, at one point flying him out of harms’ way. “Sinu, you’ll never fall in my arms.”
Mists swirl through the vision.
The djinni is under attack. “Help me, Sinu! Please!”
Sinuhotep hesitates, faced with the choice of aiding the djinni or escaping with an ancient jar, he flees with the jar in his hands as a faintly visible spirit of Aryana Tahari urges him on. “It is only a conjured creature. You’re the important one, darling. Look out for you”, she purrs.
The mist swirls again.
In a ritual chamber, Sinuhotep cuts the living heart out of a sphinx and looks up to see Tahari smiling at him.
More mist. The world shifts to a cavernous chamber where Sinuhotep drinks from a poisonous chalice and collapses as Tahari cradles his head. “Yes, yes... Just a little bit more.”
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
You can feel the guilt as Sinuhotep’s eyes widen as he sees you. “Go away, leave me to my own shame... No wonder she won. She was with me all along!”
Dunia witnesses Sinuhotep's shame with cold eyes. You t'ink jus' because a devil's on yo' shoulder that a decision's any less yours? Sinuhotep, You - abandoned yo' friend. You - killed a bein' of knowledge an' wisdom to keep from dyin'. You - took yo' life out o' pride an' fear.
I ain' here to tell you not to be shamed by de past, but you can rise past it. If you regret what you done, stand wit' us now, an' start to make real amends.
If she been wit' you from de beginning, now's de time t' break free.
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Eadie floats above the swirling desert landscape, encircled in her golden cloak. The hood conceals the features of her Mythic form, granted by the grace of the Ruby Sage after her party defeated the Sage of Plagues four years ago on this spot – Seeker’s Folly!
“Asha?” Torch croaks from the ground, his scorched right hand outstretched.
“You will go to Absalom. There you will learn from Nuar Spiritskin, the Master of Deception I helped rescue from Delirium’s Tangle – on your orders!”
The Osirion desert landscape fades to a *glowing* Emerald Green street scene where four adventurers and their animal companion prepare to enter a majestic palace in the Wise Quarter.
Lost Girl: Ariana
Lost Girl’s kitty: Ki’ala
Scarecrow: Quenly
Tin Woman: Eadie
Lioness: Dunia
The group starts singing as it approaches a bathtub carved from an enormous emerald, in which Grandmaster Torch lounges in a shallow green pool. Two attractive half-orcs gently recycle the water over his charred form, as he listens.
♫ Ding Dong, the witch ain’t dead!
Which old witch?
The wicked witch!
Ding Dong, the wicked witch ain’t dead!
Wash your eyes
Get out of that bath
Dry off! The wicked old witch ain’t dead.
She's gone where the div go below, below, below, yo ho
Let's open Resa and sing the news out.
Ding Dong, the merry, oh!
Sing it high and sing it low!
Let Torch know the wicked witch ain’t dead.
Why everyone's mad, even Dhiara is frowning.
Being hit by Tahonikepsu is even worse than drowning.
Let Torch know the wicked old witch ain't dead ♫
Eadie as the tin woman puts down her enormous falchion and approaches the reclining puppet-master. “We really need your help defeating the witch, Grandmaster …”
When Ki’ala gets loose from Ariana’s arms and knocks over a metaphysical screen revealing all of Torch’s charades and deceptions to the astounded Eadie.
The young woman's jaw hinge drops, before she opens her tin breastplate to reveal her enormous heart. “It’s OK, Grandmaster Torch. I forgive you.”
“But it’s time we left the Emerald City and returned to Thuvia …”
|
Rufeo continues to try and talk Sinuhotep down
"Sinuhotep, remember, everyone has two wolves inside of them. One good and one evil. It is the one you feed who takes over. You just need to feed the good not the evil"
Rufeo leaves Sinuhoteps mindscape and heads over to the spinal stone and enters that mindscape
|
|
Ariana, do you need assistance?
Concerned for Ariana's fate, Quenly deliberates for a moment, and then acts.
Tahonikepsu and Dhiara are already engaged. Now is the time.
Quenly removes the magical incense of corporeality from his pack, and lights it. The fragrant smoke billows outwards, and as it touches Black Moon she becomes more solid, more substantial.
Now, Sages! Hit Black Moon before she can flee! The incense renders her vulnerable!
For good measure, as a riposte to Tahari's feat of spellcasting, Quenly also casts a Quickened spell (Divine Favour) with a brief gesture.
Quenly's dragon looks down from its hidden vantage point. It does not move, but merely continues to serve as the groups communications hub.
A weary and worn Amenopheus sits alone in a room before a pile of books and scrolls. The Ruby Prince Khemet III enters, sick and frail. “My ministers say that you’re an old crockpot. Prove to me that you are wise. Can you help me heal?” Amenopheus grasps at scroll after scroll, but each crumbles to dust at his touch. Khemet III turns away in disgust. “So, my ministers were right. How you disappoint me.”
