To the general "I believe the Divine Daggers is our group name or The Daggers for short."
"So we follow my plan? Off to Starfall to see if we can pick up some sort of trail there?"
"So we follow my plan? Off to Starfall to see if we can pick up some sort of trail there?"
"Lets look for both the dragon and silver mount. It's essentially the same location. We'll go after whichever lead is better. Fair enough?"
"That's exactly what I've been saying all along. Sparel, is your hearing ok?"
"That's exactly what I've been saying all along. Sparel, is your hearing ok?"
"Would you like to walk to Numeria?" Sparel says in jest (not so the Baron can hear.)
"Go without your tracker, see how easy it is to find something that's been stolen without him. Personally, I suggest borrowing one of Thad's hearing enhancers, and quit complaining."
"Go without your tracker, see how easy it is to find something that's been stolen without him. Personally, I suggest borrowing one of Thad's hearing enhancers, and quit complaining."
Still playful "It's a good thing you saved me from life as a rabbit. I may be inclined to turn you into something unpleasant otherwise. "
To the Baron, "We're heading to Numeria shortly to investigate the dragon and silver mount."
Darnak goes to his room to retrieve his gear and returns just a short while later, ready to roll. Time ta go ta work.
The dark skinned elf jsut shook his head and smiled at the Sparel and Akor's jesting.
So find a dragon that doesnt want to be found and find a mysterious metal mountain that fell from the sky a few thousand years ago that suddenly decided to vanish without a trace. I guess I will need to pack a change of clothes. This could take a couple of days. I shall be rady forth with.
Malak stalked off to his room and sighed at having to leave the comfort. It was all play though. He was an elf of action and was looking forward to getting back to work. He went through his preperations with meticulous care checking that everything was accounted for and in its proper place and strapped on tight at least three times. All the while counting backwards from a hundred. His shadow, who's name was Sicsivicus he had learned; easily slid into his magical pouch with just a hint of a chuckle. All that done he made his way past the dining hall and grabbed some of the unpeeled fruit for the trip before joining up with the others.
Once everyone is ready to go, Sparel plane shifts the Divine Daggers back to mortal plane and then teleports them to Starfall in Numeria.
The city looks worse than before. The air is acrid from smoke as fires ravage parts of the city. Rotting trees and vines cover the streets and buildings. From your perch near the spot where the Demon Tree fell, you can see the palace has been reduced to rubble. There's a massive hole a few miles across outside of the capital that's visible from where you stand. That must be where the Silver Mount once rested.
There's no immediate sign of any living creatures where you stand. The chains that held the orcs' prisoners is on the ground. It looks are if the locks where smashed open with rocks. There's blood where some people pulled their hands through cuffs that wouldn't open. The tents the orcs used have been blown down, but still seem to be tethered to the ground.
Sparel casts wind walk on everyone. To help us get around.
Dm: teleports fine.
Akor takes a moment and shakes off the disorientation that comes with teleporting. He then says several prayers to Iomedae, asking his goddess to enhance his senses so as to help him try to find any clues.
Once done, the holy warrior makes his way to the pit and looks around, examining the ground, the area around the pit, going so far as to even sniff the air and dirt.
Looking to Akor Sparel makes a sweeping motion to the area. "Do your magic, oh tracker, my tracker." Sparel says with a smile as he too looks around.
Percep
wind wALk
School transmutation [air]; Level cleric 6, druid 7 casting Time 1 standard action
components V, S, DF
range touch
Targets you and one touched creature per three levels
duration 1 hour/level (D); see text
Saving Throw no and Will negates (harmless); Spell resistance no
and yes (harmless)
You alter the substance of your body to a cloudlike vapor (as the gaseous form spell) and move through the air, possibly at great speed. You can take other creatures with you, each of which acts independently.
Normally, a wind walker flies at a speed of 10 feet with perfect maneuverability. If desired by the subject, a magical wind wafts a wind walker along at up to 600 feet per round (60 mph) with poor maneuverability. Wind walkers are not invisible but rather appear misty and translucent. If fully clothed in white, they are 80% likely to be mistaken for clouds, fog, vapors, or the like.
