Even without putting your ears to the door, you hear the excited screams of a large group of monkeys from the hall beyond.
Mock vines cling to the wall of this grand exhibit hall, and huts of grass are strewn about the open area. At the center of this sprawling chamber, a great stone ziggurat rises out of the mist, almost scraping the 50-foot-high ceiling. At the top of the ziggurat, a rail thin elven gentleman is strapped to an altar, his bare chest painted with strange sigils and monkey paw-shaped blots of paint.
A band of savage primates snarls, spits, and cavorts madly about the ziggurat. Nearly 20 apes, baboons, and other monkeys revel here, but a terrifying howl then shatters the revelry. As the crowd of primates parts and spreads to the far corners of the room, an enormous silverback ape moves forward. It shakes its fists and howls angrily.
Round 1:
Gwendallyn
Tereze
Eryzule
Urbar
Fiona
Gorilla
Vicard
|
Tereze shakes her head in worry. We need to save zat elf as soon as possible before zey complete whatever ritual zey are attempting. I am sorry of what zis will do to ze ape and monkeys but zere is a life at stake.
She closes her eyes and chants:
Lord of ze hunt from ze land beyond
Hear our call and to us be bound.
To zese hunters your spirit bless
Grant us strength and great Success.
|
"What in the seven hells... "
Urbar says as the door opens. He takes a step forward and slices at the giant silverback.
"Get the statues! I think they will ruin the ritual and maybe stop this hulking beast."
He misses his lost step and almost cuts his own legs with his razor shard sword as he trips.
|
Vicard looks with concern as Fiona falls back. A giant onrushing ape is nothing to sneeze at, but they need all hands on deck. Being terrified can come later. Choking back his own concern, Vicard says to Fiona, "Don't worry, Fiona. Gwen will have this thing pinned and saying uncle before you can blink." He gives her a reassuring grin.
Tereze closes her eyes and blesses the party with her chant. What meanwhile happens is lost to most.
Eryzule shoots a crossbow bolt into the gorilla's chest, infuriating the animal even more. Drops of blood are launched everywhere when the primate lets out another, but his time pained, howl.
Urbar trips over his own feet as he moves forward, and nearly cuts off his own legs.
Fiona tries to draw her crossbow, but the gorilla's second roar causes her to fumble and drop the bolt. Her eyes wide with fear, she quickly backs off behind the others.
Gwendallyn runs up to the gorilla with a grin on her face, and immediately puts it in an arm lock. The gorilla lets out a high-pitched sound as it feels the joints in its arm stretch awkwardly.
When Vicard turns away from Fiona, he sees his prediction has become reality.
The silverback tries to slam its free arm into Gwendallyn's face, but can't quite reach her while in the arm lock.
Round 1:
~
Vicard
Round 2:
Gwendallyn (Grappled)
Tereze
Eryzule
Urbar
Fiona
Gorilla -13HP (Grappled)
Vicard
|
|
Take Heart Fiona, zat is nothing more zen a beast controlled by the evil statues. As a matter of fact if it was to fall asleep, we could probably get it back in ze managere with no problems.
With that she hoists her club and moves into the room and travels directly around the the ape trusting again in Gwen to keep it occupied. When she gets to the ziggurat she steps on the the lower steps and turns to face the Ape.
Tereze draws her club, and moves past the gorilla to provide flanking for Urbar.
A foot suddenly appears next to to Tereze's face. The elven gentleman strapped to the altar apparently doesn't appreciate her presence, and tried to kick her.
"I am maaaad!!" the elf exclaims, his eyes wide and foam coming from his mouth.
Urbar makes good use of his flanking position and cuts the gorilla down.
Vicard safely moves past the downed gorilla and all the way up to the ziggurat, where the mad elf greets him by saying "Blehhhh!!"
The monkeys in the room seem to go even crazier and scream loudly, hitting their chests and the floor with their fists.
|
|
Vicard looks at the swirling mists and howling monkeys....and the howling man. He considers Ery's advice then shakes his head and lets the man howl.
"No need. Let's destroy these statues. With them destoryed hopefully this place will settle down." Vicard points then out, before approaching them, intending to smash them all.
|
|
Tereze breathes a sigh of relief and casts stabilize on the Ape.
Then she looks up and addresses Vicard.
Smashing the statues sounds like a good idea to me. We never want to have these things affect someone's mind again. As such, may I suggest that each of us takes some of the pieces of these things and disposes of them in a different location. That way they can never be reassembled again.
Urbar destroys one of the statues, and then assists Gwendallyn one destroying another one.
Fiona meanwhile charms the crazy elf, who suddenly smiles a crazy smile at her.