Mist swirls.
“Hey, Menopause!” Grandmaster Torch enters, carried in a bathtub by two burly half-orc body guards. They set the bathtub right on Amenopheus’s desk, the sudsy water spilling all over the desk.
“I’m Amenopheus! A-MEN-o-FAY-us!” the old sage is practically shouting, trying to rescue papers from his desk. They fall apart limply in his hands as more water splashes from the tub.
“Whatever... Look, I heard you were looking for these. Am I right?” From under the sudsy water, Torch pulls out two sage jewels, one deep green and the other brilliant yellow. They shimmer in the light, still dripping from Torch’s bath water.
“Yes! Yes!” Amenopheus eagerly trades everything he has for them, only to watch the jewels fracture in his hands as Torch laughs and laughs.
Mist swirls.
Tahonikepsu enters, knocks Amenopheus to the floor, and takes his chair.
“That was mine!” He cries out.
“Was it?” Tahonikepsu asks. She’s painting her nails, and smiling at visitors who bow at her. Amenopheus lies crumpled on the ground, and the visitors from the Pathfinder Society walk all over him like a rug. “I’m sure no one remembers, or cares, really.”
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
As Dunia’s tough love speech hits Sinuhotep, he winces like one struck to his very core. “You’re right! I made all those dark decisions, not her. I chose the path I took, and I can choose to make amends for it!”
The lich, still laying with his head in Tahari’s lap, reaches up with inhuman speed, ripping Tahari’s head off her shoulders. “Now!” He hurls it through the misty walls, which burst outward, spilling both Duna and Rufeo out into the library once more.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Back in Torch’s mindscape, Eadie’s fantasy takes hold as an orchestra strikes up again!
EADIE
(spoken) Come with me. To the Absalom City.
HALF ORCS (bearing a bathtub)
Right this way
to the Absalom City
ARIANA (wearing Ruby Slippers)
Oh, I've always wanted to see the Absalom City
HALF ORCS
One short day
In the Absalom City
One short day
In the Absalom City
One short day
With rituals to do
Ev'ry way
That you look in the city
There's the Decemvirate
You'll want to shank them
Before the day's through
EADIE
There are sage jewels to seize
QUENLY (frantically scratching at the straw in his robes)
Ancient tombs
FENDEL (dancing past in a an emerald green scholar’s outfit)
And libraries
EADIE
Palaces!
QUENLY
Mausoleums!
TORCH (sings from his tub)
The pathfinder throng
Has needed Torch to right their wrongs
ARIANA (spoken)
Eadie - come on - we'll be late for Torchomania!
TORCHOMANIA CHORUS
Who's the Sage
Whose sagely
schemes dogs the Ten like a terrier
Who's the Sage
Who's sagely
sailed in to save our posteriors?
Who enthused for hot tub scheming
Makes Eadie dream of Torch redeeming
Woo - oo -oo
Bubbles and jewels galore
Who can ask for anything more?
PATHFINDERS AND HALF ORC CHORUS
One short day (Who's the sage)
In the Absalom City (whose sagely schemes)
One short day (dogs the ten like a terrier)
To have a lifetime (Who's the sage who)
Of fun Sagely (sailed in to save)
What a way (Our posteriors)
To be seeing the city
EADIE AND TORCH
With the Black Moon to slay - hey
We'll have a hey day
And then, just like now
We can say:
We're just two friends
EADIE
Two good friends
TORCH (Not quite committing)
Well that depends
ALL
Sharing one wonderful
One short
ERMIAS DALLIA
(spoken) The Black Moon will see you now!
ALL
Day!
As both the music the mindscape begins to fade, Torch turns to the Eadie and solemnly swears, “You had such promise, Asha. I feel that I failed you, but the Ten failed us both and continue to fail our comrades. One of those failures I must live with; for the other I can avenge us and make things right—make it right for everyone.”
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
With that, Eadie spills out of the mindscape, to find Torch wiping tears from his eyes, as he suddenly realizes to whom he’d been speaking. “I owe you. Let’s do this thing.”
“Oh hello!” An athletic Garundi woman speaks, kneeling down to chat with Rufeo. “Where are you from? I’m the explorer, Mnemoset.” Mnemoset keeps her hair in braids, and her outfit includes accessories and garments from a wide range of cultures—jade hair combs from Tien, elvish jewelry, taldan fashions — anything but the clothes of her native Osirion. She grins and says, “I love making new friends from far away.”
