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"You recall the night-gaunt infestation of AR 4707? I was 15 then. My father and mother and younger brother and I, we traveled as itinerant locksmiths and tinkers, from city to city, spending at most a season in any one as we made our rounds, overwintering primarily in Cheliax."
"Some lordling or other - I never found out whom - got bettered, or humbled, or humiliated in some stupid social soiree. And got his revenge by setting a plague of night-gaunts loose on his rival. Regrettably, my family and I were camped on the woods near the estate - we'd just revamped their locks. My father was turned, my brother driven mad and into the spears of the desperate house guards, and my mother - the less said, the better. Only I kept my wits about me, and it is a miracle that I was left alive."
"I dug the graves of my family with this." she said, holding the gravedigger's pickaxe. "And spoke the words of Pharasma, to reassure their spirits of what was to come - or to bide my time and come to some purpose." Her face lights up in an almost pacific expression. Almost.
"She told me I had a purpose, and it was to help end the taint of undead and others of ill nature on this land. That my mission was to deliver Her message to those who would deny her. To hunt those who haunt the darkness."
"I sold my family's belongings where I could, booked passage to Absalom, and joined the Pathfinders, for additional training. I had the privilege of training under Hidemarch, and later a Taldan with red hair, one of the most accomplished bladesman I've ever seen."
She pauses, to pat the brooch of Pharasma on her tabard. "While all eventually face Her judgement, it is good not to send those to Her too hastily."
"From this, I bought a better set of tools for opening locks, matching those my father had when I was younger, and replaced my armor. The Silver Crusade granted me a wand of Cure Light Wounds."
"When we were betrayed by those setting up our mission at the end, I was able to keep others from killing those who betrayed us, so that they could meet justice at the hands of the law, not through a circle of blood feuds. I was also able to help secure river passage, and made sure that some doors that would've been closed to us were opened."
"My companions were a bit surprised at my facility with locks. I explained that people get locked out of their homes all the time, and forget their keys."
"I used my proceeds to replace the head of the pickaxe I dug my parents graves with with mithril, the better to deal with undead, lycanthropes and devils in the darkness. Having seen the effectiveness of an oil of Bless Weapon, I asked the Silver Crusade to provide me with a wand of that spell for future needs."
"In addition to discovering that the belladonna plant was far more flammable than I'd previously suspected, the region the artifact was in appeared to be suffering from a surfeit of lycanthropes. The Silver Crusade was of the opinion that these people were cursed and curable, and so tasked me with ensuring that none of the ones we encountered were slain."
"We were forced to deal with irate locals, plus a number of loggers who had been transformed by the ongoing ritual into beastmen. While some of my companions attempted to rob the logger's camp, I persuaded them to leave the gold until we could discuss the fee for our services with the loggers on our return."
"Fortunately, disrupting the ritual with the splinter returned all of the affected loggers, and ourselves, to our proper forms. The loggers were so pleased with being freed of their condition that they paid us handsomely for our aid.
"I am pleased that Pharasma has not yet seen fit to have me send living people to Her sorting house in the course of our missions."
"I spent some of the proceeds from that mission to invest in silken rope and a grappling hook."
"While we were in the tower, we found the remains of a prior Pathfinder party, while we got attacked by a young female giant. We found more documentation of what chicanery is behind the factions striving for the Ruby Phoenix tournament within the Society."
"We also fought off some reefclaws, and some animated undead hands, before assembling a key from a brooch that had been partially discovered by the prior group of Pathfinders. In the process, we dealt with a powerful, and durable, construct, and faced an undead creature named Razmor. This creature claimed to gain the knowledge contained in the brains it had eaten."
"The giant was captured and turned over to the proper authorities, and as such, nothing that was not undead died today."
While on assignment to Magnamar for the Society, we were asked by an official there to investigate the mysterious disappearance of her brother-in-law who had been sent to Ravenmoor to collect 500 GP in accumulated taxes. Our first meeting there was with a child who was calling for "Applesauce" - thinking it was a pet, we were both right, and wrong. It was a pet Stirge, which latched on to Adanna, giving her a wound that took a long time to heal.
This proved to be a prelude to a town most peculiar, with a very insular nature. The townsfolk have a number of unsual pets - stirges and ravens raised like chickens. While the townsfolk tried to get us to leave, our mission required we talk to the Mayor. The ferryman said the person we were looking for had arrived, but had never left by the ferry, but hadn't been seen in over a month. The Mayor said we were arriving just in time for a monthly festival in honor of the town's founding, but that the person we'd been looking for had annoyed townsfolk and left in a huff...there was a discrepancy between these two stories.
We investigated a dilapidated house, encountering an animated scarecrow, crazed hybrid humanoids of a type we'd never encountered (who were all disabled, and left alive), plus a shambling ooze. Within the house we also encountered a crawlspace with a tapestry explaining some of the town's history, and a basement shrine to an entity I do not know - it's an insectile human, like a giant hybrid of a human and a stirge...We also found several pods, of extraplanar origin, in the house where the ooze was, and in an elaborate corn-field maze, found a place that looked like it was set up for human sacrifice, which I broke up into flinders.
We destroyed the shrine...and were invited to the festivities of the evening. The rest of the team, having grown more and more disturbed by the town - and I with them - wanted to
stay as far away from them as possible. Realizing that participating would buy the stealthier members cover, I threw starknives at bales of hay, participated in a three-legged-race with Lianna, and...participated in a greased-pig capture contest.
The pig was more than greased, it seemed sickly. While grappling it, a horrific parasite from the Abyss burst out of it, but not out of my grasp. I was able to draw my dagger, and with Pharasma's guidance, weaken it grievously. Selena finished it off with one of her peculiar weapons from Tian Xia.
While a few of the townfolk were frightened of the creature, none of them seemed surprised, though perhaps a little astonished that we dealt with it so handily.
The feast was still held; I suspect that Chel, one of the women selected to be the Festival Queen was tasked to...befriend me. She seemed a little non-plussed by me. None of the others had much of an appetite; I and Saren tried to keep people entertained while Selena and Lianna investigated the Mayor's house for more information about Kreiger and the history of the town.
After meeting with Selena, who had scouted the Mayor's house, we found out more information about what had been going on in this town; the Mayor's family were the hosts for blightspawn, and were doing rituals to feed the blightspawn through the summers.
Selena then departed on her own mission for the evening, rejoining us at the end, while the Dwarven nature-priest who had no name but "Simple", joined us in her stead.
We were approached by Chel, who told us she was due to be sacrificed that evening. We concocted a plan - Saren used the Disguise Self spell to impersonate Chel, while Lianna and I snuck through the corn maze. We encountered a creature that looked remarkably like the Mayor's brother, who turned out to be a faceless stalker, as I've faced before. A battle in the corn maze erupted, with part of the team working around to where Saren was, while Simple, moving through the corn maze unimpeded cast Entangle, and Lianna and I defeated the faceless stalker, then we regrouped at the center of the maze.
The town weaver was an abomination that was half spider; Asana put her to sleep with a hex, after Simple limned her with Faerie Fire. Saren and the others dealt with her, while Lianna and I closed with the Mayor. Lianna grappled him while I swung my pick - he proved able to channel the energies of his dark god, and many of us were harmed by it.
The Druid's animal companion put an end to that by stealing his holy symbol and flying off with it, and after a few exchanges of blows, I tore his ribcage open with a solid hit from my pick, after blessing it with Pharasma's might.
Out of his rib cage came the largest strix I've ever seen - and it attacked me, dragging me halfway out of the fight, sucking my blood out. We were unable to defeat it, but we were able to drive it off.
Mayor Kreiger may be the first living human being I've slain. I can only hope that Pharasma understands the necessity of my actions; no doubt if I'd disabled him, the blightspawn that was wearing him like a living bathrobe would've killed him when it burst from his chest.
After collecting the taxes, and putting a friendly townsman in as interim mayor, we returned to Magnimar, reported to the Society, and had priests of Pharasma, Sarenrae and Desna sent to the town to repair the bonds of community.
Long time Society researcher Yargo Gill acquired two books, the Infernal Incantations and the Celestial Song. In a confluence that makes my head ache, the Incantations is written in Celestial and the Song is written in Infernal. The first book is rumoured to give control over the forces of Hell.
Yargo attempted to use the book in his mansion - and discovered that it was not a tome for binding devils, but rather was a prison for devils...and using the ritual would release them. In doing so, he'd unleashed a bearded devil - which we were fortunate to detect. I used a charge of Bless Weapon on my ally Bahadir's blade, and used Smite Evil on the devil. He went down quickly. There were two flasks of Align Weapon and a peculiar coral hilted dagger.
Two of Yargo's servants had been killed by the bearded devil. I performed the rituals of the Spiral of Judgement upon them and chastised him - their deaths are on his head, for dabbling in Infernal pacts. Yargo, astonishingly, was still alive. He had sent the book of the Celestial Song with another of his servants, Bethany, to Ollysta Zadrian, the head of the Silver Crusade, to remedy the ill he had unleashed. He offered to lead us to the place he'd told them to meet, and we pursued.
On our way to the rendezvous, we were accosted by a quartet of thugs, armed with coral-hilted short swords - we dispatched them, but I managed to save the one dropped by Guise's chakrams before he bled out. Our wizard, Dweedle Dee, identified the coral as coming from Tian Xia and that the ornamentation was quite rare.
On questioning, the thugs said they said they were sent by someone called the Sea Witch. While one was dropped by Guise's chakrams, and two fell nearly to their death in a conjured pit created by Dee. At my insistance, we healed all of them - to date I have still not sent a human to Pharasma's sorting house; it became clear that Mayor Kreiger was simply worn as a husk in Ravenmoore after a more detailed examination.
After interrogating them, we met up with Ollysta Zadrian in Gilltown, and I aided her in getting an evil holy symbol out of the community - as we were buying a map of the hold of the Sea Witch, two hellhounds materialized out of the book in my satchel, threatening innocents in Gilltown. With my companions doing most of the work - I was keeping the crowd from getting in their way, and keeping that book firmly shut in my satchel with both hands, they were dispatched back to the nether realms.
We acquired the map, and followed its instructions, reaching Smuggler's Cave, which is remarkable for its engineering. After time, we climbed 40 feet up a platform and found six numbers - 5-20-12-4-6-3 which appeared to be tied to chains moving cunningly balanced granite louvres with water rushing into the chamber. Pulling chains that summed to "30" raised the water level to 30 feet, which opened a metal door via hydrostatic balancing. This opened a major space - the size of a cathedral.
Within the cathedral was a Tien half-human, half-squid creature named Na-Kraka, who was studying the Celestial Song, which was singing at a near deafening level. While the initial encounter was tense, our diplomatic efforts paid off. In return for a promise to have access to both of the books in the Pathfinder's library, he let us recover the Celestial Song - putting both books side by side turned off the ritual.
After this mission, I saved my gold and bought a permanent enchantment on my pick; I suspect I will be facing more devils in the future, and having a weapon that is both magical and silver seems prudent.
