Shackled City (Pathfinder) - GM_Chris
Game Master Chris Shannon 719

And Cog is fine after the beating he took...no matter...uhm...so, the scroll?"[/b]

Skie tears up, kicks Dyrant out the door, and goes in search of Glimmil and Cog.

"If so, perhaps we could leave this cage here in your care."

"Yes. It should be safe here. No one should be able to 'pop' in here and if they do, they will regret it."

Father Asfelkir nods to an assistant and six very armed and armored men and half-orcs file into the room to take possession of the cage.

Dyrant taps his lips with a piece of scone, pondering.

"Good question. Atol." Dyrant says waggling his scone in the air, various questions coming in and being discarded in his mind.

"I wonder how he died. Did he die in service to Cauldron? It might help us understand what foes we might face next. Also, we could ask if the Stormblades have any magics or leads on what terrible event is about to befall Cauldron."

Dyrant eats a bit more, pausing briefly with open mouth as if to opine further, but then goes back to eating.

"Should we return and destroy the church of Wee Jas, leveling the altar and desanctifying the holy spaces?"

Dyrant's 'angel', now Atol's angel, crawls up and out of its usual spot. It makes it's way up Atol's robes and sits atop his shoulder. It stares at Atol as its stinger hovers near Atol's nose. Then it speaks, "Would you squish me because of how I look? Would you rip out my stinger because of the actions of others of my kind? Would you kill us all for being who we are?"

Shortly after Atol's heroes' feast, there is a knock at the door. Peeking out, you see three priests of Wee Jas in layered full-length hooded robes of alternating gray and black. Their hoods are left hanging in the back to reveal their jewelry-adorned heads. They wear jewelry with skull and gem motifs on their arms and necks.

Assuming you don't kill them on sight and open the door, "Good morning heroes of Cauldron. We come seeking peace that we might bury our dead and continue our holy work. Those of us who remain in Cauldron are unaware what has brought your wrath upon us, but we are willing to leave it to the law to decide who was right and who was wrong. Our leader has been absent many months and her second, Ike Iverson, shared little with us. You were seen dragging a cage from our cathedral which we knew nothing about. Its presence and the actions of our leaders has shaken our faith in them, but not our god. She will judge him now."

At breakfast a smiling and much relieved Atol tells the others, "I spoke to St. Cuthberts Angels this morning and He made it clear that the entire church of Wee Jas is not hostile to Cauldron so that's good."

"I think contacting the higher ups might lead to a few clues as well. How did this faction take control of this church? What happened to the last priest who was stationed here? The answers to these might be helpful. I'll ask Jenya, as head of our church, if she'll contact their church and see what can be learned."

Atol feels like they're finally getting somewhere. Jenya will know what to ask. She'll get us the information we need!

Hahahaha! Ninjaed by the very priests themselves!

Nice posts, Chris and Atol.

Toffitt drops in while the heroe's breakfast is still being served. He looks at Dyrant and purses his lips... but he sits down at the other end of the table behind a tall rack of pastries. Though normally he eats very little, this morning he eats four heavenly scones ten pieces of bacon and in general enough for two or three men. Do the bonuses stack for extra portions?

He mutters not unkindly to Atol, "I'd like to know whether Todd Vanderboren knows of the Cagewrights. If so, does he know other members, besides Ike Iverson?" He nods to Atol quietly as he finishes his meal. "Thank you." He gives a glance of mixed emotions to Dyrant and goes about his business of finding the Striders.

Finneas will tuck into the bacon and scones.

"The cage is safe at the Temple of Lordly Might. Father Asfelkir has it guarded and says we should go back to talk to the fire giant that made it."

When the clerics arrive Finneas will listen to their plea then shrug and turn back to his bacon.

"We did what we had to, no reason to keep doing it now that it's over."

Dyrant smiles as Skie locks up shop and goes tearing after Glim.

I hope Glim enjoys the good lovin' he's about to get. He'll probably forget to thank me.

I hear crying, sobbing sex is the best kind of sex.

Dyrant begins to walk back home.

It's also the only kind of sex I've ever had.

* * *
Dyrant stands and listens to the clerics trying to keep the sneer off his face.

In the end, he agrees with Finneas, but also takes pity upon them.

"One second," Dyrant rises and goes to the door. "if you wish to know why we did this, I would speak to you about it."

As soon as the priests leave, Atol goes to the dead Stormblade and prepares to speak with him. He treats the body with reverence and asks quietly...

Speak with Dead Will DC 18 if not LG
1) Do you wish to be raised from the dead?
2) Were you serving the greater glory of Cauldron when you died?
3) What is the terrible event about to befall Cauldron?
4) What do you know of the cagewrights?
5) Can you name some of the members of the cagewrights other than Ike Iverson?