As she speaks, you realize that you’re both in the middle of throng of people who weren’t there seconds before. The explorer Mnesoset waves to a diverse crowd of humans, insect people, dwarves, and more. “Oh, you’ve all come to see me off! Wonderful!”
The crowd cheers, the insect people chittering, and they all wish her luck as she begins entering a mountainside ruin. Dwarves raise beer steins. Elves shower flowers upon her. The insect people rub their back legs together, fiddling a merry tune.
You follow behind her, cautiously. Within she finds a hall inhabited by row after row of towering statues. As she inspects them, the sound of battle, and all of her friends being slaughtered echoes from outside. Mnesoset draws out an ivory rod and commands the statues to follow her orders. At first they follow her commands, marching to her magic, but then one grabs her and throws her against a wall. Other statues stand in front of the entrance, keeping her from leaving yet not stopping the stream of blood that trickles down from the ruin's entrance. “No!” Mnemoset screams as the blood pours over her feet, rising in the chamber.
All the while, a horned fiend watches from the shadows, moving its hands as if controlling marionettes.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Rufeo thinks that his words are having an effect! Mnemoset blinks. “What?!”
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Back in the real world, Quenly lights the incense of corporeality, and Black Moon starts screaming, “THIEVES! How dare you take my creations from me!”
At this point, another creature, drawn by the sounds of battle, comes into the library. Moving with deadly grace, this brutal, thickly furred humanoid figure's head is that of a lioness with dead black eyes. Dust puffs up from its pelt. Mistress. You have returned? I am delighted to serve you again.
Immunity to fire and poison.
Resistance to acid 10 and electricity 10.
See in Darkness (Su) Some divs can see perfectly in darkness of any kind, even that created by a deeper darkness spell.
Summon (Sp) Some divs share the ability to summon others of their kind. Each entry describes the success chance and type of divs summoned.
Telepathy.
Except where otherwise noted, divs speak Abyssal, Celestial, and Infernal.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Round 2
Active conditions: Resist Energy, Life Bubble (2 hours), Magic Circle vs Evil, Freedom of Movement, Blessing of Fervor, Incense of Corporeality
Fendel (in a mindscape)
Eadie
Rufeo (in a mindscape + 1 success) + Ki’ala
Quenly + Dragon
================================
Ermias Dallia
Large furry creature with horns on its head
================================
Tahonikepsu
Dhiara
Sinuhotep
Torch
Ariana
================================
Black Moon (-23)
Captive Jewels
-
Amethyst
-
Diamond
-
Emerald
- Onyx
- Sapphire
- Spinel
-
Topaz
================================
Dunia
BOLD is up!
Ki'lala lets out a growl at the new arrival...
“Oh, you’re right! Someone else was pulling the strings!”
Mnemoset utters a spell, and blades fly out to cut the strings, and her golem army marches out to save her friends. “Thank you, little one — whatever your name is — for helping me today. Now go and save your own friends!”
Mist swirls, and Rufeo falls back alone into the real world!
And here’s the handy-dandy reminder of where we are!
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Round 2
Active conditions: Resist Energy, Life Bubble (2 hours), Magic Circle vs Evil, Freedom of Movement, Blessing of Fervor, Incense of Corporeality
Fendel (in a mindscape)
Eadie
Rufeo + Ki’ala
Quenly + Dragon
================================
Ermias Dallia
Large furry creature with horns on its head
================================
Tahonikepsu
Dhiara
Sinuhotep
Torch
Ariana
================================
Black Moon (-23)
Captive Jewels
-
Amethyst
-
Diamond
-
Emerald
- Onyx
- Sapphire
-
Spinel
-
Topaz
================================
Dunia
BOLD is up!
|
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
The detective surveys the scene before him. He tries many of the same tactics that worked in the dragon's mindscape, but he still cannot seem to bring the Sapphire Sage to his senses. With a sigh, Fen pulls back his hood and facemask. He steps over to the desk and looks at the leader of the Scarab Sages in the eyes before taking in a breath.
(spoken) Amenapheus, listen to me. No need to say you're sorry:
(sung)♫ You can still be the leader♫
That you've worked and waited for
You can have all you ever wanted:
Something has changed within you
Something is not the same
Be through with playing by the rules
Of Tahari's little game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust your instincts
Take my hand and leap!
It's time to try
And defy this reality
You need to try
And defy this reality
Black Moon can't pull you down!
(spoken)
Can't I make you understand? You're
having delusions of worthlessness:
(SINGING)
♫ You're through accepting limits ♫
'cause someone says they're so
Some things you cannot change
But till you try, you'll never know!
Too long you've been afraid of
Losing love you guess you've lost
Well, if you choose to stay here,
It comes at much too high a cost!
Defy this reality
Black Moon can't pull you down!
