The drifting steam of freshly made tea shimmers through the air in front of Venture-Captain Amara Li. The stoic Tian woman places an ornate tea tray on the edge of her desk, inviting all those present to partake of the drink. Li’s neatly organized office is the site of various tapestries and artifacts imported from the distant land of Tian Xia.
“I would like to thank you all for coming here despite the lack of explanation. Circumstances have forced me to be discreet in this assignment. There are many who would put the information I am about to share with you to more unsavory ends.” Amara begins to take an initial sip from her teacup before she continues.
“Several months ago I arranged the successful sale of a pair of tomes from my homeland of Tian Xia to a versed historian here in Absalom. Of these books, the Infernal Incantation was the more highly sought after, as it is said to contain the secrets of binding the legions of Hell.”
Amara takes another sip of her tea and then places the cup on her desk, her expression turning cold.
“The historian—one Yargos Gill—has spent the past several weeks studying the book from within his Absalom villa. To make matters more complicated, Yargos decided to try performing one of the rituals held within the Infernal Incantation late last night. From the breathless ramblings of his assistant who arrived at my door only a handful of hours ago, it would appear that something went horribly wrong with the ritual Yargos enacted.”
“From what I was told, the ritual revealed to Yargos and his aides that the Infernal Incantation was not a guide on imprisoning fiendish forces, but instead the book itself was a prison for the armies of Hell. Within the confines of those ancient pages reside hundreds—perhaps even thousands— of devils eager to escape their long imprisonment. If Yargos’s bumbling has caused some sort of disturbance within the tome, then we need to ensure it is fixed as quickly and as discreetly as possible. It would not do the populace any good to realize that a full-on infernal invasion could appear in the middle of the city!”
"“I need you to go to Yargos’s estate, where his aide has already informed him of your impending arrival. Once you meet with the historian, learn what you can about the book and how to reverse the meddling he has caused. Above all else, ensure that the legions of Hell are contained.”
"I have time for a few short questions, but few and short are it."
Amara Li smiles, “The books were discovered in Tian Xia some time ago, and were held by a private collector in my home city of Goka. They came as a set, and each was littered with writings in Infernal and Celestial script. That's about all I know. Given Yargos's history with books, I don't know that I'd read them."
Indeed, now that you know a bit about them, you may have come across mention in your own readings:
The Infernal Incantation is a tome from distant
Tian Xia said to hold the secrets of binding the denizens
of Hell.
The Infernal Incantation has a relatively unknown sister document: the Celestial Song.
The books are written in Celestial and Infernal, though not in the order one would suspect. The pages of the Infernal Incantation are written in sinister Celestial script, while the pages of the Celestial Song are penned in crisp Infernal.
Rituals within the Celestial Song are said to sway the minds of those nearby, but before these powers take effect, the tome unleashes a great angelic chorus that takes hours to complete.
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"I'm glad that your training has helped you. The last mission wasn't that intense, but our resident dwarf has decided to stay behind and help build the Lodge there." Paeter remarks to Syrak.
"Either way, it seems we only need to find this historian and then locate the other book. Let us take our leave." Paeter says, standing up and brushing off the front of his trousers.
"We have. His work caused a bit of an issue about 8 years ago during the Silent Tide incident. It seems he hasn't learned his lesson. It appears that the befuddled scholar is being backed by a powerful party in the Inner Sea region. This third party ensured that Yargos was fitted with all the resources he needed to study the books and their purpose. As to who exactly this third party is, I cannot say.”
At Paeter's standing up she adds, "“Despite his apparently wealthy backers, Yargos resides in a small two-story villa within the Eastgate district of the city. If I were to hazard a guess, I would assume Yargos prefers to keep his research a secret and away from the prying eyes of more populous districts.”
You make your way to the villa, and it appears that you made it in the nick of time!
Yargos Gill’s villa is a stand-alone edifice that would normally meld into the background of Absalom’s various structures were it not for the massing crowd of local citizens in front of the entrance. Up above on the second floor, lights flicker as burning orange and red embers dance within. They are chatting that this fire isn't very good and that "it hasn't grown since I've been here, and I've been here for half a bell!"
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Pandoor thanks Amara Li and follows the others to the villa.
Very excited to see what happened, Pandoor stares at the windows with an expression mixed between awe and wonder.
"Oh! What should we do?" he wonders.
Seeing Syrak diving into the house, he starts a poem, inspired by the events.
"Bravely bold Sir Syrak
Rode forth from the Grand Lodge
He was not afraid to die
Oh, brave Sir Syrak
He was not at all afraid
To be killed in nasty ways
Brave, brave, brave, brave Sir Syrak!"