"I liiike the colooor of your haaair," the crazy elf tells Fiona, drool dripping from the corners of his mouth.
Urbar and Gwendallyn then move over to the last Tik Taan and destroy that one as well. The crazy elf stops drooling and making crazy faces.
"My goodness gracious," the elf, still charmed, says. "What in heaven's name am I doing up here, bound to this bloody pillar on such a splendid afternoon?"
The monkeys stop screaming for a split second, then continue screaming as they flee the building. It doesn't take long for all of them to disappear.
"I was taking stock of the terribly fabulous pieces we have in storage," the elf answers after Vicard frees him. "It was almost tea time when this utterly unpleasant mist suddenly crept into the storage room! I was thinking 'Oh my!', and suddenly I wake up here, bound to this bloody pillar!"
"My name is Nigel, by the by. I am this lovely museum's curator."
Nigel rubs his wrists, where he was bound. "What do you say we sit down in my lovely office, for a nice cup of tea, chaps? I should add I have biscuits too, yes I do."
|
|
Tereze gathers a few pieces from each statue into her bag to dispose of elsewhere.
She then walks over and addresses the group near the elf.
Before we sit down to talk, zere are a few of your employees zat need healing outside ze front door. Let me go take care of zem. We will all join you in the office in a few minutes.
While I'm gone you all can explain about the mist and prep him for the mess it made of his beautiful exhibits.
She smiles and heads outside to heal the office workers who need it and brings them in to talk to Nigel and the group in the office.
|
|
Gwen shoos away the monkeys while the others deal with the crazed elf. Upon her return she stares incredulously at him for a moment while he discusses tea. She looks between Ery and Nigel several times to see if there are any family resemblances. "I wasn't aware that tea was such a favored beverage of the elves..." She shrugs and follows behind, sharing a look with Vicard.
|
|
Vicard raises an eyebrow at Tereze picking up bits of the cursed statues but lets it pass. He also meets Gwen's eyes and nod, understanding. the tea talk was endless.
Breaking in, Vicard talks to Nigel as they walk "Nigel, we are from the Pathfinder Society. If you haven't figured it out already, you were in the grip of some very dangerous artifacts. Frankly, you are lucky to be alive and unharmed. Do you have any idea what Trantos had brought in out of the jungle?" Vicard asks, laying his cards on the table.
|
|
"The elves are a people of many fairest lady of muscles... It just so happens that a few of them have developed a taste for native herbals."
Ery looks to Gwen with a smirk then folds his arms triumphantly over his chest.
"However, Let the record show that I shun no tea. All tea is glorious and all Tea will be had!"
Fiona's charm spell has meanwhile worn off, and Nigel's speech pattern has changed again.
"I thought they were just monkey idols," Nigel replies to Vicard.
Nigel's face saddens and he puts down his cup of tea. "But after your explanation of what happened, I now know better..."
With the curse of the Tik Taan ended, the Blakros Museum returns to business as usual (after some clean up). Nigel's eternally grateful and after you mention you were sent by Adril to save him, he is deeply touched and eventually his friendship with the hulking venture-captain is repaired. More importantly, he now makes all of the Blakros Museum’s vast collection available to the Society for study and considers re-petitioning membership.
|
|
Gwen thanks Nigel for his appreciation of their services. "I hope that should the Society's good name come into question ever again, you will remember this day. Farewell, sir, I hope to come back and see the museum again when not infested with evil mists and crazed monkeys." She smiles and shakes his hand firmly before departing.
As they make their triumphant return to the Society, Gwen notices several strands of Tereze's hair sticking to the back of her clothing. She drops back a pace to pluck the hair from her clothing...
|
|
"Ah...this was not going where I thought it was."
The elf looked to Gwen and Tereze with a shrug and sly smirk as he took to his feet.
Sipping on the remaining bit of tea in his cup, he Elf bows out.
"Well this has been lovely. I think I have some light studying, some courtship for the lonely women of the night and more tea to down. Enjoy friends."
The elf makes his way out toward the Societies lodgings.
|
|
Urbar follows the others back to the society. He raises an eyebrow at Gwen pulling Tereze's hair. He decides not to comment on the whole affair.
"I will get one of them sticks when we get back to town. Might come in useful to quiet some of you down once in a while."
He says with a dark grin on his face.
|
|
tweeze stops and looks slightly embarrassed.
Sorry about zat, I must be shedding. I clearly forgot to do my hundred strokes zis morning. But zat is odd as I would have expected more rats nests as I'm sure you understand even zough you normally keep you hair up.
She smiles conspiritorially.