(spoken) Amenopheus, come with me. Think of what The Sages can
do, together.
(sung) Together you're unlimited
Together you'll be the greatest team
Discoveries, the way you planned 'em
If you work in tandem:
(taking Amenophues' hand)
BOTH
There's no fight you cannot win
Scarab Sages
Defy this reality
Lead the Sages to
Defy this reality
FENDEL
Tahari will never bring you down!
(spoken) So, what say you Amenopheus, ready to leave this place?
Amenopheus, buoyed up by the song, holds still to Fendel’s hand. “Thank you, my friend! I think it’s time for us both to make a leap of faith!”
He leaps and you both fall through the mists and back into the real world.
Ki'lala launches from her her haunches and charges the new arrival....
Ki’ala tears into the flat-footed furry horned arrival like a pack of feral children on a birthday piñata, doing 51 points of damage in a single pounce attack. Alas, it was not enough to knock the creature out, and it’s clear the Div has some sort of damage resistance. As Ki’s attacks tear into the Div, dust rises up from it, providing a cloud of concealment against further attacks!
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Ermias Dallia looks at Ariana sadly. “Thank you for your forgiveness. I fear that I have abused you horribly. I really hate to kill you. Slay me, instead!”
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Then horned and furry growls back at Ki’ala. Think to slay me kitty-cat? I am a Div, and made of sterner stuff!
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Round 2
Active conditions: Resist Energy, Life Bubble (2 hours), Magic Circle vs Evil, Freedom of Movement, Blessing of Fervor, Incense of Corporeality, Hunter’s Blessing
Fendel
Eadie
Rufeo + Ki’ala
Quenly + Dragon
================================
Ermias Dallia (-47)
Large furry creature with horns on its head (-51, 20% miss chance due to its dusty pelt)
================================
Tahonikepsu
Dhiara
Sinuhotep
Torch
Amenopheus
Ariana
================================
Black Moon (-23)
Captive Jewels
-
Amethyst
-
Diamond
-
Emerald
- Onyx
-
Sapphire
-
Spinel
-
Topaz
================================
Dunia
BOLD is up!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The sages take advantage of both their freedom and Black Moon’s corporeality!
“This my favorite part,” Torch grins at Black Moon.. “This is where we get revenge on your plague-ridden manipulative and altogether unpleasant ass.”
He sings, reveling in his own bad-assery.
♫ Risin' up, faced all my pain
Did my time, took my baths — yeah
Went the distance, now I'm back in my brain
Just a man and his will to survive
So many times, it happens too fast
It’s the old pathfinder story
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive
It's the jewel of the sage, it's the thrill of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor takes up the stage
And he's readying to unleash his fierce rage! ♫
The other sages nod with him and unleash!
Amenopheus shoots magic missiles shaped like scarab beetles at her! Tahonikepsu claws and bites and claws again! Torch shoots her with his bow! Sinuhotep comes forward, hitting her with bad touch! Then Dhiara hits Black Moon, repositioning the witch to give Tahonikepsu an attack of opportunity!
Incorporeal defenses gone, and most of her jewel links severed, Black Moon no longer has the resources to withstand their joint attack! She dies, her corporeal body crumpling to dust.
One mindscape remains, as do two opponents, one still fighting despite his own wishes.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Round 2 / 3
Active conditions: Resist Energy, Life Bubble (2 hours), Magic Circle vs Evil, Freedom of Movement, Blessing of Fervor, Incense of Corporeality, Hunter’s Blessing
Fendel
Eadie
Rufeo + Ki’ala (grappled)
Quenly + Dragon
================================
Ermias Dallia (-47)
Large furry creature with horns on its head (-51, grappled, 20% miss chance due to its dusty pelt)
================================
Tahonikepsu
Dhiara
Sinuhotep
Torch
Amenopheus
Ariana
================================
Black Moon (DEAD)
Captive Jewels
-
Amethyst
-
Diamond
-
Emerald
- Onyx
-
Sapphire
-
Spinel
-
Topaz
================================
Dunia
BOLD is up! It’s a party for the entire party!
|
|
Dallia is not yet free! A fragment of Black Moon may remain still within the Onyx Jewel. I will cleanse her remains.
Quenly remembers the Sarenrite's practice of purifying the remains of the Usij they slew. He draws forth a flask of holy water, and pours it over the dust that was Aryana Tahari.
"Ding dong! The witch is dead
Which old witch?
The wicked witch!"
Ki'lala's eyes match Rufeo's as her form grows larger.