We were tasked with observing the opening of the Ruby Phoenix tournament, which started with an Oni named Kiang Zhen in the bar the Devil's Dregs tossing out 100 rubies, of which 50 were enchanted to glow. The bar was full of a crowd of thugs - all meleeing and scrambling for one of the rubies. My companion Logal used his animal companion, an eagle, to recover three rubies, while I tried to defend the rest. Unfortunately, I failed, and Enessen, a ranger, was butchered by a woman with a battle-axe. With the city watch beating down the front door and the risk of capture high, I drew the spiral of My Lady on his head and promised to light a candle for him later.
Barely ahead of the mob, we escaped, other than the inquisitor of Desna, Alita, who was captured, and later released. With her in the holding cells was a fighter named Valeros who had recovered another ruby. It was lucky that he had; only his was the one that glowed.
We were led to an arena after a day, and faced a series of opponents - the first were stirges and a construct shaped like a cobra. Dispatching them quickly, we faced two additional waves - human fighters and a pair of goblins. Defeating both of those latter waves, we stabilized them when the Oni re-appeared and congratulated us on our victories, then tasked us with recovering a priceless, fragile vase...in a race against other teams.
Then trapdoors opened, and led us to the pumpworks that move sewage under Absalom. Given how many layers of underground tunnels are under this city, the greatest miracle of the age isn't the Starstone, it's that the city of Absalom hasn't collapsed into the Underdark.
We found the pump room, and a pool of raw, stinking sewage. The people of Absalom have...fascinating...dietary habits. Using the pump to drain the pool, we uncovered a 10' diameter tunnel to a lower level.
I have never in my life been so glad for Pharasma's ward against disease as a holy warrior of Her cause and her opposition to Urgathoa, the Mother of Filth as when I climbed down that tunnel.
Fighting in a large chamber that had rivers of sewage moving through it we met a team that had a fighter, a sorcerer, a cleric and a rogue, standing near a cage suspended 8' above the floor. After defeating the others, and stabilizing them, I stood on the shoulders of Barley, the monk in our party, and Valeros, and unlocked the cage and got the vase, which had embossed envelopes inviting us to the Dawn of the Jade Phoenix in the Red Rose Theater.
Exploring further, we helped Alita recover from the wounds inflicted by the stirge, and found both a way to climb up to the upper levels of the sewers, as well as a tunnel that led to a trap door in the basement of a warehouse near the arena. Noting the location and entrance, we returned whence we came.
We went to the Red Rose Theater, and there were no sets and an unlit stage - then Kiang Zhen appeared and challenged us to perform an epic combat in costume, against another group of rivals, with the requirement that all combat be non-lethal. We were taken back stage and told to select costumes. The costumes of the noble warrior, the cruel bandit, the warrior woman, the wizened crone, the monkey king, the male clown and the female clown and the general. Valeros took the role of the general, I took the noble warrior, Alita took the warrior woman, Logal took the Monkey King, and Barley took the male clown. All of the prop weapons were non-lethal and padded, as are found on stage combat and training.
The rival team had the following roles chosen, that of the general, monkey king, warrior bold, bandit and clown.
Alita came forward and swung with her glaive. I stepped into role and danced forward to interpose myself between her and the man she attacked, improvising a soliloquy that he cannot attack the noble warrior woman without fighting through me. I absorbed a non-lethal attack for my role, but my dance and soliloquy earned a few handclaps from the back of the audience.
Barley and Logal played their roles - Barley playing a frail old man who thumped about with a cane, and did an acrobatic routine where he would trip over his cane and kick people as he stumbled, then agilely dodged counterattacks.
I had the privilege of dropping three of the foes, we defeated them and got some rounds of applause. After this was done, a group of actors told us to wear black robes, and we were led to a row of caskets in front of the mausoleums. Pharasman priests told us we needed to carry the caskets into the mausoleum and then go into the catacombs and touch the room of the emissary. Inside the mausoleum was a golden skinned humanoid with a club, which greeted us as Heng, the Sifu's judge. Eight niches filled with whirling blades, one of which led to the Sifu - and there was a gong that we had hit with a mallet, after passing the Oni Heng, besting him in combat if we were able.
What looked like a rough challenge of combat was...surprisingly quick as Barley danced forward in a fluid motion, tapped its chin and stunned it. Then Alita rung the gong. The judge was surprised to awaken to the gong ringing, nodded to us and said "You are quick, and clever. Well done."
After the passage was opened, we went down a long, gradually descending tunnel that funneled into a greased chute. It led us to a wider corridor that was trapped with a glitterdust effect; we walked further into a large rotunda, with several pillars and a pattern of colored stones in arcane patterns. On a dais was a man sitting serenely in lotus condition in front of a hazard of roiling elementals. We waited for our blinded friends to recover and were attacked by two air elementals, then a fire elemental. I tied my rope to a pillar and tried to leap across...as my feet touched the dias, and I came to touch the sifu's robe, the platform exploded in cherry blossoms and fireworks, and my companions joined me...as the Sifu levitated and one of his disciples materialized.
After we defeated the monk, he was replaced by two acolytes, then four. Once those were taken down, the Sifu invited us to the Ruby Phoenix Tournament, and opened further negotiations with the Society.
While I understand that this was meant to be ritual combat, I do wonder at the expenditure of resources. It seems quite wasteful in training.
The Society sent us on an errand of mercy, taking medical supplies, ammunition and food to an archeological dig in Garund on Azlant Ridge. These things never run smoothly.
We were sent to Bloodcove to both pick up the supplies, and arrange and guard the caravan going deeper in the Mwangi jungles. We were purchasing from house Cartahegn. Bloodcove is a nest of vipers - literally - it's a stronghold of the Aspis Consortium.
Our initial meeting was with a local alchemist charged with making the doses we needed to transport. This gentleman was being roughed up by Aspis Consortium members looking to shake down his business. After dispatching them, we discovered that he was being blackmailed by a Lura Malchives, who ran a fighting pit; she was withholding an elixir that would cure the disease of his son.
We went down to her fighting pit, where we discovered she had a bonded Outsider called Bula doing her bidding. A rough fight later, we had taken her down - and made sure that the Aspis Consortium took the blame. My companions ransacked her belongings, looking for the cure for our friend's son, heading back to the alchemist shop with her as a prisoner.
After several attempts at persuasion, we left her unable to threaten him, but still alive. We transported the alchemist, and his son, andthe most important parts of his lab, to the Cartahegn warehouse.
While there, we dealt with a minor pest infestation, and from there, went to round up the loadmaster for the caravan, who had been drugged while playing dice and had lost his caravan. After straightening that out with a bit of persuasion and subterfuge, we arranged to have the caravan loaded and ready to move at dawn.
On our way back to our lodgings, members of the Consortium attempted to ambush us. While my companions were quite able to kill them, I was able to spare the lives of those I defeated.
With the Aspis not more than a few hours behind us, we were ambushed on the road by a witch named Xoanje, who attempted to divest me of the key we're bringing to Azlant Ridge via her familiar. The ambush went poorly - we used an obscuring mist, and I simply closed to melee range and dealt with her while my companions took care of her minions. All of them were spared in the end and left tied up, wounded, but alive, for their compatriots to rescue before the mosquitoes ate them.
We are now on the road to Azlant Ridge, and expecting more trouble. There's dust on the road behind us, a sign of horses ridden hard.
Our expectations of troubles were well founded. Two days shy of the ridge, we were cut off by a screening element led by Captain Galgredine, a cavalryman on a heavy warhorse leading a band of eight mercenaries. We were ambushed in the woods where the air was cooler. Through careful use of terrain, and two magical fogs, we were able to defeat them, though not without serious injury to members of our team.
Striking from the mist, I dealt the captain a severe blow as he rode by, taking him from his horse in one blow, then swiftly disabling three of his minions. My foot on his chest, and him bleeding heavily from the hole my pick had made in it, and three of his fellow riders down and in need of aid, the rest of his men surrendered. We offered him parley if he did not attack us again, and surrendered his sword as a gesture of his parole.
We managed to make it to the excavation site on Azlant Ridge, where we were met by Juliet Dias. I sought out a man recommended to me by the leader of the Silver Crusade, only to discover that he was laying abed, ill, unable to recover while sleeping. My mercies gave him comfort, but it was the gifts of Pharasma that helped us find a tincture to heal the disease. I also negotiated with Ms. Dias to manumit the slaves once the excavation was complete.
Two days after our arrival, members of the Aspis Consortium arrived, chased from the jungle by the churo-ka, fierce ape-like creatures. They began a methodical assault on the palisades. We were asked by Ms. Dias to run into the dig, and see if we could find anything that could help the fight. Encountering ghouls, I pulled out a trinket I'd used when escorting the Frostfur goblins, a series of small metal balls with bells and firecrackers in them, and rolled them down the corridor as a distraction. The ghouls, not particularly bright even by the standards of shambling undead abominations, followed the balls, letting Lark, one of my companions, and I to stand in niches, while Iroh fired arrows. An arrow would hit, a ghoul would charge by us, unaware, and Lark and I would dispatch it before it reached the archer as it ran by us.
At the end of the corridor, there was a glowing ball limned in hoarfrost. Another of our companions, Saga Tjofedd, grasped it and fell into a slumber. Moments later, a giant automaton awoke. We, and it, went out to the encampment, and fought off a giant four armed ape, and wave after wave of churo-ka, with the help and aid of the agents of the Consortium, lead by Captain Galgredine, among others.
For the record, if anything throws s+&~ in my face again, I will not hesitate to put it out of its misery and mine in the most expeditious way possible.
Having helped cure the plague, and secured the release of the slaves, we returned to Absalom by slow boat. I asked Captain Galgredine to come with us, in the hopes that he might find employ more suitable to his capabilities with the Society.
The Society sent Saga and I to lead a group of Pathfinders I'd not worked with before in the Riverlands. Three of them seemed very new to operational missions, a pink-haired bard named Kai, a half-orc named Big Grimm, and a scruffy looking man with peculiarly loud weapons by the name of Hoss Malone.
We were tasked with recovering the Memoirs of the Black Marquis. Our contact in the Riverlands, Lady Riverbane, was someone I mistrusted immediately. After a bar brawl, wherin a local slaver attempted to purchase our companion Kai from me, and consequences flew, we retired for the night. Hoss may be the first man I've ever met who needs neutering to keep him from rutting himself to death.
My mistrust of Lady Riverbane was well founded; we were attacked by rival pirates on the waters, and after we defeated them, she systematically killed them. With poison. I objected strenuously, but was talked down by my teammates.
Later, we found a half-submerged hulk in the river, which was infested with spiders the size of greyhounds. Rummaging through the wreck, I found a number of navigation charts and records - all in some sort of cipher. While I lack the skill to interpret them (and apparently, no-one else in the group as well), I shall return them to the Silver Crusade in the hopes that we can determine their provenance. They may be the records of smuggling items into Numeria.