I do have to say you hair-do is cute and practical Gwen. I was considering a braid for ze next mission as putting it up takes too long without someone to help judge how it looks in back and keeping it loose is hard as the mist we keep running into makes it go all curly.
|
|
Gwen blinks at Tereze's response, not quite sure what to say as she holds a hunk of the oracle's hair in her hand. "Umm... Do you normally lose this much hair?" She's not really sure what to do with the hair, so she holds onto it for now. "I can help you put up your hair, but uhh... I think. Well, I don't know what to think." She shrugs sheepishly.
|
|
"Ummm... yes." She offers it back to Tereze. "Do you think it has something to do with that foul mist you got exposed to?" She thinks back for a moment to recall if the museum workers had lost their hair as well. "Perhaps we should seek someone out about this? Make sure there is no lingering effects?"
The men stay clear of the matter, but the women in the party are shocked to see Tereze lose her hair. They decide to hurry over to the Grand Lodge to get help. Tereze calls in a favor from one of her contacts in the Lodge, who gets her to a cleric. The cleric tells Tereze she received the vargouille's kiss; a disease that'll slowly turn her into a vargouille. As she places one hand on Tereze's forehead, the cleric mumbles some kind of prayer or spell.
"I removed the disease," the cleric then tells Tereze. "You'll be fine now."
After a hurried summons to the Grand Lodge in Absalom, a quick conversation with Venture-Captain Alissa Moldreserva, and a wet, stormy trip across the Inner Sea to Andoran, the small, warm Pathfinder Lodge in Augustana is a welcome break from travel.
"I can’t believe we are wasting our time on this matter," says Caudron Wallace, the venture-captain of Augustana as he paces the main hall. "Frankly, I want as little to do with it as possible, so I’m passing it on to you."
Wallace nods toward a door at the back of the room. "The vagrant through there was found collapsed on our front steps gripping a wayfinder of all things. We still don’t know who he is. Talk to him, for the tale he tells is amazing if true, and then come back here."
You enter the room at the back of the main hall, where you find a small sitting room with six comfortable chairs and a few bookshelves filled with the latest Pathfinder Chronicles. An old, withered man sits in one of the chairs, half-dozing when you enter. His skin is shockingly pale and his features are sharp with high cheekbones and a jutting chin. Despite his incredibly filthy visage, matted white hair, and infirmity, when he awakes and regards you he does so with a look of absolute, confident superiority.
"My loyal subjects, welcome! I know that some of you might not recognize me in my current state, but it is truly me, Gandros, the long-lost Prince of Augustana. I have been in hiding since the untimely death of my father, the Emperor, preparing for my return to glory. Unfortunately, I bear ill news. The army I have been gathering in the otherworld has been infiltrated by agents of our enemies. When last I called my forces together for inspection, dark assassins attacked me and I barely escaped with my life."
He takes this opportunity to roll up his sleeve and reveals a series of recently inflicted claw and tooth marks on his right forearm. He then launches into a breathless retelling of how he came to be in the Lodge, without pause or acknowledgment of interruptions.
"I fled back through the magic portal to this realm. Grievously wounded, and with the assassins in close pursuit, I leapt into the dark river. I floated past the Almsman’s Sanctuary, but couldn’t climb out of the water. I did manage to grab one of the bridges, but a plank fell in with me. I held on for dear life and continued to drift downstream. I went over a waterfall and then emerged in the lake of ships and crawled to shore. Augustana has changed since I last walked my city’s bright streets, but I managed to find this house, bearing the symbol of my father’s empire."
He holds up the wayfinder hanging from a chain around his neck. "I knew I would find help here! If you remove the threat from my kingdom below and help restore me to my rightful place as Emperor of Andoran, I will grant you any boon within my power!"
|
|
Vicard takes int he rambling story in due stride. His harsh,c ragged face gives away nothing as he digests the story.
Warily he nods the ragged, filthy man."So, you are the long lost Emperor? Can you tell us anything about this otherworld, assassins or this magic portal? Details are greatly appreciated." Vicard asks the questions bluntly but politely enough. He has dealt with enough damaged people to know he is unlikely to get much guide however.
Internally he reflects that at least he is warm and dry here, unlike the rain-tossed sea voyage over here. Vicard didn't care for sea travel, and much preferred to remain in Absalom itself. It was a long way to travel to consult a crazy man.
|
|
Gwen, not having much experience with ships, is very glad to be back on solid land once they finally reach landfall. She gives the Venture Captain a weary look as he pushes this incident off on them, but nods her understanding and enters the room with her familiar companions.
She regards the old man dubiously, especially more after his ridiculous tale with an ever growing smile that she cannot seem to conceal. Once the "Emperor" wraps up his story Gwen suddenly breaks out into raucous laughter. "He's daft!"