She tries to pull the beast closer to her
A youthful dwarf Padrym walks in a palace at the heart of Osirion's power in the Age of Destiny. The walls are gilt, with open courtyards and breezeways. Palm trees sway in the breeze through an archway, as the dwarf walks purposely forward, his jeweled sandals clapping against elegant granite floors. The bronze-skinned dwarf is younger and sartorially resplendent — a far cry from the aged summoned spectre in the Twisted Garden Lodge. His head is shaved, but his beard is braided with hundreds of golden and lapis beads. His linen robes are elegantly folded, and his amulet bears the ureaus over staff and scepter marks him as an advisor or guardian of the pharaohs.
Servants fan him, and carry armfuls of papyrus scrolls for him as he strides purposefully towards a meeting. Their parade is stopped when a terrified young girl dashes in front of them. The young girl trails a few spectral figures trailing in her wake.
“Stop her!” an aged woman in wizard robes cries, and the servants obligingly stop the trembling girl and return her to her keeper. The old woman shakes the child, hard. “Trying to run again, Tahari!?”
The girl has haunted eyes, and livid bruises on her arms. Once caught, she doesn’t fight, but goes boneless as the old woman drags her away.
Padrym raises an eyebrow after they leave, eyes widening as he takes in the girl and her ghosts. “What in hells was that?”
“Sad, isn’t it?” An servant volunteers. “That’s the foundling, sir. They say she’s the only survivor of a plague in her village — but old Nef took her as an apprentice.”
“Yes, sad...” Padrym says, but his thoughts turn back to his upcoming meeting. “Now, do we have the Census data that the Pharoah requested?
The mist swirls.
Padrym’s reading in the courtyard, drinking a cool drink handed him by a servant. The girl walks by, hurrying with a load too heavy for her, as Nef grabs her thin arms. "There you are! You idiot. Where did you think you were going?" The girl shoots a desperate look at him, but Padrym returns to his reading. It was none of his business.
The mist swirls.
“Sage Padrym of Erekus!” The girl Tahari calls, now a tall and frail looking preteen. She’s dressed in mourning. “I was wondering, if you could help me with something. I’m working on some medical ideas—”
Padrym is holding a sheaf of papyrus with important records for the Pharoah. “Not my field.” As she walks away with a hurt expression on her face, there’s another spectral figure trailing in her wake. Old Nef.
The mist swirls. Aryana Tahari is a striking young woman, and people are already calling her ‘Black Moon.’ She walks with a confident stride towards her lab, a long line of ghosts trailing behind her.
The mist swirls. Tahari’s a well-dressed adult, with an amulet and a scepter of her own. She gives him a prideful smirk as she passes. The mists swirl again and she’s middle-aged, with courtiers bowing nervously to her, or fearfully leaving the room as she enters. She looks on them arrogantly, her entourage of spirits growing each time. Some of them reach out to him, mouths crying wordlessly for help.
The mist swirls and there are flashes throughout of a long drawn out battle with thousands dying of plagues. Whole cities are wiped out. Blood and corpses litter the ground as the Song Pharoah sings her forces to victory. A grim and older Padrym, now dressed in simple monk’s robes, is picking his way through the rubble when he finds a shimmering gem that glows in his hand.
Although a dead Tahari lies on the ground before him, a spectral Tahari rises from the body, a knowing smile on her face, her eyes lit with triumph as Padrym gathers up the stone, an expression of wonder on his face.
Watching this is a second, translucent Padrym -- the summoned spectre from the Twisted Garden Lodge. He turns to Fendel, grief-stricken. “This is me, finding her phylactery. This is me, thinking that I’ve found something to help the forces of good. This is me, ignoring the evidence that was before my eyes and in my heart, and once again... doing the wrong thing. If I had only cared more, maybe I could have intervened in her troubled childhood. Maybe I could have stopped her destructive path! If I had cared for something more than my work... maybe I could have prevented the creation of a monster!”
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Meanwhile, back in the real world...
Quenly pours holy water over the Black Moon's remains. They sizzle and let off greasy black smoke. Rufeo enlarges Ki'ala, who easily maintains the grapple and pins the creature underneath her.
Both rakes hit! She starts tearing at it, but once again, not all of her damage goes through.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Then Ariana withdraws and Eadie comes in her place, slashing at Ermias! Dunia joins in, lashing with her whip!
Amazingly, Dunia’s curse of inaction takes hold! He must have willingly failed his will save!
“Your friend is right. I wish to die so that my soul can go back to Osiris. I only hope that he will not judge me too harshly.”