Spurred on by the poem, the party follows Bold Sir Syrak in. The immediate interior is in pristine condition. A basic dining room, kitchen, and meeting room fill the first level of the abode while stairs leading up to the second floor reveal a set of bedrooms and a personal study. You work your way upstairs to the source of the flames. You see the terrible burning light coming from beneath the closed door of Yargos’s personal study, and approach it like a moth to (regular) flame.
Sheets of dancing orange and red fire cover the walls of this long room, forming blazing curtains around two windows facing the streets below. The interior of the room is undisturbed, and the wooden floor is completely absent of flames. A swirling, sinister symbol adorns the center of the floor, formed of a darkened red substance and accented by a few nearby candles. Opposite the only entrance into this room is a large open altar filled with more candles, a single blood-stained dagger, and an open book from which torrents of flame feed the inferno along the walls. Nestled in the corners adjacent to the entrance are three humanoid bodies—two toppled over one another in one corner, and a third in the opposite corner, face down on the wooden floor.
In the far end of the room stands a devilish figure. Itwields a vicious, saw-toothed glaive, while below its toothy maw writhes a hideous, twitching beard.
A bearded devil! It's beard is as deadly as it's razor sharp weapon. Ask 1 question for every 5 over the DC.
(always acts in surprise)
Round 1:
Paeter: Go
Syrak: Go
Pandoor: Go
Falco: Go
Baddies: TBD
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Continuing his poem, Pandoor includes now an inch of inspiring sentences. He unsheathes his usual crossbow.
"The Flaxseed were not in the least bit scared to be mashed into a pulp by bearded devils like this one,
Or to have their eyes gouged out, and their elbows broken by the beard of a devil ;
To have their kneecaps split, and their bodies burned away;
And their limbs all hacked and mangled by the razor sharp weapons of devils, brave Flaxseeds!"
Pandoor's words inspire his allies, but the bearded fiend only spits in derision.
Round 1:
Paeter: Go
Syrak: Go
Pandoor: Bard Song!
Falco: Go
Baddies: TBD
-Posted with Wayfinder
The bearded fiend growls at being attacked, successfully, with his own kind of weapon! Hot devil-blood spills on the floor, smoking on contact with the residue of arcane dust.
The clash of steel provides background noise for Falco's complex spell..
Round 1:
Paeter: Go
Syrak: SMITE
Pandoor: Bard Song!
Falco: Summon
Baddies: TBD
Bearded Devil: 18
Paeter closes in, but the devil has his focus on Syrak. He cuts a fast X pattern at the paladin:
MISS
for
The wound is insidious though, blood begins to pour out of the paladin. Syrak takes 2 bleed damage. The devil flicks his tongue to get a taste of the coppery scent.
Round 2:
Paeter: Go
Syrak: Go
Pandoor: Go
Falco: Go
Baddies: TBD
Bearded Devil: 18
Paeter's trident and shield are nearly turned away by the devil's defenses, but the frog attached to it helps the trident strike true! Unfortunately, its supernatural defenses prevent the weapon from wounding him. Pandoor's bolt goes wide by a much larger margin.
Syrak takes 2 points of bleed damage.
The devil drops his weapon and tears at the frog:
for
for
And then it's very beard sticks in for an additional
Round 3:
Paeter: Go
Syrak: Go
Pandoor: Go
Falco: Go
Baddies: TBD
Bearded Devil: 38
While Pandoor's words give the party an edge, the crossbow fails to contribute.
Round 3:
Paeter: Go
Syrak: Go
Pandoor: Miss
Falco: Go
Baddies: TBD
Bearded Devil: 38
Fueled by the loss of the brave frog, Falco drills a magic missile forward , but this time the missile fizzles on contact. From polearms to claws, Syrak matches the devil. The second claw strikes true.
Round 3:
Paeter: Go
Syrak: Hit
Pandoor: Miss
Falco: SR
Baddies: TBD
Bearded Devil: 47
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Focusing on a mithral punch to the side of the knee, Paeter scores a solid hit that catches the devil by surprise!
Free of weapons himself, he turns now towards Paeter:
But the halfling's armor and reflexes prove the better!
Round 4:
Paeter: Go
Syrak: Go
Pandoor: Go
Falco: Go
Baddies: TBD
Bearded Devil: 51
The fight becomes animalistic, but the righteous Pathfinder can't get in a solid blow. The devil sneers and curses in infernal, laughing and spitting as he does.