A wind walker can regain its physical form as desired and later resume the cloud form. Each change to and from vaporous form takes 5 rounds, which counts toward the duration of the spell (as does any time spent in physical form). As noted above, you can dismiss the spell, and you can even dismiss it for individual wind walkers and not others.
For the last minute of the spell’s duration, a wind walker in cloudform automatically descends 60 feet per round (for a total of 600 feet), though it may descend faster if it wishes. This descent serves as a warning that the spell is about to end.
"Oh, !.."Sparel adds randomly"I almost forgot to tell you. The two of my scrying spheres that were destroyed when we were scouting were mostly likely destroyed by the dragon."
Who wouldnt destroy two creepy eyeballs floating around perving on anything and everything? Probably caught ole Scaly B%#!$ in the bath. Speaking of...I dont know how we'll track a dragon that can fly. Didnt you mention something about some seers cousin? If we come up short here...no offense Darnak...perhaps we could check with them.
The shadowy elf shot the dwarf a mischevious grin and seemed uneffected by the smoke. He'd seen Treerazer do much worse although that hole in the ground was impressive.
Re: tracking the dragon
"If we find a scale, I can use that. If we find out more about the victims I can use that. Perhaps the more glib among us could question the townspeople. "
"I have no need to talk to commoners. I will help Akor look for more reliable clues."
Thaddicus shows a bit of his noble heritage by looking down on the rabble with an impassive eye. He is known to take a similar liking if anyone casts speak with animals. He will pay attention to those that distinguish themselves, but not to people who are weak enough to become mere victims.
As everyone explores the desolation, no one spots any living people. Just corpses. Sparel wanders over to the Technic League's headquarters and confirms that it was indeed melted by acid, probably from the green dragon. Crushed Gearmen surround the building, obviously guarding the facility when they died. A careful search by the mystic theurge turns up a small green scale, probably from the tail given its size.
Akor spends a couple hours examining the crater that is left behind after the Silver Mount disappeared. The inquisitor quickly realizes that while the Mount probably was quite tall, it also imbedded itself quite deeply into the earth. The pit goes down hundred of feet in most parts and much deeper toward the center. It's impossible to tell how far down it went since the deepest part of the hole seems to have collapsed in on itself.
Still, there are some strange liquids and bits of metal remaining in the area. Given what Sparel said earlier about addictive properties, it seems unwise to touch them barehanded. Akor can tell that the stories about how long ago the Silver Mount impacted the planet are wrong, given the strata of the earth at the edges of the crater. The Mount feel to Golarion about 5,000 years ago, to make a rough estimate. It would take months of painstaking excavation to pinpoint a more exact date.
The most notable thing Akor discovers is something he does not see at all - signs of how the Mount was removed. There's no marks that point to digging of any kind. It didn't go deeper into the earth. There are no burn marks or disturbances in the floor of the pit to suggest that the Silver Mount moved away under its own power. There's not even signs of the plants here like there were back in Starfall. The only thing that makes an object disappear this completely with no signs of how it moved is teleportation magic.
The entire Silver Mount - a mountainous space ship made out of bizarre and rare metals - was teleported or plane shifted or somehow magiced away from this spot during the Demon Tree attack.
Sparel flicks his finger a bit and the grees scale seems to jump into his hand. He turns it over and examines it meticulously to confirm it came from a green dragon and attempts to estimate the age/size of the green dragon, where such a creature would roost based on the local topography, etc based on available information and possibly some logical deductions as well. He would hate to inadverrnantly track the wrong green dragon or some other time wasting wild goose chase.
Knowledge Arcana
Knowledge Dungeoneering
Knowledge Geography
Knowledge History
Knowledge Local
Knowledge Nature
Knowledge Religion
When that's finished Sparel will look for townspeople to speak to.
Upon learning of the supposed method of removing the Silver Mount, Akor goes to consult with Sparel, "It would seem the entire Mount was transported via some sort of teleportation magicks. Spare, I'm no expert in the arcane, but I don't know of any normal spells that could have moved something this incredibly massive."