@ Atol. Did you bring the body with you or leave it at the Wee Jas cathedral?

"One second," Dyrant rises and goes to the door. "if you wish to know why we did this, I would speak to you about it."

The clerics thank Dyrant for the information, but seem unmoved by his oratory. They do, however, accept a scone.

"We've heard tales of the goodness of Cuthbert's scones."

Brought it with casting ant haul as needed.

Atol didn't know there were other worshippers of Wee Jas in town that could be trusted, and he wouldn't have left the body behind for any random passer by to deface it.

Atol is fully expecting to raise the guy today (and has a raise dead ready to do it). He suspects the guy was an innocent, just there for a resurrection that hadn't quite happened yet. He doesn't like the Stormblades, but he does believe they're supportive of Cauldron.

The speak with dead is more to assuage any lingering fears. If it doesn't work, he's planning to take the body to the Stormblades and talk to them about raising him anyway.

The priests nibble at the scones for a bit before asking a question.

"It seems we've lost a body. You don't happen to have it do you? It was being kept under our care for a resurrection spell by his family."

After breakfast, Dyrant continues his research of both the materials liberated from the Church of Wee Jas until Atol is ready to Speak with Dead. He is particularly interested in finding more info about the Soul Pillars and Karran-Kural.

I might need to try to find Lady Celeste. Or visit the library within the Cusp.

* * *
GM Gristle: how long far is it to the fire giant/hag lair?

Dyrant has no luck finding Lady Celeste, but his research at the library is more successful. Several hours of searching leads him to an old book on the baboons of the area around the demonskar. The researcher makes an offhand remark about the entrance to Karran-Kural being nearby, but offers nothing further as his interest was in living things. Dyrant is fairly confident he could lead the party there. Unlike going to Vaprak's voice, it will likely be quicker to cut straight through the jungle from the road to the Lucky Monkey. If the party wants to deal with a gnome skull loving giant, they can go the slightly longer way through Vaprak's Voice. And, might find a back entrance into the area--or become lost for weeks in the maze of the ancient ruins.

Glimmil doesn't dally long once he see sees that the "bookish" members of the Cauldron Five are busy doing research for where his shiny services should next be brought to bear.

After sharing some encouraging words, the gnome heads out to Skie's to share his latest tales of brave deeds and get a proper snack for Cog, knowing that Skie has been keeping something "special" behind the counter lately.

After several hours of "sharing", he will of course bring up the need to move their latest inheritance of magical gizmos in order to continue to fund do-gooding in Cauldron. Glimmil will even ask Skie for ideas in Cauldron, not just limited to Jzadirune.

The priests nibble at the scones for a bit before asking a question.

"It seems we've lost a body. You don't happen to have it do you? It was being kept under our care for a resurrection spell by his family."

Atol overhears the priests query. Brushing some crumbs off his cassock, he walks to the door and invites them in.

"Yes, it didn't seem proper leaving him there with no one to protect the body. I was going to speak with dead to figure out if he wanted to be raised or not, but now that you're here you can take him back. Follow me."

Atol is a little disappointed that he can't question the dead man, but he doesn't want to delay a resurrection either. He leads the priests to his room where the Stormblade is neatly laid out on his bed awaiting spells. He'll help carry the man (or at least get the doors) to help the priests out with him.

"So, er, where is your high priest? Seems rather bad that he's missing now when he's needed most. I worry that some misfortune may have befallen him at the hands of his junior."

Regardless of the outcome of the question, Atol offers to do the raising himself, "If you don't have anyone powerful enough, I'd be happy to raise him for you. Just let me know, you know." Atol grins.

The Wee Jasians accept the body and make their way out.

"High Priestess Embril Aloustinai has been traveling for several months on business for the church. Hopefully she will return soon. In the meantime we will see to the church's business and send missives out to our other churches. Surely one of them will find her and deliver the sad news."

Dyrant grunts as the body is carried away before Atol has a chance to question the corpse. Dyrant mulls asking for a few moments to discuss, but, in the end, relents.

Maybe we can ask him when he walks again.

Dyrant sits down at the table and watches.

After the priests leave, Dyrant opines to Atol and Finn.

"Well, that was sure polite of us. It does leave us with fewer leads. I was thinking that we should go visit that fire giant we met a while back. He seemed to have some knowledge on the cages and might be persuaded to answer them," Dyrant snuffs at the scone basket for crumbs.

"I have a mind to teleport us right there as it'll be a week or longer before I get the scroll I need to unlock the cage's secrets. Maybe we should see if Glim and Cog wish to go as well. I figure I can 5 of us...or we can walk the 50 or so miles to that place."

Dyrant looks at the two.

"What do you think of that? Or is there some other lead we should be following?" Dyrant pats some scone crumbs into his mouth.