We were chivvied by Lady Riverbane onto the boat, and set out at the footpath towards an old Azlanti vault. After recovering two bodies from a pit trap that were covered in cobwebs, we entered the ruins, where we saw things that were bipedal and had spider's heads on their bodies, and a giant spider - the same type as we'd seen on the wrecked ship. One of our companions, a half-orc rager named Big Grimm, was paralyzed by one, and suspended from the ceiling.
One pitched battle later, and we dropped these creatures and their spider-pets...only to be confronted by Lady Riverbane, who claimed to be working from the Aspis Consortium - and bribed by a Society Venture Captain - to betray us. She also claimed to be setting up a trap for Hoss Malone's sister, and someone named Donner, whom I do not know.
We defeated her minions, and Hoss Malone shot her in the back as she ran away. I regret that one of her minions backed into a swing of my pick - I was not able to save his life after the battle.
We were tasked with returning the body of a venture captain, Torag MenHeir, from Lopal to Katheer. We started in Lopal, and were accosted by a sweetmeat seller extracting brains from living monkeys. After one of my companions, Gonk the pirate, was offended by this (he has a monkey as a familiar) we bought the monkeys and freed them, and then went to Torak's house.
At Torak's house, I noticed that the mourning rune of Pharasma had been defaced. Inside, we were greeted by a priest who claimed to be a member of the family; his vestments and his concealed holy symbol were of Lamashtu, and his...assistants were lepers. After getting my team into the building so the fight would not take to the streets, we fought him for access to Torak's corpse, which he'd already set scarabs upon.
I sanctified the Venture-Captain's corpse, and sewed the shroud. Meanwhile, my companions attempted to secure transportation to Katheer. While they did so, I slipped out at night and conducted some business for the Silver Crusade, discretely.
We met the caravan of Jalila, and persuaded her to take us with them after a long discussion. One of her men was an Avistani native, out of place here in Qadira. The man was blonde with blue eyes, and looked...familiar in some way.
Three days out, during a sandstorm, our caravan was raided by a tribe of goblins and hobgoblins who attempted to capture members of our team, and steal our mounts. While we fought, and fought a great deal, the caravan was captured.
Fortunately, one of my teammates could summon mounts, and I could call upon Pharasma's blessing to create water, and we had enough food to cross the desert to the next oasis, which was near an abandoned, enormous, almost castle-sized, brick statue of Irori.
This statue was heralded by the sounds of song - and three harpies made their nest there. I regret to say that my will succumbed to them - I can only blame weakness in myself brought on by lack of water.
I was eventually snapped out of the spell by one of my teammates singing counter-point to the harpies, and dispatched them quickly.
We used the oasis near the temple to rest and recuperate, and scouted further ahead, finding the Hobgoblin/goblin encampment about three quarters of a mile away. And scouting forward, that blond man was wearing armor and a sword, apparently leading the goblins. Seeing that a direct assault was too dangerous, we formulated a plan - we would send a summoned mount forward with Gonk's familiar at the reins, instructing him to turn back to our position and lead the goblins to us, where we lay in ambush.
I was hidden underneath a layer of sand and my cloak, and as Scarlett cast Grease spells around my position, I rose up and struck hobgoblins as they ran by...and then was challenged to a duel by the Avistani leader of the tribe, one Jaspar Du Mer. His family and mine have...had disputes going back to when we traveled through Cheliax and Andoran fixing locks; his family has hounded my father and tried to besmirch his name; he claimed that I was not my father's daughter, but rather his; his Chelaxian perversions and descriptions were meant to anger me.
He succeeded.
I called upon Eltherin, a Celestial spirit that Pharasma has sent to my service, making my pickaxe light with a lambant gray flame, and called upon Her favor to send this man to her sorting house.
We moved back and forth, striking blows on each other; while I was sorely wounded, it was my willingness to keep moving back, accepting attacks from the goblins, and healing myself with Pharasma's blessing, that won the fight - he struck me four times, I struck him thrice...and I was near to dead before his chest caved in from my last blow.
At the end of the mission, we delivered Torak's remains to his family estate in Katheer, and Jalila explained that she used us to her own ends, attempting to open a trade route from Lopal to Katheer, and having us clear out the nest of harpies and the goblin raiders. While I am not pleased with being used in such a fashion by guile, I am pleased to have removed one of the despicable Du Mers from this world and sent him on to My Lady of Bones.
After the proper funeral rites, we had an uneventful trip back to Lopal. I write this on the docks waiting for our ship to return us to Absalom.
A team of Pathfinders led by myself with Saga Tjofedd, Iroh Tinzen, Hoss Malone, Kai and Gonk was sent to Magnimar as liasons for the conversion of Lady Shiela Heidmarch's villa as a new Society lodge, examining information tied to Varisian and Thassilonian magics. I was sent because I'd been to Magnimar before, with the Ravenmoor incident, and knew a number of people in the city.
Upon arriving there, I checked in with the priesthood of Pharasma and helped organize some healthy activities and regular meals for orphans, while other party members attended to their business.
returning from my errands, and avoiding Hoss Malone's continuing attempts to get into the pants of anything that moved, I discovered that it wasn't him getting into my pants I should've guarded against.
A female goblin was in the midst of rummaging through my underwear in my quarters at the lodge. I attempted to grab her, and failed - the entire team took up a pursuit which led through the streets of Magnimar, and eventually, Hoss managed to cut off her escape route, but not before she panicked and threw a fireball bead into a crowd, injuring several people.
Three bribes to the local officials and promises of later reparations of property damage, two scrolls of Comprehend Languages, one bottle of brandy, and a heartfelt discussion later, we learned that this goblin, Ekke by name, had wandered in to Magnimar as an outcast from her own tribe. She was trying to prove her worth to another goblin group, which had burrowed out of the sewers and was terrorizing a local butcher and abattoir owner. We negotiated our way into his facility and tracked them down into the sewers. The reek was impressive, and I recovered the necklace of fireballs from Ekke.
We bypassed a few traps, fought several rooms full of goblins, and I threw the last fireball bead into a group of goblins working in an alchmical workshop brewing alchemical fire, to great effect. On this run, my ability to move quietly and remain unobserved proved to be greatly useful, much as it was leading up to the defense of Azlant Ridge. I feel, if not a kinship with shadows, or a calling to them, a greater...comfort with them. They are something to use. The forces of our enemies make their homes in shadow; I would like to give them a reason to fear the dark.
Eventually, we worked our way back to a throne room, where a bugbear was presenting herself as Queen of the Goblins. More by luck than any other reason, I managed to avoid being caught in a trap, and though I was injured from previous fights, I was able to heal myself and sending her to Pharasma's boneyard with a Holy Smite. My Lady of Bones shall ensure she is sent to the proper afterlife for her deeds.
Upon returning to the surface, and meeting with Lady Heidmarch again, we were congratulated upon aiding the city of Magnimar even when "off duty". She said she would make sure that the legal ramifications of preventing Ekke from throwing a fireball in a crowded street would be handled.
Gonk and Ekke appear to have formed a bond; he has taken to growing scales somewhat like hers, though I know not how or why he's done this. Or why he's taken baby-eating vermin into his personal retinue, though I suppose all creatures should be given the chance for redemption. Even Goblins.
We departed Magnimar for the lands of Tian Xia, most of the prior team coming with. On stopping at Absalom, we picked up a specialist in Tian culture, and Osahar, whom I'd adventured with in Osirion. We also picked up a...and it pains me to say this...a necromancer, who had raised the corpse of his dead wife with...the spirit of something unclean, carefully bound. He radiated as evil, and while I objected strenously, the mission came first.
We spent two months on ship en route to Minkai, going to the city of Hinojai, where we were to investigate a haunting at a mansion overlooking the town, the site of a tale of sorrow and woe 70 years ago, with murders and undead spirits aplenty.
Our first encounter with those spirits was at the first gate to the mansion, where my companion Iroh Tenzin began to behave oddly; after that we were on edge as we moved through the house, finding remnants of people who'd died from their own hand, terrible betrayals, and an abbotoir where corpses where carved to pieces...inhabited by a spirit enchanting a barrel of wine.
While moving through the house, we dealt with a ghast of some variety - the reek of its negative energy was about it, and its companion, an ooze that generated the energies of unlife, keeping it alive. We also encountered a defender of the house, a spellcaster that cast ice storm upon us, then hid behind walls of acid, and throwing jets of flame. It was only Hukuto's summons that were able to save us in the end.
Moving upstairs, we found the undead mistress of the house, a Pangolin named Minosuke, and her minions, skeletons that exploded when destroyed. She used the time we were fighting her minions to prepare for us, hampering us with summoned black tentacles that kept us occupied for quite some time, while the other half of the party hacked through a wooden wall to face her. Dealing with us in small groups was to her advantage, and she fought cannily. I was finally able to break free of the Black Tentacles, and charged her, calling upon the vengeance of Pharasma against all things undead. At this, she cast a planar portal, seeing she was about to be outnumbered, and the forces of Good about to close upon her with a smite in full glory. She withdrew...and as she did so, Iroh struck her. and was felled by some foul necromancy, his body shriveled to a withered husk. I would have stopped to heal him had I had any ability left to do so, but his heart had burst out of his chest and he was no longer breathing. Vengeance simplifies things. I charged after her, leaping through the portal...
And then we fell. Through wisps and tendrils of shadow and distortions, we fell, with her attempting to kill me, and her blows largely turned by the righteous might of Pharasma...eventually my pick found its home in her spine, though she swore that this place would kill me, and she looked forward to tormenting my soul after it was incarnated as a Death Knight.
Now, I am in the Plane of Shadow, attempting to navigate in a place where I can barely see, hiding from things that seek me out. Afraid as I've never been to make a light. Somewhere in this place, there's a portal back to my home, though I have no idea where it might place me if I found it.
Still, I am alive, and there are things to be done here.
Day 1:
The stars are not the same here. There are no clouds - only the stars shining brighter in strange constellations. The sun has not risen, and based on how hungry I am, it's been a day since I arrived.
I don't think my companions have found a way to re-open the portal.
I am on a hill with a building that looks like a silver-limned ruin matching the mansion of Hinojai; the town at the bottom of the hill appears to be deserted, but I can still see the roads. I'm charting the stars here, and using my Wayfinder to make sure I can find where "North" is. While I'm not certain I can find my way home...I know that I won't find it here.
I've prayed for the blessing of Pharasma, to Create Water. I've not found any streams, but I can refill my water-skins (and then some). So far, nothing has disturbed me.
Day 1 - Continued:
I was right - the town at the base of the hill is abandoned. I've eaten one of the packets of trail rations from my backpack. Lady of Bones preserve me, I think that jerky has been there for six months. It tastes...oddly flavorless here. My eyes are growing accustomed to the darkness; all the buildings here shimmer in the shadows as though they're fading memories about to be re-absorbed back into shadowstuff. The Wayfinder says I should take the road to the left to keep heading south. It looks like a long walk, and this place is eerily silent. No crickets, no birds, nothing...living. Just the wind and flapping boards in the breeze.