Upon learning of the supposed method of removing the Silver Mount, Akor goes to consult with Sparel, "It would seem the entire Mount was transported via some sort of teleportation magicks. Spare, I'm no expert in the arcane, but I don't know of any normal spells that could have moved something this incredibly massive."
Spellcraft
Sparel continues his walk toward "the common folk" and Speaks to Akor as he falls in next to him.
"Interesting. That's definitely powerful magic to be able to move such a volume, moreso if it was planeshifted as opposed to teleported. The kind of magic that could move everyone in the city to another plane of existance in a few seconds. Reality bending kind of magic. Oh, and I found a dragon scale.We should be able to use this to find the dragon's lair. "
The scale shows the green dragon is ancient, probably old enough to be a Great Wyrm. That would make the creature more than 30 feet long, with a reach of at least that much with a bite.
As for the magic, even a god casting teleport or plane shift could not move the Silver Mount because those spells are too weak to do so, no matter what caster level was used. That means the magic used warped space or reality to move the mount. Even Wish or Miracle shouldn't be able to change reality in such a manner.
"Humm...Now that I think about it even a wish spell would be taxed if used to move silver mountain. It's curious. A powerful caster or deity would have to intervene to move that thing. "
"Or a Demon Lord? Possibly a cabal of them?" He flashes a wicked grin at that idea "Might be fun to go after several Demon Lords, whatcha think Thad?" Akor asks his fellow archer in arms.
"Or a Demon Lord? Possibly a cabal of them?" He flashes a wicked grin at that idea "Might be fun to go after several Demon Lords, whatcha think Thad?" Akor asks his fellow archer in arms.
"Quite possibly." Sparel says without a hint of sarcasm.
Who wouldn't destroy two creepy eyeballs floating around perving on anything and everything? Probably caught ole Scaly B&@+$ in the bath. Speaking of...I don't know how we'll track a dragon that can fly. Didn't you mention something about some seers cousin? If we come up short here...no offense Darnak...perhaps we could check with them.
The shadowy elf shot the dwarf a mischevious grin and seemed uneffected by the smoke. He'd seen Treerazer do much worse although that hole in the ground was impressive.
Darnak grins back at the elf, tipping his hat at the challenge. I'll get ya back for that elf. He thinks to himself.
"Humm...Now that I think about it even a wish spell would be taxed if used to move silver mountain. It's curious. A powerful caster or deity would have to intervene to move that thing. "
Darnak just looks at them all and shakes his head. Bringing the tip of his hat a little lower, he turns his thoughts back upon Sparel, ::"A god? Or somethin' o' the like? Ta have ta move that thing? And we're suppose ta kill it?":: He ponders that for a moment, then shrugs, ::"Should be interestin'."::
Ive always wondered if we would have start killing off gods. Surely its possible. Unless you brainy types know better?
Malak walked nonchalantly with the others. He wondered idly how many of the refugees would make it to their destination and how nice it was that due to Sparel's magic his home was pretty much everywhere they went. Akor's desire to battle mutliple Demon lords made his eyes widen...one is bad enough...although it would do the world a load of good to be rid of as many as possible...
Regarding killing gods
"Possible, yes. It's happened before. It's unimaginably difficult, espically for us mere mortals, but if histirical accounts are to be believed it has happened before. I doubt we're in a position to do so at our present level of expertise. Demon lord or demigod, perhaps, but fullly divine being? I would make peace with whatever gods you venerate before thinking to hard on the subject. "
Changing the subject,
"I believe I can find the dragon with a spell quickly enough now that I have one of it's scales. However, what do you suppose are the ethical implications of reclaiming vauables from this place that no longer have living owners?"
I say better us than some stinky orcs or lingering demon spawn. Actually I now believe it to be our civil duty to collect such things.
Malak grins pointy ear to pointy ear as he says this.