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
After another grim round, you defeat poor Ermias and the furry Shira Div while you await the results of Fendel’s trip into the Onyx gem.
|
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
The detective walks up to Padrym. From under his cloak a mug of ale appears in his hand. He offers it to the dwarf. "Never known a digger yet that would turn down a stout brew." Fendel pulls out a flute of wine for himself. The two sit for sometime as the images play by. Minute after minute, the cycle repeats. “Stop her!" “Sad, isn’t it?” “I was wondering, if you could help me with something." The scenes unfold again and again in the tragic loop. "Padrym, among your many skills, I do not recollect 'playwright' as one of them. When one goes to the theater, a deft dramatist will lay clues to move the plot and act as foreshadowing. As we sit here, it seems quite easy to see the character's many failings. A young girl ignored because a pharaoh beckons, a possible mentor does not want to split his focus, all leading to the climax when the protagonist falls from grace. He suffers and dies alone as the curtain falls. The audience leaves with a sense of thankfulness that they could never be victim to such a trap, that they control their fates."
He again allows the cycle to start over as he take another sip of wine. "I'm not certain what you know of Tian Xia. It is a beautiful land. Did you know that they can take credit for the invention of paper? An official of the Imperial Court made his paper by mixing finely chopped mulberry bark and hemp rags with water, mashing it flat, and then pressing out the water and letting it dry in the sun. Incredible and innovative thinking really." Reaching again into his cloak, Fen pulls forth a common scroll. He slowly starts to unroll the seemingly ancient document as he continues. "One of their most profound proverbs stems from that discovery. It goes like this: 'A child's life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark.' Perhaps the dwarves have something akin to it? Probably dealing with a fortress being built of many stones." By this time, the detective has laid the four foot long scroll at their feet. Images of Tahari still racing through time. "Padrym, can you read the scroll?"
With defeated eyes, the aged scholar looks from his mug to the paper. He studies it a moment. "I fear I have failed you as well. I only see lines."
"They're marks actually. Thousands of them. Maybe tens of thousands. Each black mark an interaction with the same child. One of them is different though, can you find it?"
Once keen dwarven eyes peer down again. After several moments, he points a stubby finger. "There, that one. It's made of gold."
"Yes! That's the one. That's your mark Padrym. It's you. That lone golden slash hidden in a field black. A single sapling in a forest of missed opportunities. If this is the scroll of Black Moon's life, it would be hard to say that any single stroke was the one at fault. A myriad of souls she came into contact with, both before and after your golden mark was added."
Fen starts rolling the scroll back up. He pauses for a breath, and lays it back on the tile. "Now let's take a look at your life."
Padrym looks down "Well, all the marks seem to be made out of gold!"
"Many are, but not all." The detective points to a dark hash, "That one, right there, is Tahani. Can you honestly tell me that dark mark is the one that defines you? Would it not be more accurate to say that all of these marks have been the story of your life?" The lines on the scroll start to dance on the page. They begin to take various forms of libraries, deserts, and mountains. Then a city at the center of the world is there, sitting on an island amid a sparkling sea. The Grand Lodge is next, then finally detailed shapes of the Scarab Sages themselves. Tahonikepsu, Dhiara, Sinuhotep, Amenopheus, even Torch all take a curtain call. They then begin to swirl together. Slowly at first, then faster and faster, like a dust devil leaping on the dunes. The chaotic maelstrom takes a final form. Emerging from the storm is an experienced dwarf, head held high toward the sun. He looks up to the real Padrym and winks. A sudden gust of wind takes up the scroll. It lifts higher and higher into the sky until it is a speck. Both men loose sight of it in the high hanging sun.
Taking a final sip of wine as he looks off into the distance, the detective merely asks, "So tell me Sage, who are you?"
Padrym turns to you, tears in his eyes. “I’m where this all started. The jeweled sages are my legacy, and they built something beautiful, didn’t they?”
He looks upon his legacy then looks at the shimmering Onyx mansion that now surrounds you, the black stone gleaming with hidden light. Everywhere, there are burgeoning signs of life and color. The shelves fill themselves with books, and pots of exotic flowers bloom. “Come, walk with me. This gem has been my home for so long... I want to travel every inch of it.”
You wander through memory after memory, flying through some of them at whirlwind pace. As you do, Padrym becomes more and more excited. “I used to feel her whispering to me. I used to see her shadow everywhere. But now... Tell me, is she truly gone?”
He glances at your face for the answer, and more wine appears in your hand. “Thank you for cleansing my legacy, and for making it matter again! Please, tell your team how much this matters — not just to me, but to all those who followed in my path. Why, given all your hard work, I suspect that some of you might join my order some day. I’d like that very much.”
You and he toast, and the mind scape fades, and you find yourself in the real world once more, the battle over, and your friends and the Sages seeing to their wounds. Once again, it’s quiet in the library.
Sinuhotep grins, sketching an image in the air. “You were in a mindscape, so you might have missed this development... But with my sight, look at what I saw when you and Padrym were in the jewel and Quenly poured holy water over the ashes.”