Round 4:
Paeter: Go
Syrak: Miss
Pandoor: Go
Falco: Go
Baddies: TBD
Bearded Devil: 51
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Paeter strikes with such a blow that the Pathfinder Chronicle recounting this mission will become a favorite of new agents. The pages will be dog eared, and the copies kept at the Wounded Wisp will have a crease for easy opening directly to the page....
The devil vanishes, defeated.
Out of combat.
Following the destruction of the fiendish guardian, the flames in the room immediately cease and the Infernal Incantation closes shut with a distinctive thud if it has not already been closed.
Paeter begins a search of the room only to find something interesting indeed, one of the men is still alive.
The man, still battered, wakes up enough to talk. He introduces himself as the erstwhile "expert" who started it all, Yargos.
The old historian babbles and stumbles explaining that he dispatched one of his aides to Amara Li and the Society, while another went to deliver the Celestial Song to Ollysta Zadrian with hopes that the paladin could find a way to reverse the ritual. He adds, "My certainly-accurate nformation on Ollysta includes the fact that she has spent much of her time as of late in Gilltown, purchasing necromantic items in order to remove them from the open market."
You lose Yargos for a bit as he's lost in thought. It is when Falco snaps his fingers that he returns.
Yargos goes on to lament this latest in a long line of disasters put in motion by his meddling."I promise never to involve myself in such works again, only misery and woe have come from my research."
His expression changes to one of resolve. "I insist that you help me in rectifying this mistake by reinforcing the bindings within the book—an act that I believe can only be accomplished when the infernal tome is reunited with its sister, the Celestial Song. We need to find Ollysta."
Perfectly times with Yargos's plan that you've been "voluntold" to be a part of, Paeter recovers a pair of Oils of Align Weapon. Yargos nods at them, "I was going to use those in the ritual if need be. Maybe you should take them."
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Falco looks at his hands, surprised that the snap worked in bringing the scholar back to his senses. I will have to remember that trick. This dullard should never have been given such a powerful artifact!
"You are indeed right in that regard, Yargos. Misery and woe. I suggest you return to a more elementary level of study." The bristly wizard snorts in disgust as Yargos pleads for help. "Please, stop begging! It only makes you sound even more desperate! We will help because the Society requested it and because you are bringing a bad name upon all that is decent and proper in scholarship."
Yargos shrinks at the admonition, but doesn't disagree, "Right then. I'll return to normal tomes. You need to find the Lady and get the other book. Beware! Carrying the infernal counterpart will not be safe!"
Yargos speaks up one more time, "She's got the tome, Lady Zadrian spends many mornings wandering among the merchant stalls of Gilltown in search of powerful necromantic items to take off the black market. I'll go with you there, but I promise to stay out of trouble."
He looks serious and makes eye contact with each of you, "I promise."
You guys head out, being lead by Yargos. He is subdued, and if any of you have ever worked with him before, you know that's strange. The hustle and bustle of Absalom’s Eastgate district is nearly deafening as hundreds of locals make their way from their homes in the residential quarter to places of business and pleasure elsewhere in the city. In the distance the sounds of chattering voices, stamping feet, and even the occasional cry of traveling elephants break the calm. The noises recede into the background as Yargos Gill pushes ahead into a side street alley. The old man eventually stops halfway in the alley by an open refuse bin to catch his breath.
You're not alone. Falco and Paeter point out a quartet of block-jawed men closing in on you in the alley. They each hold a thunderstone in hand and a sword made of coral in the other. They don't look like they want to wax philosophic with you.
Yargos makes good on his promise and promptly dives into the dumpster to get out of the way of the coming "festivities."
Having been seen, the men crack wry grins and one speaks, "Hey slip! You've got a book that we're wanting. While we're at it, you've all got some booty worth taking. Why don't you lay your weapons down and do this the easy way. We'll leave you enough coin to eat tonight."
Round 1:
Paeter: Go
Falco: Go
Thugs: TBD
Pandoor: TBD
Syrak: TBD
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"Yes, I always welcome another book to my library. Er... the Society's library, yes, of course." Falco takes the book and carefully stows it in his backpack.
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Falco rolls his eyes. "This book has already been in one pair of irresponsible hands." With a wave of his hand, a puddle of grease appears under the men to the west.
"Shut yer festering gob you slip!" With a poetic justice sweet enough to bring a smile to the most jaded of bards, the thug slips and falls in the grease, turning his slur into a pun.
The other man wobbles, but doesn't fall down.
Round 1:
Paeter: Go
Falco: Spell
Thugs: TBD
Pandoor: TBD
Syrak: TBD
Black: Prone
Blue:
Red:
White: