Door hinges.
Rataji is.
Gazwyr, seemingly unaffected by the distortion occurring in the room, chases down the assailant...
...though only scratching the surface.
Joliryn moves in, only faintly seeing the glittery assailant in the smoke cloud...
...though strikes true...
...barely avoiding being sent hurtling toward the entrance.
Shohiraj's smokestick dissipates, revealing the form of Sheila Heidmarch slumped on the ground unconscious.
Current turn order is: 322 (35 Damage, Hasted x2), Aram Zey ("73" + 70 damage), Rataji (Hasted x1, Feebleminded), Gazwyr (52 damage, Hasted x1), Joliryn (39 Damage), Shohiraj (19 Damage, Sleeping x10), and Marnarius (39 Damage, Sleeping x9)
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322 concentrates on her scroll, forcing herself to understand its complexities before her life is endangered anymore than it already is, and unleashes its fury on the assailant...
...
With a gasp, the assailant falls unceremoniously to the ground.
The assailant comes into full-view, revealing a roughed-up Aram Zey, still breathing but only barely.
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Joliryn channels another spell into her kukri as she smiles wickedly before laying the mage low. "Next time, leave magic to the professionals, old man."
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As Joliryn's kukri punches into the back of Aram Zey's neck, his soul visibly tears from his body, spiraling toward the lantern in 322's possession.
Though the Sky Key continues to fluctuate, its energies will not impede your travel.
As the original five members of the team collect themselves, Gazwyr helps himself to some books on the shelves, loading up a bag with a seemingly endless capacity.
"Research."
As you attempt your escape, a second team of Aspis agents approaches you. The lead operative flashes a silver Aspis badge. "Nicely done. I figured we’d be late to the party, but its still five fingers till Oathday." Leaving the Sky Key with a set of fresh operatives, slipping out of the Grand Lodge using the chaos outside as cover is considerably easier.
As you escape the Grand Lodge, wyvarans, yetis, extraplanar humans, and more rush about the walled campus attacking their Pathfinder oppressors, releasing more of the caged menagerie, and setting fire to structures. Only a short while later, the northwest tower of Skyreach tears free from the castle and begins gently floating and orbiting the campus. Over the course of several hours, the Pathfinder Society gradually subdues most of their assailants, restores some semblance of order, and even recovers the Sky Key. These are nevertheless hollow victories, for the Society’s access to the Hao Jin Tapestry demiplane is crippled, the Master of Spells is forever dead, and the Grand Lodge that was once the pristine home for Pathfinders worldwide is scarred and scorched.
In spite of some of the shortcomings of the mission (none related to your performance), the Aspis Consortium celebrates your success. Each of you receive a missive from your respective contact, congratulating you on a job well done. The Aspis operatives have played a key role in ending an era of Pathfinder Society aggression and heralding a new age of Aspis Consortium dominance. You each receive compensation as promised, and in the coming months,
the Aspis will certainly have more work for you.
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Primary Success Condition: The PCs succeed at their primary mission if they both open the gateway to the Hao Jin Tapestry demiplane and deliver the Sky Key to the second team of Aspis operatives .
[u]Secondary Success Conditions[/u]
• Avoid combat with Pathfinder agents in Part 1 .
• Prevent Pathfinder agents from noticing a PC planting 322’s device (even if she does not accompany 322, this goal counts as a success as long as no PC is caught) .
• Prevent Pathfinder agents from noticing Marnarius or any other PC sabotaging menagerie cages (even if she does not accompany Marnarius, this goal counts as a success as long as no PC is caught) .
• Avoid combat with all of the Pathfinder patrols in area A .
• Avoid entering more than one combat with the Pathfinder patrols in area A .
• Disable the trap in area B1 .
• Disable any of the traps in area D .
• Take special precautions to hide the PCs’ involvement in Skyreach, such as using dust of tracelessness to cover tracks, eliminating all foes within the first round of combat, or similar tactics .
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The following rolls are for "convention boons" for this particular slot.
Boon Rolls:
Boon of players choice on a natural roll of 1 or 20
**Re-Rolls not allowed on boons**
The dice do not love any of us tonight. I imagine the 1 Aram rolled on that Fort save was worth it, though.
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After the defeat of the Master of Spells the task force escapes, dragging its feebleminded leader with them. At the end of the day it was a job well done, and while Rataji did earn a generous paycheck, most of it went to expenses. Expenses such as his friends buying the services of an Aspis cleric to heal Rataji's feebleminded state.
It is said that in the following years, no one dared to even mention the spell near the serious contractor. But much giggling was always had behind his back.
Even today, when Rataji is at his home alone, he occasionally stops by a door, looks at its hinges, and mutters incoherent words. "Dpyxswer-m."
Marnarius would've been a bit put out that he didn't get to personally witness the demise of Zey (because he was asleep at the time) but he'd have to settle for the fact that Zey was gone for good and that many Paaathfinders got injured or killed during the whole attack operation.
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After the lantern does its work, 322 bends over Zey's body and reads the words of a scroll. Before everyone's eyes, the wizard's flesh melts away, leaving nothing but bones and a smear of blood on the ground.
As is her custom, she says little of what is on her mind, but still the Experiment looks into the distance and reflects, His flesh is gone, and his soul trapped, leaving nothing but a mystery. Through this, I have proven my worth, haven't I Professor? I know now nothing I do will release me from the hooks you have in my life, but perhaps this will earn me a future with some small measure of autonomy.