"I can send out my eyes to find things we may be interested in that appear to be un-owned. Then we can split up and collect them. Should only take a few minutes, really. Of course then that's one less spell I'll have available for other things, but it could be worthwhile. To be clear, we would not take things that have living owners. That would definitely be unethical. Plus, we might just find something useful to help the refugees with. I'm game if no one has major objections. "
Telepathically to Malak:
::Perhaps you could pop around and see if it's even worth the effort. Quietly, of course. Perhaps send the shadow to cover more ground and below.::
"Of course we should retrieve anything we can. First, some stuff left behind might be dangerous to just be left lying around or to fall into vile hands. Secodnly, as Sparel said, we might find weapons or gear that could be useful to either ourselves or the refugees. Finally, some people might have left behind things they might want back. We owe to them to at least check. My suggestion though would be to do a cursory search now, for anything obvious or mostly so then return after we go speak with the refugees. Sparel, what town or city around here would be the fall back for the League were something happen to the Silver Mount?"
" If I were to wager a guess I'd say that the Technic League's outpost in the port city of Chesed is now probably the closest thing Numeria has to a functioning government right now."
Edit:
"I wouldn't worry too much about salvage rights. The Technic League is probably only concerned in us taking things from the silver mount, but since that isn't here anymore, it shouldn't be as big of a deal. If we find anything of national importance, we can return it to the rightful owners."
"Very well. I'll send the eyes to search since Time is of the essence."
Sparel makes a word an gesture and semi-tangible sensors spring to life around him.
He gives them intelligent search orders, though he expects no trouble. Essentially he wants them all to thoroughly search the 1M Radius for anything Sparel might find interesting (Remembering that they eyes know what he knows) which in this case mostly includes anything that looks very valuable (5K+ Estimate) or potentially magical (based on make and context clues) or just particularily interesting (spellbooks or magical labratories, etc).
Almost forgot the reference.
They're the size of a small apple and fly at a speed of 30 feet with +20 to fly and +16 to stealth. Perception modifier is +15
Malak wanders around as Sparels creepy eyes take flight. He opens his pouch and lets his shadow out to play as well. He doesnt stray far from the group. He's mostly just seeing if anything catches his eyes. Like suspicious refugee movements, lingering orcs, or something shiny.
While he is waiting for the eyes to do their work Sparel looks around on his own.
Perception
As the Daggers wait for the prying eyes to return, they take a good look at the city. The edges seem to have the most intact buildings. A quick peek through a spyglass reveals that the looters in the city are on the edges, trying to scavenge anything they can. Food, clothing and family jewelry appear to be high on the list.
There's little around where the Demon Tree was because that's the area the orcs looted first. Sparel remembers seeing the strongboxes that held the gold the orcs had stolen, but the tents have all been knocked down. There's no sign of the strongboxes at all.
The machines of the dead Gearmen around the Technic League's headquarters might be valuable to someone, but they too are coated in acid. Linkages and small hoses seem to have turned into runny goo. Making these work again would require major technical expertise.
There is one upside, though: There is an interior compartment to the metallic exoskeletons that holds a slim spellbook. Most of the books seem to have spells for levels one through three, but a few have spells for levels four through six. If there were more powerful Gearmen, they either fled or were trapped in the building.
Akor, as you examine the ground around the orcs' tents, it's obvious to you what happened. The tracks on the ground tell the story: The massive claw marks where the dragon - at least 30 feet long with massive reach - landed on the ground just in front of a large number of people. The footprints show that at least one of them tried to run. You find his corpse about 20 feet away behind a rotting stump. A quick flick of the dragon's tail broke his neck and caved in his skull.
The rest seem to have clumped together and then fallen to their knees. Even with your enhanced eyesight, it's hard to make out the exact number of people with some much overlap. You can tell there were at least 20, probably more since you can see the occasional child's footprint but not often. Their parents must have been holding them.
Four men - you can tell by the size of their feet and their stride - left the group and walked straight to the orcs' tents and then came back. Their footprints are deeper in the ground for the return trip, as if they were carrying something heavy.
Malek examines the rubble of the Technic League and the pleasure palace. There's torn silks and chunks of marble that could fetch a price from some artisans. But the damage is pretty extensive and the shadow elf isn't a good enough craftsman to know if the hard work would even be worth it.