A vision forms of Aryana Tahari’s spectre, starting to coalesce once more, still faintly tied to her sole remaining gem. Then the tether bursts apart, and her faint spirit flails, only to be snatched by Ahriman, lord of all the Divs. She shrieks soundlessly, flailing her arms as scoops her freed spirit up and drags it to Abaddon.
“Heh. I think I could watch that all day long,” Torch grins with satisfaction. He turns to all of you. “You know what I think of the Decemvirate, but you have earned my respect. Thank you for letting me be here.” He turns to Eadie, and claps her on the back. “Thank you for getting that witch out of my head.”
Meanwhile, Tahonikepsu is elated. “The hard work begins now! Oh, there’s so much to be done, and we — all of us — owe you all so very much.” Fendel finds that his cures were timely, and with his Blood of Nethys, is able to clear the last of the Fading Light contagion out of the sage who was most vulnerable to its effects — the dragon, Tahonikepsu.
|
|
Excellent! The Sage Jewels have been purged of corruption, and Tahari's spirit condemned to Abaddon. Now, we can remake the Order. We can make the Order what it always meant to me, to us. An order of scholars and historians, guardians of ancient lore and protectors of knowledge.
Let us start by salvaging as much as we can from this library, before it crumbles to dust. I can conjure beasts of burden that will last a sufficient time to transport everything back to civilisation.
We should also see to it that Dallia is finally at rest.
When appropriate (that is, once all the relevant gear has been assembled), Quenly will use Shadow Conjuration to cast Communal Mount.
|
|
Ariana doubles over in pain. "A little healing here, and then I can help you with whatever you need done."
Once she's healed she moves over to Ermias Dallia's remains, and kneels next to them. "What you were made to do was not your fault. May Osiris receive your soul with honor old one, and see what you tried to do before you were corrupted." She stands. "He cannot be buried here unless we can consecrate the ground. We should take him home if we can find where that is."
The team searches the library while Quenly and Ariana tend to the dead. Fendel and Dunia identify a Book of the Grave and a Quest Eternal, both with their preparation rituals intact, as well as countless scrolls. They also recover Tahari's arcane bond and former phylactery — Anamnesis, a silver and obsidian charm.
Meanwhile, Quenly examines the corpse of Ermias Dallia. He realizes that it’s indeed the same body as the one the team found in the incubation chamber. Black Moon called it to her and the library was right next door. As Quenly tends to the body, he realizes that it would be at home in either Osirion and Thuvia, for the ancient empire of Osirion extended over both lands.
The complex, unstable as it is now that it has been disturbed, starts to rumble. Tahonikepsu frowns as she looks up.
“Osiris is not just a god of the underworld but also a god of rebirth,” Tahonikepsu says as she helps you tend to him. “A deity of transitions, of redemption, and of fresh starts. Osirion death practices were elaborate — the loved ones would provide everything of comfort to the one who passed, so that they could have what they needed in the afterlife.” She turns to you all with violet eyes, and says, “We must leave now, but I will carry him, and make sure that his tomb is a properly appointed vessel to bring him to the afterlife.”
And so you all leave, with the whole group on summoned horses, riding off into the sunset. After you’ve travelled a few miles, the complex crashes behind you.
“Good riddance,” Torch says. “Though... There goes my idea for an amusement park.”
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
The sages have a service back at the Twisted Garden Lodge in memory of Ermias Dallia and consult with you about the tomb and what it should contain. Once that is done, Tahonikepsu commissions a sculpture for the sages' sanctum to commemorate for all time the Pathfinders' role in the salvation of the order. “You have gone above and beyond to save us. Thank you.” Then she grins. “This is the past. Shall we build the future together?”
At this point with the credits rolling I would like to invite you all to share a vignette — a closing credits easter egg — that reflects upon your character.
ON EASTER EGGS
King of Anything wrote a lovely treatise on PbP Easter Eggs.
<Philosophical Exploration of the Easter Egg>
The closing credits are a great place to sum up your adventure and how your character has grown throughout. You've been playing for awhile now, so take some time to look back through the adventure and think about what moments stood out as meaningful, or could be explored a little more.
Your Easter Egg can be presented as a vignette centering around your character, or as a report or letter to your superiors/family, or as a quick scene between NPCs reacting in your character's absence. There are many possibilities!
Some good questions to ask yourself and/or answer in an Easter Egg:
1. How did my character introduce themselves? Are they the same character now?
2. What relationships did my character form in this adventure? How will they end? (Or will they continue??)
3. What did my character learn about themselves or the world?
4. What does my character do between adventures?
5. Is there a closing musical number?
I have loved this group, and would love to see what you do next!
PRIMARY SUCCESS CONDITIONS The PCs achieve their primary objective if they defeat Aryana Tahari with at least one sage jewel intact by the end of the adventure. Doing so earns each PC 1 Prestige Point.