Day 2:
My feet tell me that I've walked a good thirty or forty miles today. My view of the terrain is that I've moved to an area that is...unshaped. There is terrain to the left of me, and the right, and the wheeling stars overhead...and utter silence. I've taken to scratching rocks I've walked by; I swear by Pharasma's eyes I've seen some of them more than once. I am not especially hungry; I feel almost no hunger pangs and have no appetite. In some ways, I'm eating more to keep track of time and the illusion of forward progress.
Day ??:
I appear to have gotten caught in something akin to a storm; it is utterly pitch black, and moving through anything is like moving through mud, not that I can see where I'm going. The Wayfinder seems to beat back the darkness to about double my arm's span. I'm not sure if it's the light or this place seeping into me, but my skin is growing paler.
I summoned Eltherin to my pickaxe, just for the company. I've seen nothing here on my journey so far. While I am glad I learned Celestial from the books we recovered from the Sea Witch, it's a little strange to talk to one's weapon, and he can only imbue within it for a very short period of time. Perhaps this is what that Grimer fellow feels towards his...creations? Something to talk to when nothing else will? I confess, I've taken to using those summons as a way of tracking time, and a way to keep me company.
Day ?? (Later):
I'm roughly halfway through my stores of food; the storm - or whatever it was - has passed. The stars do not match the constellations I saw earlier, and I've no real idea where I am - there is still a road, though I'm not sure where it leads, or if it even exists beyond my field of vision.
I met my first native here. This is an incredibly sparse place; and from time to time I've been tempted to draw up a veil of positive energy...though it's harder to remember the words of the prayers for some reason, and the gestures seem more forced.
Anyway, the native I met is a tall, lithe woman with glowing yellow eyes, hair that's white on one half of her head and dark on the other half. I rounded a bend, and there she was, carrying a basket on her head, dressed in a gray, shapeless gown. I called upon the Sight to ascertain her motives, and she, in turn, simply stared at me. I don't know what was in that basket - I've seen nothing here resembling crops or a harvest.
I gestured, and offered her my water-skin to drink from, she set her basket down...and we looked over one another. If this is what happens to people who're here too long...I want to leave. And fast.
After sharing bread and salt, and seeing her throw the pinch over her shoulder to show the commonality of hospitality, she began to speak...in Taldan. Rather awkward Taldan, but Taldan. Her name is Horune, and while she's of some human admixture, this is her home. I offered to carry her burden for her in return for being led to a town - any town - where I might get some more information about this place.
Horune has taken me to her village, which is on a coast of sorts. The stars are, again, different here than from before I lost that time in the darkness. The people here seem rather...odd. Many worship Desna, and given how the stars never leave the sky, and how they change, I can understand why the Starsong is revered here. I've also seen a shrine to the Dark Prince, Zon-Kuthon, which I have stayed clear of.
The town, Kardallen is barely more than a village; it has a dock on the sea, and there appear to be two islands out at the edge of visibility. It's a small dock, and there is no ship at the quay at the moment.
I have talked to the village headman; the people here are primarily farmers and fisherfolk; they trade when ships stop at the dock for provisioning. He doesn't know when the next one will be, but he does have some old maps. It looks like distorted versions of Avistan, and Garund; the part of the map for Shadow Minkai is far from the edge...it looks like my time spent in isolation has moved me.
I have offered my services, as is my wont, to act as a midwife here. While my Lady of Death is concerned with the taking of lives, she is also the patroness of childbirth; he has sent me to the priest of Desna that serves Kardallen for spiritual guidance, and has said that I am free to remain here and find work as I see fit.
Day 3 in Kardallen
I've befriended Zanos Shan, the priest of Desna, who has said that what I got lost in is a Shadowstorm, and that it was only by the luck of Desna that I was not captured or killed by one of the spectral hunters here. I summoned Eltherin to my pick-axe to talk to Zanos Shan; Zanos spoke broken Celestial, and was...astonished...at my ability to summon Eltherin to me for this.
Zanos Shan has sent me to two women who are pregnant in the village to tend to them, and has used an Animal Sending here to contact one of the cities of...I'm not familiar with the name, the D'zork? that the Kardallen trade with. He feels that my best chance to get home is by way of ship; I know that there is a portal to the Plane of Shadow in the Blakros Museum; I've seen their pact stone pyramid.
I am afraid that this place is changing me. I could attribute the oddness of my hair to just the odd lighting, and my eyes have always been light hued, but they're now turning positively...golden...when I look at them in the mirror.
I've also discovered that none of the food here - or my remaining rations of waybread and jerked pork - have much of any flavor that I can discern. Even dousing them in hot sauce only makes them slightly more flavorful than, well, watery rice.
Day 6? in Kardallen
Six creatures that looked like...well, preying mantises or...large termites that walk upright on their rear two legs. They have four arms, the upper pair end in wicked claws, the lower, inner pair, smaller, with two thumbs and six fingers each. In height, they tower over me - I would guess they're easily twice my weight.
Their faces are terrifying, like that of a very large insect with the face of an umber man stretched over the four mandibles, and wide set eyes made of multiple tubes. Their body language is, I think, part of how they communicate with each other; their mouth makes nothing but clicks. Their arms and bodies were covered with odd runic inscriptions, which glowed.
I know no fear, for I know that the Lady of Bones is my patron. But I confess, I found these creatures intimidating and passing odd; I took it as a good sign that the villagers...only shied away from them a little bit, then Zanos Shan came forward, took me by the arm, handed me my pick-axe and...then stared at them, saying nothing.
After a moment, there was a...whispering...in my mind. "Greetings, finder of paths, dancer of the Spiral of Bones. The communicant of the Lady of Luck sent us a message informing us of your presence, and you will be all he has said you are. We have a great curiousity of one whom is so tangled in the threads of prophecy."
I had no idea what these things were.
"Focus your mind more closely, finder of paths, and we can converse. Listen to the echos inside."
I attempted to do so; it took...effort.
"Would you come with us, finder of paths? Our city is larger than Kardallen, and we will travel four sky turns for the sating of curiousity. The journey back may be shorter, longer, or sideways-blue."
That last made no sense to me, either.
"We are curious about your plane of existence, and how this interferes and maps with ours. We can pass the journey readily enough with conversation - and if you have items to trade, we have services to sell."
After tending to the last of my patients, and giving Zanos Shan my estimates on the two women's due dates, I gathered my belongings to go. They were fascinated by my breastplate and pick-axe; and I confess, the mithral on both of them is one of the brightest things in the Plane of Shadow that I've seen.
They explained that the Plane of Shadow's terrain is...malleable. It's not entirely there, it is shadows made partially substance...and when one doesn't focus entirely on visualizing where one has gone...it goes amorphous. This makes it a quick mode of travel through shadow-walking, for those with sufficient arcane talent and will. For those who don't know the risks, it is entirely possible to march a road that goes nowhere, until they encounter another person. The more people who live in proximity to each other, the more permanent the terrain tends to be.
When I got stuck in darkness for days, very likely I walked into a storm of Shadowstuff. In the Plane of Shadow, there are fewer things living in the seas, which means that they...blur in and out of existance. Nobody sails far past the land, because there is a current...a vortex...a...inside-purple-cinnamon(?) that leads one to Xovaikain. I confess, it alarms me to be on the same plane as the manifestation of a deity, particularly one as depraved as Zon-Kuthon. The proper name for the...beings I met is the D'ziriak.
Day 1 after leaving Kardallen
My travelling companions do not have names as individuals; they simply have roles which change. They address each other by their roles; much as they address me as a finder of paths. Other titles they call me include dancer of bones, and the cutter of spirals.
I've learned something of their culture, and of the history of humans on this plane, and the...way this plane changes them. Most appear to have descended from traders who are lost, or people who've been sold to umbral lords and demons here as slaves, or who entered that service directly.
This place leeches colors out of travelers; how my travelling companions keep their color is something of a mystery. Their penchant of regarding flavors and colors as the same thing makes this a rather difficult discussion to have, even with telepathy.
I'm seeing similar changes in myself. I'm growing paler; my hair no longer resolves to strands unless I separate them, like it's become the art of a lazy artist. Sometimes, I wonder if they're somehow feeding off of my coloration, given their confusion on the concept of color and flavor.
Day 2? after leaving Kardallen
I asked my companions how they navigate here, and I have the impression that this is much like a human child asking why the sky is blue, or asking a goblin child why fire is pretty. Their answer, as near as I can tell is that they focus on the image of their city, as if willing the terrain to move out of their way. Or knowing that it will mold itself into the shortest possible path to the city. They take turns in pairs, each handing off the mental image to the others as the shift ends; then some sleep and literally follow along in the dream-walk. I know I slow them down, because I cannot walk in my sleep as they do. They also identify things with directions and flavors; it is odd to consider "blue" to be a flavor, but it is starting to makes some sort of sense.
Either that, or I've spent too much time talking to them in my mind.
I've started to understand the meaning of their runes; they change subtly each day, and seem to indicate which...body...has which aspect of the shared responsibility.
Day 3? after leaving Kardallen
I defended my companions against a pack of shadow-creatures. They simply...appeared...out of the inky black, nothing but fangs and four legs, translucent before the light as we were breaking camp this...skyturn. Fortunately, my pick-axe was able to harm them; they attempted to trip us and bite deep.
I moved away from my companions, to draw the wolf-things away from them; two followed, and released a shining burst of light which dazzled and harmed the wolves. I called upon the spirit of Pharasma and released Her blessing, combating the negative energy of the wolves, then called the veil of positive energy to myself.
The wolves were damaged by this release of energy, and with that, it took some effort, but they were eventually slain; the last two learned not to try to trip me, as it made them vulnerable to the pick.
Day 5? after leaving Kardallen
Since the attack, my companions have asked me questions of Pharasma, of the Material plane, and I've answered as best I can. As they ask me of Pharasma, I am gathering the impression that it's more than idle curiosity; their fascination with the ways in which fate is mutable or not is quite strong; perhaps they seek in it some spiritual parallel to the realm they live in. They now sometimes refer to me as the vessel of radiant darkness.
While I have lost track of most sense of time here, I've not had my moonblood since I arrived and I am certain it should have happened now or been due. It has been two, possibly three, skyturns since the wolf attack.
The city of the d'ziriaks looks like half-buried beehives and vases, with ever writhing elevated roads of shadowstuff, reconfiguring themselves as needed by the whims of the inhabitants. Pits sometimes open in the ground and d'ziriaks step into them to fall where they need to go; it is quite disturbing to see shadowstuff roiled in such strange and incomprehensible manner.
Even stranger is having conversations which seem to pick up after odd pauses, or with different bodies, as if the...consciousness...I'm talking to inhabits multiple bodies and forgets that the one near me has changed before it resumes that odd telepathic speech. I hadn't really noticed that this was how they talked during the journey here.
Day 3? in K'k'k'tock'thu(pok)
I have been treated well here, and I apparently have no small standing as a curiousity of sorts. The D'ziriak trade with people from my home plane, but for their own security in a realm where shadowstuff is malleable and prone to manifest into embodiments of the hunger and regret, are notably unwilling to let anything interfere with their control over their local environment. That control has made it even more challenging for me to have even the remotest idea of time's passage; though I have actually seen repetition with some of the constellations I charted from earlier in my journey. Eltherin has said that it's been close to two months since I left Minkai.
