Artemus manages to get out of a gruff signifer who just wants to be left alone that something dangerous was detected within the Spire and that the Order of the Gate was going to deal with it.
Artemus deduces that if the Gate is involved, it must be something planar in nature.
Sorry, sick the past couple of days. Updating tomorrow.
As the party gathers the bodies and reviews the damage, they also spy a journal hidden under one of the bodies. However, before the party can further read the journal, Faeros notes that something is coming. His bow is drawn just as a wounded crystalline creature skitters into room, followed by a floating fleshy orb covered in wicked blades with a central eyeball. The floating eye seems to be fixated on damaging the wounded crystal creature, both of which panic as they spy the party!
The crystalline creature is indeed a crysmal.
The floating orb is an augur kyton.
Artemus shares Nilfyr's analysis of the creature. The small bladed orb blob dashes once more at the crysmal, shattering its back and ending it.
The orb then looks at the party, blinking. It looks at towards the chamber it entered from, then at the party, then once more to the other hall.
You get the idea that this... thing... wants you to follow it.
Artemus tells the party that the orb thing is an augur kyton
The kyton bobs up and down at Thunderstealer, acknowledging that it understands the large man's booming voice.
A quick scouting reveals that the the northeastern chamber must have been a camping chamber, given the number of weapons and assortment of weapons piled up neatly. Meanwhile, the southeastern chamber is littered with pale gray crystal array and more crysmal bodies; it seems that there is another exit to the northeast from there.
The party follows the floating kyton, moving through a room of now-dead crysmals. Artemus determines that the scattered piles of gray crystals are "crysmal droppings" and are not worth considering retrieval.
Moving on to the next room, a rotten smell deep within the earth fills this wide cavern, rumbling through fissues bubbling up from a river of magma coursing through the cave. A stony formation at the cave's center forms an arching bridge over the fiery current.
The kyton flies towards a chamber to the northeast, disappearing out of view when it turns a sharp corner.
The gas smell that of burnt othur fumes, but given the chambers size, it will take about an hour of sitting in here for any real effects to harm the party.
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Artemus holds Thunderstealer back quickly, surveying the land bridge from the sides as he spies several cracks... but ultimately declares that should bear weight as long as no major trauma affects the stone.
Thunderstealer then struts across the bridge, making his way to the other side. The others do as well, although Faeros notes that the bridge is weakest in the center, but it still holds.
The party follows the trail of the kyton and find rivulets of magma that course down the cavern's northern wall, melting plates of spiked black armor before draining into a rock. Three armored bodies lay on the ground, one one is propped up, the metal melted into the rock and turning it into a standing statue.
The kyton goes to one of the bodies on the floor and pierces it with one of its many bladed spikes and uses the blood as ink to scrawl on the wall near the standing body, HELP It then looks at the party for a response.
Thunderstealer tries to cure the bodies, but he finds that it is of no use; they are deceased.
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The orb shakes its body at Thunderstealer's second line. Once again in scrawled blood, it answers. Save her, bring her back. She is still needed.
It then moves over to the woman's breastplate and pokes at it, looking at Thunderstealer again, then taps the armor once more.
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As Thunderstealer checks the woman's armor, he finds a journal tucked inside.
At Thunderstealer's new question, the kyton shakes its mass before writing on the wall, Her
You get the feeling that if the kyton had hands, it would be facepalming right now.
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The Kyton nods at Artemus' question while the large Thunderstealer reads what he can of the journal.
The journal is all blank, aside from an entry on the first page, which reads as thus:
"The journal of Chaid DiViri, Hellknight Signifer of the Order of the Gate, leader of the expedition to tame an chaotic anomaly our scryers has detected."
"What follows is Volume 3, the rest being enshrined safely with my order back at Fort Inevitable."
"The campaign begins, entering an unlikely hell of heat and stone. Our troop has dwindled in size due to some dangers that were unfortunately not the chaotic threat we seek. If the point of origin is below this floor, then we shall continue our endeavor and vanquish this threat to the area before it can gather."
"I am amused, and somewhat pleased, by the damage and destruction caused by the Pathfinders that were allowed entry into the Spire. Their carnage has allowed us to enter at greater speed than anticipated, with many of this tower's defenders already slain or evacuated."