SECONDARY SUCCESS CONDITIONS The PCs fulfill their secondary objectives if they destroyed no more than one sage jewel and also concocted a cure for the Fading Light disease. Doing so earns each PC 1 additional Prestige Point.
FACTION NOTES If the PCs defeated Aryana Tahari without any sage jewels being destroyed, award each Scarab Sages faction PC the Exemplar of the Order boon.
WOOOT! You did it all! Great job, guys!
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
A week after the salvation of the Sages, in the lightless depths of a forgotten Thuvian tomb...
An elf hovers in the air, held aloft by insubstantial and invisible wings of shadow. Perched atop a sarcophagus is a small dragon, no bigger than a housecat. In one hand the elf holds an ancient map; in the other hand, a tiny scarab-shaped jewel.
In the absolute darkness of the void, the elf looks at the little dragon. An off-key, discordant voice sings, echoing up through the cave:
♫Now I'm the best of the warriors
Kyonin VIP
I've reached the top and had to stop
And that's what's bothering me
I wanna be a Sage, little dragon
Glide right into Absalom town
And be just like the other Sages
Now I'm not fooling around!
Oh, oobee doo
I wanna Sage Jewel too
You'll see it's true
Some one like me can be like Tahonikepsu.
Now I'm not gonna kid you, little dragon
Sinuhotep's not a nice guy
He killed all of his followers
Just so that he wouldn't die
And Torch he ain't much better
A trickster through and through
He lies and steals, he does bad deals
But he's a Sage now too.
Oh, oobee doo
I wanna Sage Jewel too
You'll see it's true
Someone like me can be like Tahonikepsu.
Dhiara, she's an elf Sage
But she don't know history
I know more, I keep the lore
It's a fact that I didn't agree.
Oh, oobee doo
I wanna Sage Jewel too
You'll see it's true
Someone like me can be like Tahonikepsu.
Poor old Amenopheus
Little dragon, I voted him out
Now he's back, he's part of the pack
That Sage still has some clout.
Oh, oobee doo
I wanna Sage Jewel too
You'll see it's true someone like me
Can learn to be like Tahonikepsu! ♫
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Ariana helps gather the things that Ermias Dallia should have in his tomb. She is even quieter than usual, and is clearly thinking about what happened in the Grand Library.
Being a Pathifinder could end me up in the same situation controlled by something that forces me to do things that I don' want to do. He was just a solider for his god. Like I am a simple fighter.
Are the gods really calling me to be their voice? Could I really do that?
Ariana suggests that his tomb be located near her families home. "My family can watch over his resting place. We'll treat him as an honored ancestor, and make sure none disturb his rest."
|
|
Dunia remains at the periphery of the sages' celebrations. After all, despite having been present at the re-founding of the Jeweled Sages, so many of her expeditions had taken her to ancient sites far from the home of her order.
Interesting that the jewels served Aryana so similarly to the Facets of intelligence that made up that would-be-god in Scrapwall. Clearly divergent paths towards immortality of the mind, but must madness or stasis always be the result?
The study of the Jewels would remain open to her, but for further comparisons, she would have to return to Numeria...
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
“Aunt Alix, I’ve been reading about …”
Spread out on top of her unmade bed, dressed in the pyjamas she’s been wearing all day, a teenaged Eadie peers over a hardback book as her guardian enters her untidy bedroom in the small townhouse they share in Korvosa’s Northpoint district.
“Reading AGAIN! When you could be outside! Days like this come but thrice each Fall …” Alixandrah Navhelan decides to save her breath, before giving her stubborn niece an OK, let’s hear it gesture with both hands.
“It says here the Osirion goddess Bastet protects all cat kind. If She sees anyone kill a cat, there's a 5% chance She will send an avatar to kill the slayer. How cool is tha..? HEY!!”
Eadie's narration ends abruptly, as her adopted mother tears the book angrily from her hands. “Heathen trash! The Book of Numbers is the only text you need! You shall beg the undertreasurer's forgiveness for your sacrilege at the Golden Vault tomorrow –– and every matins this week.”
“Osirion!” The older Navhelan throws up her hands. “Do you realize how far from Varisia that is? You’re a dreamer, my girl. A pious scribe of Abadar shall NEVER see a pyramid or sphinx!”
“Let alone the inside of some ancient Pagan monolith!”
Eadie glares at her aunt, but for once does not reply. Propping herself up on her elbows, she pokes out her tongue at her mother’s retreating back.
One day I’m going to journey to the lands of the Osirion empire and do just that!
With strong allies by my side we shall defeat the spectre of some ancient Pharaonic curse, rescue the handsome paladin and fly off into the sunset –– on our dragon!