They have told me that they will not send me on to Shadow Absalom; the ruler there is apparently a dragon of this plane named Argrinyxia, and that they do not have anything of sufficient value to barter safe passage on my behalf.
The d'ziriaks are quite adept at craftsmanship; during my time here, they've shown me art made of material light, spread like gossamers and glass; again, their confusion of colors and flavors almost makes sense.
They are particularly intrigued by my mithral items; finding it of an unusual flavor or hue; the concepts are blurry. I experienced this on the journey out here with the group I came with, but it is even more...pronounced here.
Day 12? After Arrival
It just occurred to me that...I've not seen a light source in my chambers in days. I see them when I leave. I'm not sure there was ever a light source; the D'ziriak use lights primarily for defensive purposes, and decoration - their cities are often bedecked with braziers shining in strange flavors, giving off warmth and chill and shanr'a'leh at the whim of the group of D'ziriaks who light them or observe them. I think they primarily use light here as a way to shape shadows.
Which means I can now see in the dark. This is fascinating. I wonder if it's tied to my transformation here?
Day 19? Of Her Stay
It is said there are cultures known to the Society whereupon the competition for status is based upon the gifts one can give; accepting a gift means that you are obligated to give a comparable gift in return, or to some measure of service. Given the nature of the d'ziriak, this...odd form of gift economy would not surprise me.
I think I've just been gifted into an obligation to them. I returned from a light-tasting with my hosts. A group of sculptors was exhibiting flames that were frozen, yet moved when you glanced away and looked back. I was asked to dance for them as part of the installment and did what I was able to; they gave me scarves of shadowstuff to move with my hands, and asked me to interpret in blue and gingermint, chittering and buzzing in time to my steps.
It was a glorious experience; I'd not really done much with dance since...well...my parents died. I teach it when I can, and I'm more graceful than most.
I appear to have gotten better since arriving here. My appearance has gotten more spectral.
When I returned...they had woven shadowstuff into my breatplate, such that I could stretch it over my body and vanish into shadows. Or pluck shadows from my surroundings and weave them about me.
I wonder what they intend for me to do.
Day 25? In Her Stay
I've taken up an apprenticeship with the d'ziriaki who did the art display I participated in to pass the time; they're teaching me the arts of shadow manipulation. I'm afraid to look in the mirror. I also itch to see the sun and Absalom again. I've paid my apprentice fee by giving them most of the trade-jewelry that I'd had upon me; it has proven to be almost as novel as the mithral to them, though their rituals and how they choose which body wears it, is, frankly, baffling. They say it has an interesting flavor, and will make valuable trade-goods.
A group of human travellers have been led to K'k'k'tock'thu(pok), or arrived - there are d'ziriak I have not met with them, at least two collective consciousnesses inhabiting a dozen bodies.
According to my hosts, they're to take me to a place where I can cross over to home, through the agency of a powerful Shadow-human named Nicasor. Their mental tone at mentioning that name is tinged with...something. Regret, perhaps. I think I shall be missed.
At my farewell banquet, much of the discussion given to me was on the strength of morality, on the right of redemption. While the D'ziriak are often prone to meandering discussions of philosophy...this, again, seemed like they were questioning me to see how well my answers matched to what they already knew.
Having gathered my journals in preparation for leaving at the next skyturn, it occurs to me that I've been too much the Pathfinder. I've meticulously recorded observations of customs, and art forms. I've never mentioned my lost companions.
I have prayed to Her, and communicated with Eltherin in the hopes that I could get some news of them. I think that I've been the subject of scrying spells. I hope I have, in any case. Pharasma still answers my prayers, at the very least.
The caravan I am leaving with is mastered by a conjuror named Dustvern, who works for a larger conglomerate of caravans; he has routes that run through the Plane of Shadows, and connects to points with gateways to Avistan and Garund in the worlds where the sun rises.
I miss the sunlight. I've not seen it in more than a month now. I am also...worried. For myself. I've definitely missed one period. Perhaps two. I have not been intimate with anyone...has this place altered me? Or am I pregnant?
Or both? Pharasma, please give me guidance.
The caravan I am leaving with has several large...drays. More like sledges that run on runners, pulled by...for the lack of a better description, giant hermit crabs larger than horses. Each of the crabs and the sledges of the runners are made of some nearly translucent metal, as are the...boots on the ends of the legs of the crabs, which have rings and chains driven into their carapaces. There are five wagons in the caravan, and Dustvern and his two apprentices are in the lead one. They say we'll make good time, but won't say where we'll go.
A half-dozen of the d'ziriak are coming with us; I do not know if they are two consciousnesses or one; the distinction is growing particularly foggy to me. Or rather, after a month of having all of my conversations done with telepathy, the thought that one entity lives in one body at a time and doesn't change depending on which bodies are awake or asleep is tasting rather violet.
Day 4 of the Journey
I am eager to see the sun.
I am not eager to see my breakfast a second time each skyturn. The good news is that this place has so dulled my senses that there's barely any flavor at all when I throw up, not even more than a sour taste of vomit.
The bad news is that this is the fourth day in a row that I've been sick. I've midwifed too many pregnant women to not recognize this as a symptom; I've taken to using Pharasma's gift of healing immediately after my morning meal to keep it down.
How, in the name of the Lady of Births did this happen? I've not been intimate with anyone since leaving Absalom six months ago; I know full well how babies are made.
I've been raised and trained to treat every birth as a miracle, the blessing of Pharasma that is the down payment upon her Judgement. But HOW?
There is no bulge; I am not showing any signs of a fever. My ankles and joints aren't swelling. Only the morning sickness.
Day 6 of the Second Journey.
I've asked Dustvern if there are any spells I might cast to aid the trip; he has provided silver dust, and I'm blessing water. If nothing else, it gives us another weapon if we're attacked on our trip; I suspect he plans on selling it.
While I feel badly about it, I've been withholding a few spoonfuls of the blessed water each day, and down them. I've seen my face in the mirror; if I can prevent this from happening to the child within me...I'll do penance for the theft later. I've also taken to locking this book and hiding it carefully in my belongings.
Two of the d'ziriak accompanying us are always...watching me. I am the Arm of the Goddess of Bones, and I know that if they mean me harm, I am more than capable of defending myself. I am more and more convinced that there are two personae in the six d'ziriak, with one of them trying to hide in the shuffle of waking and sleeping bodies. It is still strange to see them marching in their sleep at the side of the sledge.
Day 8 of the Second Journey
The sledges crabs are making surprisingly good time; it appears that Dustvern and his apprentices are adept at molding shadowstuff. I asked about the rails and the...crabshoes during a shift change. His answer is that they've been enchanted to be partially ethereal, that they are both essential and material at the same time, and as such they can always cut ruts in the Shadowstuff of this plane, moving like runners through half-melted ice. The crab-shoes allow them to retain their footing on any incline here.
He says we reach the Oasis of Shackled Dreamers in a day; we'll stay there for reprovisioning, and to let the beasts rest for a day or two.
The Oasis of Shackled Dreamers is aptly named. I was, I confess, horrified by it. Within me, there is a burning desire to unmake this place, to set those people free...yet I cannot be certain that in doing so, I would not be doing a greater harm.
The Oasis is only somewhat aptly named. It is, rather, a complex of buildings and a...nexus...of trade routes through this plane; each building houses adepts who've become addicted to pesh, or other drugs - it seems to vary by each route.
When the caravan master needs to make a shortcut, they bring out a group of adepts, Charm them, and then have another spellcaster shape shadows and create an illusion. Apparently, these drugged adepts are, when lucid, able to focus on the intended destinations of the caravan masters. I've been told that there are other oases like this one...but nobody tells me where these adapts are taken from, or what happens to them when their addiction runs its course.
They appear to be kept comfortable...but I shudder to think at an existance like this; drugged, used to shape a malleable plane's reality, kept in the pangs of an addiction.
Again, I want to free them...yet I suspect that if I did - if this place were unmade, the trade that crosses the plane of Shadow would dry up, and these people - addictions and all - would suffer.
I've been mostly keeping my distance from them and Dustvern. One of the problems is that I'm having trouble keeping any kind of food down at the moment. The..crabs...are resting and eating; Dustvern's ostlers are taking in the sights and drinking a lot. The D'ziriak are mingling with others of their kind here.
Day Two in the Oasis
We seem to be taking longer to get out of here than I'd thought. Apparently, Dustvern is working on some sort of complex cargo swap agreement.
On the other hand, there have been messages left on hold here, apparently from the Society, with agents in the Plane of Shadow - fetchlings who'll hold on to messages for a price. I'm not certain how trustworthy they are, but the D'ziriak have mentioned that there is another finder of paths here...but not stated where or how.
I'm curious as to whether or not I'm valued enough by the Society or the Silver Crusade to be worth a rescue mission, or if, after the method of my departure, they feel I'm as dead as Iroh.
I'll seek them out, after I can hold down something more filling than oatmeal and water.
While at the Oasis of the Shackled Dreamers, I met with someone who claimed to be an agent of the Pathfinder Society. They showed the sigil of the Open Road, they showed a Wayfinder. They knew the call and countersign, and claimed they had messages from Absalom that would help a lost Pathfinder get home, even pre-paid passage to Shadow Absalom to come through the Pact Pyramid in the Blakros Museum.
I should have been more suspicious.
I opened the parcel and read...and then a snake leapt out of the words and bit me. That was the last I recall prior to my captivity in the House of Night.
When I recovered from the spell-trap, I was dressed in a shift, in a mansion that had the same lack of tonalities of the Plane of Shadow, though it was more substantial than most I'd seen there. A change of clothes was nice....even if it was chilled to the point of freezing here.
The walls throbbed. They were made of something that wasn't quite wood, but would pulse, like the beating of a heart. The bed would, from time to time, jab my flesh with a splinter through the mattress; the windows of the place did not look outwards, instead, reflecting as dimly lit mirrors - but always with some distortions. Even the walls and windows showed a faint numbus of Evil when I used the sight on them.
The halls were not unoccupied; there were fetchlings here, though they acted terrified. I was brought before the ruler of this place, one Nicasor. He had my belongings piled up beside him, and had two others in attendance, who appeared to be relatives; one was minding a young boy-child fetchling. His face was concealed behind a bone-white mask, polished to a high sheen.
We talked. His spirit is bound to this place by the commandments of the...creature...that grants it stability. How I was brought in to his...hospitality...was not explained to me; apparently I simply appeared in a chamber in the basement, still contained in a cocoon of energy. I asked him his business, and he asked me mine.
He apparently had a pact with a noble in Nidal known as "Stepan Boroi", and this place is a damaged extraplanar prison, seeping some of its Shadow essence to Nidal. It is now semi-permeable, and apparently, creatures within it can...swap bodies...with those outside, but that is the only way out. He apparently had an arrangement with Stepan Boroi to swap bodies for a period of time, ostensibly to find people willing to make a permanent swap to grant his own freedom.