"But now, a surprise attack from several crystalline foes has dwindled the troop size, but the gemstone vein that has provided our egress time and again is sure to be near. We will resupply, forge ahead, and discover the source of our divination and smite it from this place. I will not let something as flimsy as fire stand in my way, even if it takes the bodies of all my knights to smother their flames."
@Artemus: The Hellknight plate of the bodies on the ground is ruined beyond repair, although surprisingly, the armor of the woman standing up and sealed into the stone is still usable. You also detect a magical aura within her gauntlet, but the armor will have to be loosened to investigate.
Thunderstealer turns into living earth and moves through the rock to push the signifer out, but the magma flow burns him through the rock!
Vraid's body is now freed as Thunderstealer exits the stone. With nothing to impede him, Artemus removes the gauntlet and finds a wand inside... a wand of shield other!
The kyton bobs up and down happily as it motions towards the exit.
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The party collect's DiViri's body and returns back to Fort Inevitable. A small crowd of people curious surround the party as they carry the Hellknight's corpse through the streets towards the rectory of the citadel. The group is unsure if their attention is due to the fact they are traveling with a dead Hellknight or the floating orb that dutily follows the group.
Back in his darkened chamber, Signifer Hast almost seems to be waiting for you as you approach. "It seems DiViri has failed in her assignment. That is... disappointing to say the least." He motions for the party to set the slain Hellknight's corpse on an inscribed circle he has prepared to the side of his room. He then begins a ritual, speaking entirely in Infernal.
Mephistopheles, I beseech your power to return the soul of this damned Hellknight, whose time upon this realm is not yet complete. I offer you these diamonds, to be crushed over her form and given to you as your fires offer rebirth. Let her duty be restored, in service to her rank among an order that respects and venerates the power of you and your brethren. Raise her with your power, O' Mephistopheles!
Sprinklng a glittering dust over DiViri's body, a red fire washes over her from below, before turning black. The sparkling dust fades away as DiViri begins hacking and coughing, slowly moving her head as she takes in the surroundings. "Signifer Hast... what am I doing here?", she asks in a weak voice. "Failing at your duties and embarrassing the Gate.", he sternly reprimands before looking at the party. "While I am reluctant to ask favors from... such a strange group, I do have a request for your motley bunch of adventurers." He stands straight, his stern glare still reaching you even trough his faceless mask. "I need you to accomplish what DiViri and her troop could not: find and remove a source of chaotic blight that is lurking somewhere within the Emerald Spire."
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"So, you are asking us to go in and return doing what we were doing? The only reason we stopped is because you told us to. But let bygones be bygones."
Thunderstealer pauses.
"I think I speak for all of us when I say we will gladly do this, but as your own knights were unable to do so, we will gladly welcome any help you can give us."
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Artemus's eyebrow raises slightly. He does not seem as inclined to help as the druid. "Motley bunch of adventurers?" What a lovey way to ask for a favor, especially after you violated your contract with us by trying to bar us from the tower. I believe we have already done you one favor by returning your agents to you. Do you offer any compensation for this obviously dangerous task? And we would expect a full briefing on what you know of this treat if we were to agree to help. I cannot help but wonder if this chaotic blight was made stronger when you broke your contract with us...
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Nilfyr nods at his companions' questions and comments, and adds his own. "We need to know everything you can tell us about your 'divination', as well as what you found down there, your suspicions, and the like. Also, if you have any items we might use to protect us from the heat, those would likely be useful as well."
"We asked you to stop because we wanted to control and contain the threat at hand, and having an unknown of Pathfinders roaming the site we tried to secure is a calculation that was not desired. Your organization's reputation for 'accidentally' causing random acts of damage is above average."
Hast sternly looks slight up at the towering Thunderstealer before continuing. "But yes, at this point, it will take about a month to get another company to delve back into the Spire without distabilizing the security of the region. And with DiViri's failure, the calculations seem to imply that you lot are the best ones for the task. Even simply finding and identifying the chaotic source would be of boon, and if you can stop it... I believe compensation can be offered."
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