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"The wall carvings depict Pharaoh Azghaad, the legendary first pharaoh of Osirian, sometimes known as Azghaad the All-Seeing or Azghaad I. This cartouche is that of Azghaad. The carvings show the establishment of Sothis and this part shows bringing water to the people. This giant carapace, which we saw in Sothis, was a spawn of Rovagug named Ulunat, whom Azghaad killed." Toorin pulls out a notebook and adds a sketch of the carvings to his notebook along with the words on the entrance.
After examining the arrows, Toorin says, "The magic on these arrows will compensate for problems seeing a target due to darkness or other forms of cover. As long as you aim well enough to get the arrow to the target's general area, it will be more likely to hit."
After finding the arrows, which Toorin is happy to have Amarok take, Toorin suggests, "Let's see what are in those rooms across the courtyard, starting with the one on the west."
This modest brick building provided housing for a caravan’s beasts when the fortress was active. Only the stone has survived intact, with empty sockets for lanterns at even intervals. Ancient tools for leatherworking sit on a table to the south, next to an empty stone trough. Barren stalls line the north wall.
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"Hey, if we happen to find some lanterns, and we aren't under threat of death and dismemberment, I should think that sticking them back where they belong and lighting them would be a worthy endeavor. You never know when something strange like that will open a secret door."
Pooka looks around the room, performing his typical inspections along with everyone else. His journal sticks slightly out of Luna's saddlebags, with another page freshly filled with sketches and rubbings of the carvings in the room. The halfling, while a fierce fighter, is still a pathfinder after all, and cataloging these things for submission to the pathfinder chronicles is something every pathfinder works to do. You never know when your story may strike the fancy of one of the ten, and end up immortalized in the chronicles.
Finding nothing of importance for now, Pooka leads the way to the next area at the end of the stalls. He holds his lance in one hand and grips the reins of Luna in the other, nerves on edge for another skirmish.
Please don't be zombies, please don't be zombies...
He looks at the cold iron construction of his lance just before he opens the door.
Demons would be ok...
This room served at times as a smithy and at other times as a storage facility over the course of the fortress’s occupation. The chimney that rises from the small forge in the southwest corner is clogged with grit from centuries of storms, and the smith’s tools lie nearby under a thick layer of dust. The south door is cracked in places, and scattered crates are all that remain of what appears to be some sort of barricade.
Most of the contents of this room are spoiled and worthless, though you do find two sealed vessels full of salt crystals.
One contains an application of silver weapon blanch and the other contains one measure of ghost salt.
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Keeping Pooka covered at all times in case of ambush, Amarok slowly makes his way through the guard room, as they have found nothing of great import he moves on.
"Hmm yes, or maybe a water fountain? In case the reliefs are a clue?"
Making their way into the forge, the monk helps search the room, upon finding the salt crystals he laves it to the rest of the party to share them out.
"I have two Ghost Arrows for Incorporeal creatures and my bow makes my arrows be able to partly affect them."
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"Having run into incorporeals before and been forced to rely on my wand of cure light wounds to do anything, I'd appreciate the ghost salts."
Though I don't suppose I'll actually HIT anything... Oh, Desna, bless my axe today. Give me good luck and fortune and change the course of my life! If there is anything I've done to displease you, please let me know. I'll try to keep most of the whine in italics :)
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"I believe my telekinetic punches could affect ghosts, if we encounter any. I should probably have one of the alchemist fire flasks and one of the liquid ice. Since I'm usually toward the back making ranged attacks, I can toss one of those around. The cold would have slowed that golem down if you had not cut it down so quickly (not that I'm complaining)."
Thinking out loud about the clues in the messages, he says, "Well if the first message was more than a clue to allies of the jeweled sages, it mentioned time, which could refer to the order in which things happen or it could mean to think about what happened in the past. The founding of Sothis was accomplished after killing a beast allied with Rovagug. The Rough Beast is an enemy of Saranrae particularly, so we should keep that in mind."
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With the goodies passed out and the salts baked onto Warpac's axe, Pooka heads to the stairs on the east side of the courtyard.
"Let's just hope that those goodies are some remnants of a merchant, long gone from this place, and not a harbinger of what we are to find behind the doors." Pooka says grimly, but cracks a smile just before he pushes the door open.