The creature that creates this prison is capricious and feeds off of violence, and may be something created by Zon-Kuthon, whose cult is worshipped extensively in Nidal, from their times in the Age of Darkness.
My appearance here is a much a mystery to him as it is me. One of his cohort, the woman, is convinced that I've been put here to help them escape, though I know not how...and given what I see of this Nicasor when I use the Sight, I am not inclined to free him as part of my escape. His aura is one of vengeance and treachery, though his associates are not so tainted.
I have no idea how I would affect escape from this place...his apparent aim is to try to ride in my body in some way, saying I am already a vessel to an entity of shadow, and thus, might confuse the creature. He told me I would become his...vessel...and that after Zon-Kuthon twisted me, I would rise with his powers and those of a holy warrior of the Scion of Pain.
I refused...and while I was able to wound them, I was disarmed, and unarmored. I fled, molding shadow around me...only to be hunted down by a summoned creature.
He locked me in an iron maiden. I lack any frame of reference for how long I sayed in that contraption, feeling its spines and spikes mortifying my flesh, cutting the boundary between sensation and pain and pleasure,
I neither hunger nor thirst. I am terribly cold; this place is constantly chill. Were it not for the warmth of the pain to counter it, I'm not sure I'd feel anything...which makes me welcome the spikes when they come. I can mend myself with the touch of the Lady of Graves. I still hear the breathing of the walls here, and taste the colors in the way of the d'ziriak. I focused my prayers to the Lady of the Boneyard, asking that she have some purpose for me - or that she simply take me, if that is her aim, rather than let me suffer.
I know I've hallucinated in this time. I've seen visions of my father and brother, dead nearly a decade. He was teaching us another set of tumblers for locks common to Varisia, and the intricate ways in which the Thassilonians rigged mechanica to last for ages. I've replayed my missions to the society in my mind...and wondered why the Lady of Bones has not taken me, before the pain becomes the only thing keeping me anchored to the world.
I've even dreamt of my companions. I can hear them now, Lark and Hoss and Iroh and Saga. Clearly it's my mind playing tricks.
One of my delusions has proven to be less of a delusion than I'd thought. My companions have released me from the iron maiden, and they say that we may be able to return to the material plane.
My desire to see the sun is a burning inside me. It has been months, perhaps a year, since I've seen any light brighter than a torch.
I warned them of the hazards of this place as best I could; some of them I had not known. One of the fetchlings here had been tormented unto madness, and we were wounded in fighting her in the dining room - a room I'd not seen. I kept them from killing a many of the fetchlings as I could...though we've run into other places where the house has made monstrosities. A shadow hound the size of a small bear; two people loyal to Nicasor. Even the furniture itself has turned against us from time to time. Lark cast her barkskin upon me.
I led them to Nicasor's rooms, where we confronted him. He asked if they had a way to kill the Heart of the House of Night, and Saga said she did; he then offered to lead us to the chamber it lived in...provided they left me with him so that he might "keep me safe" while this place unraveled, and he might teach me more of my newfound nature.
It is abundantly clear that my sojourn in the Plane of Shadows has changed me; it's not just the lighting here. Nicasor may...well...be right that he has much to teach me. Confronted with this bargain, my companions refused. Nicasor then attacked them; while they fought, I searched his room for my belongings...and was able to recover my pickaxe, and holy symbol. I prayed and Pharasma granted me a boon - I called upon the shield of my faith, and upon Her blessings to Smite him.
I was sorely wounded in the fight - he was wearing my armor, and I was wearing a nightdress caked in my own blood. It took a great deal of my own ability to heal to survive. He claimed to have implanted part of his soul into me...or my child...as he died.
My conversations and information on the events prior to my being tortured convinced my friends to show leniency upon Corys and Atamin. We were able to find the walls to be breached to fight the...thing from beyond that drives this place. It was a much less...dangerous...fight when I could go in armored properly.
Two of our number were wounded to unconsciousness, but did not die, as we took down the creature...at which point all the walls started bleeding black ichor, and we raced - with Corys and Atamin bringing the fetchlings with - to the remainder of the gateway mirror, which I had not been shown before. We were all forced to sacrifice blood to Zon-Kuthon before we made it through...
And for the first time in Pharasma alone knows how long, I could see colors in things other than muted grays. Lark's elaborately enameled pink armor. Gonk's mishmash of hues. Even Saga's blue tinted skin, like a pond mostly frozen over.
We went up the stairs to introduce the Baron Boroi with his new vassals - and unknown to me - his illegetimimate nephew.
When I met the Baron, his face was oddly familiar...and my desire to see him suffer as I had suffered almost made me attack him without warning. According to my companions, a veritable miasma of shadow-stuff roiled off of me, reaching towards the Baron...who upon seeing it, fled and died in some some religious contraption of Zon-Kuthon.
My understanding of the nobility of Nidal is that this fetchling is the remaining heir fo the Boroi household. I don't know what the Society or Nidalese nobility will do about this situation.
As for me, I've watched the sunrise and been dazzled by it. Enough so that my eyes hurt; I've asked a local glassfitter here to make me shaded glass eye coverings.
After our business in Nidal, we sailed northwest along the coast, along with a transit across the mouth of Conqueror's Bay to Magnimar. Sea travel does not agree with my in my current state. After a debriefing in Magnimar with Sheila Heidemarch, we were sent to investigate civil disorder and panic, along with something destroying buildings from below ground, at a town called Carrion Hill.
Lark and Saga stayed behind on personal business, while we picked up Benrill and his damned bird. And went down the coast. Again. I was able to pass off my sickness as seasickness. I'm not showing yet - and I'm not entirely certain what I'm carrying.
Upon reaching Carrion Hill, it was clear that the tenor of the city was even worse than we'd been told. The local constabulary, and the Mayor's personal guard, were barely able to hold on to civil order. What citizens remained were packing up their belongings to move, there was outright brigandage in the streets...we were barely able to book a room at the inn, and we tend to cut a swath in most towns due to, well, our air of martial competence.
Shortly after our arrival, we were asked to go to Crown Hall, and entreat with the local governance. I'm afraid our motley band didn't make the best of impressions, what with Siegfried being, in general, the most normal looking of us, and Hoss being his usual undiplomatic self. Even so, desperation makes strange allies. The Mayor charged us with investigating a few murders, and attempting to find the source of what was devouring buildings from below. Most recently, it had proven active in the Slipper Market.
When we arrived, the market - which was the economic lifeblood of the city - was a shambles. The city guard were picking through the rubble of shops, and keeping the generally panicked population from looting. As we approached, there was a small tremblor, even, and we were led to the guard's command post, under a leaking tarpaulin. There were three bodies - two of vagrants, one who'd been smashed half flat by a single massive blow, another had his spine shattered in pieces. The third was one of the constabulary, that looked more like something had twisted his body as a dog worries a piece of jerky, twisting his armor and even his sword, in ways that make them inextricable.
I spoke Pharasma's words, to guide them through to Her court, and attempted to send what spiritual beneficence that I could. Asking what we could of the people nearby, we talked to a man named Tarrig. These men were killed when an incredible force tried to crush Marshan's house like a clenched fist squeezing a grape. The guards entered the house and started to scream. Not all of them came back.
We asked about Marshan, and got told that he'd bought the house and been doing renovations on it. He periodically had overnight guests - they heard the commotion - but rarely saw them. Given what's happened in his home, it's likely he's dead, and few knew him well enough to mourn him or mark his passage. We proceeded to his house, and entered the rubble through a collapsed adjoining building...and the stench was otherworldly; Siegfried and Hoss both puked their lunches out onto the ground. Inside the house, there was a spiral-shaped symbol drawn in smears of blood on one of the walls. A bit of study showed it to be drawn with...a corpse, and I dimly recalled that it was a symbol associated with the Dark Tapestry, something related to the cults of the Elder Gods.
Moving into the house, we discovered a wrecked parlor, and the place covered in a viscous black ooze - slightly tackier than blood. I picked a lock to get into the back rooms and saw what looks to have been a library, shredded and torn asuder. A quick look through the books - we were pressed somewhat for time - revealed more information on strange creatures from other planes, and more slime. There was a root celler door that had a heavier concentration behind the building, and we went down.
I scouted ahead - under the root cellar was a chiseled open passageway to an old crypt. The town of Carrion Hill has been built over several prior communities, even more so than most of this part of the world, given that it's the only dry land in a series of fens and tidal swamps.
A closer examination showed this to have been burial niches for Arodenite worshippers, so at least five hundred years old. In the former reliquary, we found an abandoned camp, with a barricade on the other exit. Motioning the others to wait, I went through first. My trip to the Plane of Shadow proved useful here, as I was able to spot them where they hid, even in total darkness. I gestured to each - and was attacked. My companions came in, and we fought to subdue them. I woke one of them up afterwards to talk; fortunately two of my party were able to cast Comprehend Languages to assist, as our attackers spoke no language any of us knew.
From them, we learned that there were five men, in heavy cloaks, "doing magic" - and they'd been hired to guard this way from intruders. We got brief descriptions of them, and were told of passageway down an 800 feet deep stair-well to where they'd worked. One of those men was called Marshan, the owner of the house above, and that a few days ago, something hideous had climbed its way up the stairs, leaving a swath of destruction and horrible stench behind. They'd grown scared and barricaded themselves in the dark. We took their weapons, gave them money to book passage out of town, and thanked them for the information.
Hoss and I took it upon ourselves to go down the stairs first, and scout ahead, as we were the ones best able to maintain stealth and spot traps. It took the better part of an hour to go down 800 feet of stairs; the walls were covered in black ooze, mostly dried - and coating the walls. The stairs grew rough hewn at 400 feet down, and the walls turned to a more natural grotto texture towards the end. When we reached the bottom, I had Hoss stay back, as he needed a light source and I did not.
At the bottom of the steps, the chamber opened out into a chamber that vaulted higher than most cathedrals - I could not out the roof. There were support pillars, and the place was spattered with the same black tarry slime we'd seen elsewhere, some of it drawn in strange spirals and sigils, matching those we'd seen on the surface. Moving to my right, there was a faint will-o-the-whisp lighting. I moved closer to investigate.
The light source was from pale fungal fronds of purple and blue, casting everything in pallid shades. Still an improvement over my prior residences, to be honest. Shattered pillars surrounded a black stone, grooved and carved in unearthly signs, covered in what looked to be caked layers of dried blood. Sacrifical bones surrounded it like an offal-pit.
Surrounding it were a copse of petrified trees their branches rising out of my sight, around a pool of black sludge, in some dark mockery of the rituals of the Green Faith. Black footprints of slime painted a record of a ritual summoning, I think. Two bodies lay, battered and broken, one a hunchbacked man, the other taller, with common features, aside from protruding eyes. Seeing no movement, I went back and got Hoss, and we sent a message up the stairs via Benrill's bird for the others to come down.