Then he spots a book half-buried under gore along the edge of the Technic League building. The blood wipes off since the book appears to have been waterproofed and reinforced with magics. A quick flip reveals that it's no spell book; it's a Pathfinder Journal. The writer - a Wonderseeker gnome - seems to be fascinated with the technology of Numeria even if he doesn't understand it. The last entry talks about hiring some mercenaries to help him explore the ruins of the headquarters after the recent disaster. It's dated around midnight. He says they were planning to use teleportation magic to go under the rubble to a bunker he was sure existed.
Malak takes a closer look at the pile of gore and realizes it would be roughly gnome-sized. There's even a few wisps of oddly colored hair. A quick glance reveals a few other puddles of blood and viscera nearby.
First level
Second level
Third level
Fourth level
Fifth level
Sixth level
Sparel, the eyes return to you after completing their sweep and quickly replay what they have seen. You are inundated with the sheer number of corpses in the area. As the sun rises higher, you know this entire city will be stinking with putrefaction soon.
The eyes report what you already suspected. The area already appears to have been looted of the major treasures - either by the dragon, the orcs or scavengers that arrived while you slept.
The people spotted by the spell seem healthy enough and are busy taking whatever food and clothing was left behind by those in a hurry. None of them appear to be putting out any of the fires. A few seem to fight over the remaining horses and oxen in the city.
The eyes also show you a pattern: An organized group already made a quick sweep through the area. You can tell by the way the broad tracks move - in concentric circles that start at the Technic League and work their way out.
That's when you receive the report from the final pair of eyes. There's at least one Gearman who is still alive in the city. His machine seems to allow him to burrow through the earth without disturbing the ground.
The eyes replay the image of him surfacing near some looters and then opening fire with some type of gun. Two massive tubes seem to spin and little barrels along the edges hurl bullets at a group of looters. They fall to the ground, dead and full of massive holes. The Gearman looks around the area but fails to spot your prying eye hiding in the rotting vegetation.
On the return trip, the eyes float over the wreckage of the pleasure palace. Near the top of the rubble, there is a body that has been crushed. The eye spots a glint of gold underneath and can see a smashed chest. It looks like someone was trying to steal some loot during the Demon Tree attack and died for their troubles.
After "reading" his eyes Sparel goes over to a few specific technic machines and telekinetically opens and extracts a few books. In one instance he had to tear a door off it's hinges because it was stuck. He flips through them briefly, making mental notes, and puts them in his extra dimensional space.
As he flips through he says to the others without looking up from his task, "Gold and jewels seemed to be high priority for looters, yet once again the most glorious jewel is overlooked. Knowledge."
he continues after a deep sigh
"I'll cast the tracking spell whenever everyone is ready."
"There is a gearmen in an earth submersible. He seems to be killing looters. Also there is a chest under a body in the pleasure palace. Other than that it's what we expected. Lots of bodies, very few valuables, what few remains are fighting over horses and supplies."
Darnak becomes agitated at the news of the gearman. Again concentrating on Sparel's thoughts, ::"Where's the gearman? I'll not be for toleratin' killin' such as that."::
Darnak becomes agitated at the news of the gearman. Again concentrating on Sparel's thoughts, ::"Where's the gearman? I'll not be for toleratin' killin' such as that."::
Sparel describes the report from the eye that saw the gear men
"There's at least one Gearman who is still alive in the city. His machine seems to allow him to burrow through the earth without disturbing the ground.
The eyes replayed the image of him surfacing near some looters and then opening fire with some type of gun. Two massive tubes seem to spin and little barrels along the edges hurl bullets at a group of looters. They fall to the ground, dead and full of massive holes. The Gearman looks around the area but fails to spot my prying eye hiding in the rotting vegetation."
Sparel continues "He is that way (pointing). Though he may consider his actions in defense of his city. (turning to Malak) Cousin, can you quickly and stealth fully retrieve the treasure chest then catch up to the rest of us as we go to speak to the gear man, please?"
Darnak nods. ::"Good point. We'll see what he has ta say."::