Continuing deeper into Seeker's Folly, the Pathfinders move to the eastern side of the complex. They stand in what could only have once been a grand entry hall.
A profound quiet has settled over this timeworn hall. Elegant stone columns line the passage, and hieroglyphics and colorful art depict scenes from a distant age. A small wooden door stands at the east end of the hallway, while a larger door leads south. The sound of steady splashing water is audible through an open passageway to the north, and large stone doors lead outside. The art on the walls is decorative, with fanciful depictions of a royal barge sailing on the River Sphinx.
One of the pillars has collapsed, and a crushed human corpse lies pinned underneath. The distinctive shape of a wayfinder peers out from under the body’s hand.
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Xûll seems in a daze for most of the journey. He's certainly overwhelmed by everything they find. Just before Warpac coats his weapon with salts, he warns, "I have used blanches before. If you attack anything with that weapon now, the effectiveness is gone. I find such things far better for ammunition. They can coat 10 pieces, and we have a master archer here.
"If it's ghost's you're worried about... I believe positive energy affects them," Xûll adds pointedly, "At least, that's worked for priests I've traveled with in the past. Either way, we should coat some of Amarok's arrows with silver blanch. You never know..."
Xûll turns east with the rest, waiting for everyone to check for traps (checking himself) and then opening it wide.
Xûll walks over to the pillar where the Pathfinder lies dead. He keeps his weapon drawn, having seen the dead rise earlier, and checks the wayfinder for signs of this man's identity.
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Stepping into the next room, Amarok surveys the mural with rapt fascination, before spotting something off about it. He points these out to his comrades as they enter the room.
"Friends, we decided to point out anything that seemed pertinent so forgiveness if you have already seen. However, the Pharaohs each bear fine jewels on their headwear, specifically an emerald, a topaz and a ruby."
Stepping into the room he keeps Xull covered as he inspects the wayfinder.
Once the Pathfinder remove the Wayfinder, they open and see:
The inside is engraved with a scarab and an inscription that reads “Congratulations, Asha. —V.L.”
The Pathfinders can also recover a steel canister and a stone.
Toorin is unable to identify either magic item.
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"Not sure I have heard of an Asha in our ranks. We should collect her body though, if this is indeed her so it can be taken care of properly. If this really is our pathfinder, then there may be a proper journal around here somewhere." Pooka continues to search, disheartened that there isn't much more in this room.
"We can either clear this area out and make sure there are no more undead threats, or threats of any other kind and then come back to recover the body, or we can push this pillar over to see if there are any more clues on her body right now."
Pooka looks to the others to see which way they might lean.
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"I'd sure like to being the body back - you know how the society is about these kinds of things. If this Asha was highly enough placed, and from the inscription I think he or she was, they may even use a full res. Not sure about dragging the body with us at the moment though. But I agree we move the Pillar now and look for more info before moving on."
After taking the items from Toorin, Warpac is able to decipher a bit more. He is able to determine that the stone is a stone of alarm. Like Toorin though, he cannot tell what the canister contains.
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"So far each pharaoh referenced founded a city and established a water supply. Not surprising, considering how important water is to this region, but I hear water flowing nearby, so perhaps we should locate the water first. Both defeated some powerful enemy as well."
Once the body is clear of the pillar, Toorin will examine it to see if he can tell the cause of death.
They the first and last with others in between?
What kind of magical aura(s) is/(are) on the steel canister?
The cause of death?
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Amarok nods towards Xull and makes his way over to check the door, unable to assist in the examination of the canister and with seemingly all information gleamed from the unfortunate pathfinder he waits for the rest to finish before pressing on.
"I agree friend, let us press in and try to discover more clues to the sages whereabouts."
This storage space housed food and supplies for the fortress. The walls, floor, and ceiling are charred, and the burnt remnants of a few splintered boxes and barrels and a handful of corpses are scattered to the edges of the room.
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Pooka similarly furrows his brow as he looks at the everything they have discovered.
I wonder if I told the caretaker about the new mare? Feisty that one. Oh well, she will just learn the hard way if I didn't. Probably more likely to remember it.
Staring at magical enchantments and dweomers has Pooka's mind quickly wondering back to his farmstead. He shakes his head to keep his focus, jotting some notes down in his journal before slipping it back in the saddlebacks. He nods to Xull that he is ready as well.
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Stepping into the next toom, Longbow at the ready Amarok is taken aback at the scene of seemingly careless destruction. Spotting the corpses he keeps his bow trained on the closest in case it should try to rise. He carefully follows Pooka and Xull as they explore the next room.
"What wanton destruction, this place seems riddled with battle damage and structural weaknesses, I wonder just what has gone on in this abandoned fortress."
The relaxing splash of water echoes throughout this tiled room. A large, pristine pool occupies much of the chamber, and a statue of a warrior-maiden serves as the centerpiece, endlessly pouring water from an ornate jar. A large carving on the east wall depicts a frightening man who stares at the viewer, with half his body burnt and ruined and the other half young and healthy. A withered corpse lies in the northwest corner. An open doorway to the south leads to the fortress’ entry hall.
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Pooka enters the room carefully, just like all the others. He glances at the pool, then trying to take in the details of the painting of the charred man.
"So in here we see a painting of a burnt and charred man. Or at least half of him. In the room previous, you say a fireball caused some of the damage there?" Pooka muses out loud, unsure what the words he says actually mean.
"In here is a withered corpse, but the body weilding the wayfinder did not seem very old." Pooka purses his lips, slouching slightly in his saddle. "Winds of time, undead and withered corpses. Too many puzzle pieces, and no idea where they fit together."
Pooka weighs what he has seen so far, but cannot seem to come up with anything. He sees Warpac staring at the carving from across the room, and decides this would be another good thing for his journal. He pulls the leather-bound package from the saddlebags and urges Luna forward. Sitting in the saddle gives him a more human perspective anyways.
He looks closely, doing his best to sketch the carving and taking a few rubbing samples.
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Korasu carefully approaches the withered corpse, keeping a foot of Adamantine between the body and himself, ready to strike at it if it turns out to be undead. If it doesn't lunge at him, he attempts to determine what might have caused the creature to end up in that state.
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Xûll really wants to check out the withered corpse, but he decides to wait on the rest of the Pathfinders' results first. He helpfully holds Pooka up so he can get a rubbing of the topmost parts of the carving... whether the halfling wants him to or not.
"Oh, Korasu... I thought we were..." Xûll sighs as the tengu gets dibs on searching the corpse. He slowly puts Pooka down (and maybe apologizes) before drawing his nodachi again, wary of any 'corpse' in a place like this.
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Amarok stares at the mural depicting the interestingly scarred man and mulls it over for a moment before remembering why it struck a chord with him. He looks to the rest of his companions before voicing his opinions.
"Could the pciture of the half burnt man be a crude depiction of the Pharoah turned God-King Nethys? A well known figure within Osirion?"
The Pathfinders, minus Korasu, move to investigate the carving on the east wall.
Most of the Pathfinders can identify the man depicted on the wall as the god of magic, Nethys.
You can see a series of three cartouches on either side of Nethys. Each hand-sized cartouche can be removed from the wall.
Upon inspecting the body, Korasu finds the wall next to the dead body bears a multitude of scratches as if indicating the passage of time, and a chewed piece of leather next to him bears a nearly illegible note.
You bastards to leave me here to drown in this sea of sand. I will come back and get you if it is the last thing I do!
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"Whelp. There is a secret door here. All three of these cartouches can be removed as well. Perhaps somehow that is the key to opening this door that does not seem to have a handle."
Pooka looks to the others to see what they are gleaning from the oddities in this space.
"I am not schooled in the ways of magic, or in the ways of any religion. So the god of magic should be especially foreign to me, I would think." Pooka chuckles at himself.
All three of these cartouches can be removed as well. Perhaps somehow that is the key to opening this door that does not seem to have a handle.
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For the aura of the steel canister. Toorin will hold onto it until we identify it.
Toorin speaks modern Osiriani, but the Pathfinder Wiki suggests one who knows modern Osiriani can decipher the ancient version.
Do any of the cartouches correspond to any of the Pharaohs depicted in the previous rooms?