Upon our return, we were attacked by a lone ghoul. It lunged after Benrill from behind a pillar...and Benrill was paralyzed. Hoss turned and shot at it, wounding it grievously, and it fled out of the reach of our torchlight...but not my sight. I drank an alchemical extract against toxins to ward myself against its paralysis, and pursued, hunting it as it tried to move from shadow to shadow, not knowing I could see in them. I called upon the judgement of Pharasma to smite the creature, and cornered it against one of the collapsed cave entrances of the grotto, killing it before it could escape.
Meanwhile, my companions had done a more thorough investigation of the altar - I'd not gotten close before deciding to get them - and found a book in the offal heap written in an archaic dialect of Aklo. It took another use of Comprehend Languages to discern even that much. The volume turned out to be a translation of the Pnakotic Manuscripts. Further on, we were able to find a small camp at this level of the sunless grove, and the journals of the men who'd worked here.
Through a great deal of work, we brought the bodies back up the stairs. Even after a ghoul had been feeding on the corpses, they were identified as Baskerwhell and Marshan, the former a hunchbacked swamp druid, the latter the owner of the house at the top of the stairs. They'd been involved in the Old Cults, and were attempting to unseal a two thousand year old sealed extradimensional portal, to release a spawn of Yog-Sothoth.
It looks like they succeeded. Further study is required.
After returning with the bodies and the book, we talked to the Mayor, who said he could spare no resources to helping us investigate, other than one of his scholars. Siegfried and Benrill have sequestered themselves with the scholar and the book, to try and find out what they can about what we're facing.
Hoss, Gonk and I went out to canvass the town, help the Mayor in keeping the place from erupting in a panic, and attempt to identify the other three members of the cult. We have three names from the journal - possibly pseudonyms. With some work, we came upon rumours about a local middenstone producer, named Rupman Myre. Middenstone is a local building material that's made from the carapaces of crushed...cockroaches. It's lighter than clay and weathers better than wood, and can be cast into bricks and ornaments. The rumours are that Myre has traffic with the morticians, and that he buys bodies. The other name we've come across is that of Waldur Crove, who runs the local sanitarium, and proved very interested in a couple of madmen who were turned over to him for treatment, babbling about strange old things. The third cultist has a name of Hyve, but we know nothing of him or his place in the city.
Of interest is that Marshan's purchase of his house coincides roughly with the start of Myre's highly successful middenstone business. Perhaps Myre came to town after Marshan's discovery of what lay in his root-celler, or under it...
We returned to find Siegfried and Benrill still buried in the books, and went to bed. Hoss attempted to talk me into sharing his room, and with a bit more consideration than is his norm. Honestly, it would've been nice, but...I don't really want him (or anyone) to know about the pregnancy yet, and there's no way I could conceal it under those circumstances. I know it seems odd to be risking my life when pregnant...and honestly, I wonder if some part of my being is trying to...terminate this pregnancy by taking greater and greater risks.
I eventually went to bed. Alone. It would've been nice to have been held.
In the morning, Benrill and Seigfried's study - honestly, the thought of Benrill studying anything makes my head hurt - told us that the keepers had unleashed a spawn of Yog-Sothoth from an extradimension prison, and that what had come out of the prison was vastly weaker than what had been put into it; it is mystically attuned to the men that released it, and wants to feed off of their life energies. Right now it's in a weakened state. Each time it finds one of them to feed on, it will get stronger. As much as I'd like to say otherwise, letting those men live increases the odds that the spawn will become stronger than anything we can face ourselves.
Our first order of business is to decide if we want to take out Rupman Myre or Waldur Crove first. Benrill and Siegfried are both exhausted, but time is of the essence on this. We finished breakfast, and went out to Myre's vatworks. I cast Veil of Positive energy on myself and Gonk, as we'd be likeliest to fight undead at close range.
The doors were locked; Hoss opened them for us and we went in. The place had all the odure of a tannery, melded with the fine fragrances of an alchemical accident. Myre's operation ran on zombie labor. It makes a certain sort of sense - they'd not get sickened by the chemicals, or complain of the stench.
The team fought through them efficiently, until Myre threw back the curtain, and threw down black tentacles. He then moved forward, using them as cover against Hoss' pistols, and released negative energy on Siegfried, Gonk and myself, while we were unable to close the range on him. He cast cause fear on me that had no effect, then cast Acid Arrow on Benrill's bird. Just as Siegfried broke free of the black tentacles, he cast Hold Person on him, then commanded his remaining zombies to move forward. We were all wounded by his negative energy channeling, and rather than try to fight free of the tentacles spell, I channeled the healing energy of Pharasma to heal my companions. Gonk then broke free of the spell and charged Myre, hitting him with his falchion. Benrill attempted to close after he broke free of the black tentacles area, and got an enervation spell for his efforts - fortunately, he took minimal effect from it...and moved inadvertantly into the path of the zombie that was about to coup de grace Siegfried.
Siegfried broke free of the hold person spell, and I broke free of the black tentacles, just as Gonk and Siegfried closed to melee range on him and put and end to him. While rummaging through his office, we found delivery records to someome named "Hyve" at the old abandoned Arodenite church, and took that as the locale of the third cultist.
Waldur Crove, on the other hand, was likely to be found at the sanitarium. We cleaned up, and healed up, then went there for our next encounter.
The sanitarium, pardon the phrase, is a madhouse. We were faced with waves of lunatics and orderlies beating on them. We tried to deal with them in a nonviolent fashion as best we could, but some were slain. Navigating through the asylum, it was clear that the inmates were let free to wander - as we went up upstairs, we found some shackled by ankle-bracelets to specific places, and found an interrogation chamber where a former adventurer, named Oleg, was strapped to a table, missing all the fingers of his left hand, and the thumb of the right. There was an insane derro in the process of removing a fingertip while he screamed. Siegfried dispatched the derrow post-haste.
On the lower floor, we encountered more of the lunatics, tied to chains to keep them from running, but no more orderlies. We also encountered Waldur Crove, who appeared to be waiting for us. He conjured a cloud of noxious fumes, and moved outside of its borders to various hiding places, casting spells from concealment. He hit Benrill with a touch of idiocy spell. Benrill, still under the effects of the enervation spell cast by Myre, succumbed. It didn't seem to impair him that much, beyond not being able to command his bird to do his bidding.
Crove summoned monsters immune to nauseating effects to attack us from the mist, and cast color spray into the mist while people were ill. This put Benrill to sleep and stunned Siegfried. Hoss moved through the mist to the other side attempting to find his way through to where Crove was hiding, while I moved in the other direction. He attacked Gonk with searing light while Gonk was moving through the cloud, and then again, trying to drop him where we'd have to run into the poisonous mist to rescue him - fortunately, Gonk is made of very stern stuff. In the mean time, I found Crove's last hiding place...and he teleported away from me, running down a corridor to the south. I called out to the others and gave pursuit.
Crove had the advantage in that he knew the catacombs under his asylum better than we. He led us through two layers of locked cells, before opening a rusted iron gate, and running through. Opening that gate allowed me to catch him. I called upon the judgement of Pharasma, and smote him...felling him with one blow. And then discovered that I was stuck with one of his experiments, a shambling tentacled horror from beyond time and space.
I kept fighting it...and then I don't recall much of what happened. Hoss says that I got hit by it and half-melted; they pulled me out of there, attempted to kill it from range, and eventually just left it there, locking all the doors behind it, and leaving it Crove's body to feed on.
Benrill and I were both taken to the temple of Iomedae, and restoratives were cast on us. I'm recovering from the battle. That transformation may have done something to the child I carry, but I know not what. Pharasma forgive me for hoping that I'm unburdened by pending childbirth...
We deal with Hyve tomorrow.
I woke up sick as a dog. Benrill was still suffering from the effects of yesterday and was left behind to recuperate. If I thought I could've spared the day to rest, I'd've joined him in that. News that morning was that the Asylum has been torn down by a creature of incredible strength hours before the dawn, and that the vatworks was in flinders and seeping chemicals that no-one dared approach. We think Benrill wanted to join us, but his inability to form words of more than one syllable, and tendency to stare at the walls and gibber...it was kinder to let him recover.
Hoss spent the first part of the morning, while I prayed to Pharasma for spells and the right to keep my breakfast down, gathering information on Hyve. The man left very little trace in the social scene of Carrion Hill. Only that he was a reclusive scholar at the Elm Way Church. The records from Myre's vatworks show that he took delivery of several poison components, according to Hoss.
We proceeded to the abandoned church, to investigate and confront the man within...and Siegfried was hit by a poisoned bolt as we were working through the library in the building. I healed Siegfried as best I could, but the toxin was quite dangerous, while Hoss attempted to work his way through the lock on the door. Unable to do so, I moved up and gave it my best attempt - and opened it on my second try. Our quarry had gotten away.
Moving through the area to pursue, we encountered four ghouls. Siegfried was struck multiple times, and paralyzed, taking him out of the fight - Gonk and Hoss dispatched them readily, but their aim was clearly to delay us further. We wasted further valuable time trying to figure out which path Hyve had taken...before it became moot.
There was a low rumble, and we saw the effects of something massive - the size of an elephant - ripping open the earth before us, then falling down with a solid "splash". Rather than pursue, we waited for Siegfried to recover from the paralysis. This was almost our undoing.
Just as Siegfried was able to move, we heard a cry of "No...no! Aiiiigh!" and a bloodcurdling scream, followed by the sound of flesh ripped like you'd tear wet paper apart. We dove down the hole created...and saw nothing, save roughly half of Hyve's body.
And then I lost my breakfast. The creature was invisible, and smashed Hoss to the wall with a tentacle, without revealing itself. It reeked horribly. All of us were sickened...and attempting to fight something we couldn't see.
As I was doubled over and heaving, it came and attacked me - it was drawn to me, by the strength vested in me by Pharasma. I was nearly felled by its onslaught...but I provided sufficient distraction for my comrades to move out of the aura of its stench. Gonk cast glitterdust, which revealed it, thankfully. And then Hoss shot it repeatedly, while Siegfried charged it, and got grappled for his trouble - I managed to avoid its attack only because of luck.
Healing myself with the energies of the Lady of Bones, I called forth Eltherin in my weapon, and moved away for a moment. I drank a potion of healing, and waited for it to come at me again, while Siegfried tried to free himself and Hoss shot it again. Calling upon the Holy Smite of Pharasma, I charged in and swung, doing grievous damage to it, but did not kill it. I did distract it enough to have it drop Siegfried, while Gonk hit it from the other side. It came forth to attack me again, and Hoss shot it a third time, putting it down.
There was a great shout, and every crow and raven in the city started cawing. The creature dissolved to a white film.
The aftermath of the battle was that a great deal of information about the Cult of the Great Old Ones was recovered, both from Hyve's library and the rubble of the Asylum. I've packaged the books up to ship back to the Society for further study...and to keep them out of the hands of madmen who want to summon creatures like that one. Mayor Haggery and the city council have paid us well for our troubles, and it looks like they'll need some financial assistance in rebuilding.
We've been asked to report to Sheila Hiedemarch in Magnimar, with the books we've recovered. We've spent a week here recovering from the fight and to give time for messages to go to and fro while waiting for instructions.
