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With a thump, Venture-Captain Brackett sets a rounded granite stone on his desk. The stone is polished smooth and veined with shallow carvings reminiscent of constellations. "This is a lorestone, from the depths of the Verduran Forest. It’s rumored to hold all of the secrets of the druids of that ancient wood. Just over two years ago, a group of Pathfinders recovered this stone for us. We’re not much closer to cracking its secrets than we were on the day those agents put it into our hands, but we have gleaned one interesting bit of knowledge. The lorestone tells of a lengthy ritual using an artifact called the Atavistic Splinter, a piece of charred bark touched by Gozreh himself. The ritual transforms humanoids into bestial creatures with preternatural resilience. We could use something with this kind of power for the upcoming Ruby Phoenix Tournament in Goka, so we need you to recover the Atavistic Splinter for us. We believe the artifact is near the gnome town of Wispil, deep in the Verduran Forest. A Pathfinder operative there — a gnome herbalist named Falbin — was investigating increased lycanthrope activity south of Wispil. Falbin discovered that a sinister cabal of druids in a compound called Briar Henge is using the Atavistic Splinter to perform the ritual, probably to drive out the local loggers, but he couldn’t recover the Atavistic Splinter from the druids by himself. Go to Wispil and contact Falbin there. He will provide you with directions to Briar Henge and recent intelligence regarding the situation around Wispil. Then use this information to infiltrate Briar Henge and acquire the Atavistic Splinter."
Brackett is the Pathfinder Society’s venture-captain in Almas, the capital of Andoran. He is a middle-aged swordsman who is fastidious and professional in his duties.
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A masked human woman quietly enters and nods to Venture-Captain Brackett. "Greetings, everyone. Please call me Charis. It is a pleasure to meet you all."
The woman turns, grabs one of her locks of hair and seemingly whispers into it.Yes, yes. Maybe this is the one. "We shall recover the Atavistic Splinter."
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The man dressed in black clothes seems human enough in shape, though a little tail escaping from his lower back suggests otherwise. He removes his stone mask with a white skull cover with a clawed hand so you see a near human enough face, though it is covered in a large Shoanti tribal tattoo.
"My name is Garox Fang of the Skoan-Quah. Greetings." He says in a low and very neutral voice before he places the mask over his face once again. He remains quiet but his piercing yellow eyes look upon the party as a predator would upon a prey.
He is armed with a large silver earth breaker on his back, at one side of his hip he carries a set of bola's while at the other a katana.
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The small gnome's eyes widen as he looks at the lorestone. You can almost see his mind racing before he finally pulls his eyes away to look around at the ground and nod to Brackett.
Oh um, I am Zarzuket Endiwahd, but please call me Zar. I'm primarily a cook and linguist but I have been expanding my abilities with the arcane.
So it seems pretty simple. Meet up with Falbin in Wispil. Then use the information Falbin to recover the Splinter from Briar Henge. Is there anything in particular that we should be on the lookout for?
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A half elf joins you he is dressed in dark green almost black clothing that seems to be there to pad his armour not allowing it to clink against itself. He bears an eagle helm and carries a Fauchard.
He has a Rose rising from bloodied cobble stones over his heart the symbol of Milani.
"I am Sterron Stargard of the Everbloom, I am pleased to meet you all"
"As the Lady Charis says we shall recover the splinter"
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"The Atavistic Splinter is a sheet piece of charred bark about two feet long, ten inches wide, and an inch thick. This is what you have to look for. The ritual the druids are performing changes any humanoid around Briar's Henge to animal-like beasts. Rumors say that the lycanthrope activities in the Verduran Forest increase. This might be the influence of the splinter. Despite their bestial appearance, these animal-men aren’t lycanthropes. Falbin will know more." Brackett answers.
Taldor has been at peace with the druids of the Verduran Forest for hundreds of years, since the Treaty of Wildwood in 3841 AR.
Some druid cabals in the Verduran Forest take a dim view of civilized settlement in the forest, even though settlements are protected by the Treaty of Wildwood.
Taldor so values its lumber trade that even sinister druid cabals are left unchecked by the authorities, so long as the cabals’ depredations are fairly limited.
Small groups of druids often occupy sites where the border to the First World is thin. In these wild places, druids often ally with fey creatures.
Lycanthropes are a dangerous menace in the Verduran Forest. As a result, lycanthrope hunters often compete to earn lucrative bounties. Upon rumors of a lycanthrope uprising, opportunistic hunters quickly descend on the area.
Briar Henge is constructed with living walls of spiky briars. If the druids have allied with fey, they might have good relations with twig jacks, malicious fey creatures made of thorns.
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"The animal-men aren't real lycanthropes, so I don't think silver is necessary. Maybe cold iron is more useful, druids sometimes have fey familiars." Brackett says and describes the best way to Wispil.
"If there are no more questions, I ask you to leave as soon as possible. The ritual must be stopped before it's finished!" he says and tries to push you out of the door.
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After a journey of about two weeks you reach Wispil. Wispil is a bustling town built on a small scale—although humans and elves walk the streets, most buildings are built to accommodate the gnomes who live and work in Wispil. The scent of fresh-cut lumber wafts through the town. Falbin’s home is not difficult to find. It is situated on the south edge of the town, with a large garden spreading out behind it. Most of the garden is obscured by high growth, but the sound of a violent argument carries into the street. Although it is not yet dark, firelight glimmers from within the garden walls.
Once closer you see that the garden is on fire. Between the flames are three men and an unconscious gnome.
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Noticing all but Garox slip off into the shadows, Zar waits for a few moments to let the others get into positions as he sets his own backpack down. Watching the men standing over the gnome and the garden burning Zar can't let it go on for too long.
Give them a few moments Zar.
Breathing deeply, he waits as long as he can before striding forward, feeling his magic aching to be released.
Hey what are you doing there?
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Garox sneaked forward and was able to meld between the brushes near the man marked with the green clothing.
Seeing that there is little to do except takes these men out, Garox steps closer and swing his hammer at the man in front of him.
Garox uses his ninja abilities to strike fast and strike hard.
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The Maiden sneaks behind the hunter with the red shoes and tries to hit him with her fists, but she's too nervous to be detected and misses. Zarzuket summons a celestial dog next to the hunter with the green hat, but the dog is not able to reach his target and bite him. Garox does the Ninja style and is able to take two of the hunters down. The drop into the dust and bleed heavily. Sterron rushes forward, his fauchard ready to strike.
Zarzuket
The Maiden
Hunter
Garox
Sterron
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Eyeing the man like prey, Garox stalks over to him and tries to knock him out with the hammer.
"Too easy" is all he says.
He straightens his stance and looks around for ways to quench the fire.
-Posted with Wayfinder