Agda and Haskell as in the two programming languages? :P
Agda and Haskell as in the two programming languages? :P
Congratulations! You're the first person in over two years to notice the awful, obscure pun.
Agda is highly functional...and nearly completely orthogonal to a conventional Paladin.
In Magnimar, Siegfried, Gonk and I were reunited with Lass and Saga. Fortunately, we had calm seas for the passage. Unfortunately, I am still throwing up a lot. Having to piss every four hours is making it a chore to get into and out of my armor.
Almost immediately after arriving in Magnimar, we were shuffled onto yet another boat and sent off to Old Korvosa. In Korvosa, we were briefed by the local agent here, and asked to do a favor for a Zeeva Foxglove, proprieter of The Green Market, an enclosed building that serves as the local farmer's market. Ms. Foxglove is apparently being harassed by the Aspis Consortium...and her sister Zeeva is an ally of the Society in Absalom. While it was inordinately expensive to put us in the job, it was what we were asked to do.
We met Zeeva Foxglove at the Green Market itself, and the traffic was heavy. Business was good - Saga kept talking about hearing drums that nobody else heard. Zeeva and Lark and I talked near the center of the market; Zeeva expressed concerns about things scaring the patrons, and how members of the Aspis Consortium were trying to open stalls selling weapons and armor there, and how she felt that would change the tenor of the place.
As we talked, Zeeva started acting nervous. It became clear to me that Zeeva was expecting trouble; I was there out of my armor and bearing only a dagger - the place was supposed to be peaceful and I respected that. My own investigations, done while doing midwifery around Korvosa, showed that the place had always turned a ncie profit, but that the prior owner of the building had died under mysterious circumstances. Zeeva confirmed that the place was built on a site holy to the Shoanti, but she didn't know all of the details of it.
While we were talking, Lark and I were attacked. Lark was hit with a hold person spell, and then two armed men attacked her while she was paralyzed. I was stabbed in the back at the same time Lark went down - I grabbed shadows and hid, staying close - Lark was critically wounded. Another man tried to make off with Zeeva, and I was presented with a choice - heal Lark or pursue. I trusted to my teammates, Iroh in particular, and stayed to help Lark.
I touched her with the hands of life, and told her to play dead for a bit and cast silently if she could. Meanwhile, Paltinor had identified the person casting spells. I pulled my dagger to do what aid I could. Paltinor started shooting the caster, and the men who'd surrounded Lark and I moved off to deal with him. Siegfried attacked them with his gargantuan axe, and the crowd in the market fled to the southern doors. I took this moment of respite to call upon the Lady of Graves for my own defense, summoning the shield of her faith to me.
Lark channeled energy from Shelyn, healing me nearly to full...and I got knife attacks against the men as they left our immediate area. I followed along and picked up a greatsword from one of the ones Siegfried had killed, and turned to help Iroh, who was standing between Zeeva and the caster, who had gotten free of Paltinor.
With a lot of effort, most of the agents of the Consortium were stopped. I went to great effort to make sure all survived the folly of attacking the Society, but I could not save them all..and as we were questioning them, something surpassingly strange happened. A bitter wind blew through the building, and that hint of drums that Saga had heard before began to thrum in our bones. I first spotted a display of cabbage assembling itself into a huge mound, with potato eyes, and a carrot nose, streamers of pumpkin and grape vine mainpulating florets of broccoli in some strange semblance of hands. It lunged towards Siegfried.
At the same time, the tree that provided pleasant shade at the northern end of the garden uprooted itself, striding at us with lumbering steps. A number of decorative scarecrows - bringing to mind some of the horrors I recall from Ravenmoore three years ago - started moving towards us. All bellowed in a language none of us understood, though it had many of the same cadences as Varisian.
I was not looking forward to fighting another battle so low on resources and without my armor. I've chided many Pathfinders on the coarse manners that come of wearing armor and going about armed at every instance of every day, but I confess...it's days like this that make me see the temptation. Duty calls and we are bound to answer, of course. The scarecrows focused their initial attentions on Lark and Saga, causing them to stand there slackjawed. I called Eltherin to the captured blade I held, telling him to clothe it with fame, then moved closer to Lark. They're called scarecrows for a reason, and while I know no fear as a holy warrior of the Lady of Bones, others respond better to my presence.
With a flaming sword in hand, I also called upon Divine Favor, while moving closer to one of the scarecrows. It took the bait and closed on me, the better to try and touch Lark; Lark was touched, but shook off the fear. I, on the other hand, was able to strike its limb with the full force of Pharasma's might behind the blade, and drew its attention, then stepped away from Lark and gave it a full on flurry of sword strokes, chopping it to flaming kindling.
While I dispatched one scarecrow, Siegfried and Iroh were making short work of the other one, while Paltinor was shooting the carnivorous cabbage compost pile. I moved to deal with the animated tree, with Siegfried moving up to assist me. It generated a fear aura, and Siegfried fled the area. Saga came up and flanked on the other side - while Eltherin making my borrowed blade flaming had no effect, Saga's eldritch cold abilities proved quite effective. I got hit a number of times by its limbs, and had to fall back more than once to lay hands and heal myself - it was a near thing. Iroh and Lark took out the second compost heap while Saga and I dealt with the quickwood.
Siegfried nearly suffered a crisis of faith - scions of Gorum's Might are not supposed to flee living foes or abandond their comrades, but eventually we dealt with it. Zeeva Foxglove came out from where she was hiding, and said that the creatures were speaking Shoanti, and telling us that there would be no violence here, in the shrine of Galdron Greenheart. After giving us a bit of healing, she directed us to see a seer in the Skaldwood, a day outside of town.
We rested up for a day, and took the trip outside of town, eventually meeting with a woman named Telmayne Fire-Eyes, a fire-dancer of the Shoanti. Bearing the burden of a century of grudges against the Chelish grudges, she was indifferent to our requests for aid. After Lark attempted to persuade her of the righteousness of our cause, I took the tack of mentioning that our mission, ultimately, is to bring peace. This got us invited to dinner and a ritual with a pipe of drugs. I performed a dance, weaving fire and shadow into art with my hands and my body as taught by the D'ziriak in the plane of Shadow, and we were told the sad tale of Galdron Greenheart, the name mentioned by the haunts on the Green Market. Afterwards, while preparing for the evening ritual, I was able to ask questions of the cult of Lissala, discovering that the greatest of her temples was in a lost city, far to the east of Riddleport, and under the waves of the ocean.
Each person who partook of the smoke was granted a vision by the Shoanti custom, with others seeing it a bit. I saw Lark as an overweight girl with a pasty complexion and mousy, oily hair, being rebuffed by the men she fancied. I saw Siegfried represented as a hollow facade of a man, striding empty through a battlefied riddled with grasping corpses, charrad and salavered, afraid to look down lest he see the faces of comrades he could not save.
I was afraid for what I'd see; some glimpse of the future where I gave birth to some monstrosity born of Shadows, somehow granting Nicasor a place in this world. What I got instead...was a memory. Of my father's hand on my shoulder, saying "There...move the probe. Feel the tumblers in the lock. There Agda! Good girl!" Of hearing my brother Edouard piping up saying "Let me try, Papa! Let me try!" Of looking back at my father's face, and seeing that he loved us, and loved seeing the world anew through our eyes, even if it's a simple three tumbler cylinder lock...of seeing us challenged. Of wanting to see us grown to our full potential, and cherishing every minute, every hour he had with us.
I realized that the Lady of Graves was sending me a message with this vision - to embrace the life within me. To raise it as best I am able. To show it love.
After accepting local custom, we learned of Galdron Greeheart, who attempted to make a sacred space where all members of all the tribes of Shoanti could meet as equals and brothers, to resolve their disputes without bloodshed. And how his desire to lay down weapons left him unprepared for the Chelish conquest.
His shrine was buried under the mound that the Green Market was built upon, and it is thought that his spirit lies there still. We were tasked with lighting a candle, unearthing his bones and laying a pattern of seven klars in a ritual to open communication with his spirit. Our mission? To remind him that he left this world a man of peace and should hold no war upon the living. She told us that we could douse for the location of Greenheart's body.
Returning to the market, I prayed for the guidance of the Lady of Graves, and, blindfolded with a gravecandle in my hand, walked the spiral of bones until I felt the pull of the shrine, the feel of the uneasy dead, taught with tension left for the realm of the living. I knelt with the candle at the unmarked grave, and gestured. Digging commenced. Some call the Pathfinders the most highly organized guild of graverobbers in the world, but I saw our purpose as righting a wrong and putting a spirit to rest. A bit of digging got us to a stone table. Following the instructions of Telmayne Fire-Eyes, we laid out the broken klars in a sihedron, the top blade pointing east, towards the rising sun...and seven crystal scorpions came out of the ground, a further manifestation of the spiritual unease.
It felt wrong to smash things so beautiful, but one of them tapped Paltinor and made a number of his faculties less capable. They dispersed and used hit and run tactics upon us, trying to draw us away from the site, by using dimension door, making attacks and leaving. This made Paltinor surprisingly less effective, but eventually they were defeated.
As the last klar was put into place, it was as if the world swirled around us, and then lost it's color. I thought, for the longest moment, that I'd been pulled back to the Plane of Shadow. But not fully - we could see three large fire elementals surrounding a ghostly Shoanti of powerful build. Looking about my companions, I saw them translucent, and superimposed by their own images of each other. Looking down at myself, I could see the shape of my child through my own flesh, looking for all the world like a spray of stars across the winter's sky, wrapped in the form of a child sucking its thumb. Looking about, I saw Paltinor covered in odd runes, and saw the superposition of Lark and her internal perspective of herself...and looking about, I could see the remnants of a camp, tents made of animal hide.
Seeing the situation, I pulled out the cup of Pharasma, and splashed holy water in it - then sprinkled it over Siegfried's axe - the blade of which glowed translucent and blue as my pick-axe does. It seemed appropriate. Paltinor and Saga started dealing with the fire elementals, as did Iroh and Lark - I danced between three elementals to get close to Galdron Greenheart, hearing him bemoan his ire at the results of his attempt at unity through peace. A part of me truly wished to talk to the spirit, to try to reason with it - that died when three fire elementals started attacking and he swing his spear with vicious intent at Siegfried.
I moved up and healed Saga, rather than let her face an elemental on her own, then moved to assist Siegfried, drawing several attacks, none of which hit, en route to Galdron.
TSiegfried swung, and with his axe able to harm creatures on this plane, did grievous damage to Galdron Greenheart. Meanwhile, Saga and Paltinor had taken down one elemental...I stepped up and attempted to talk to the man, and got burned by an elemental focusing on me. I swung at him once more, missing. He floated up out of reach and cast spells to heal himself. Siegfried animated his cape to grapple him - while it had no effect, it caused Greenheart to move higher up. Then Paltinor salvoed a prodigious number of arrows, and Greenheart's spirit...changed.
He dismissed the remaining fire elemental, and claimed that he could no longer guard the Green Market, that it was wrong to unify out of fear of the consequences of not doing so - a wise ruler does not do so. He swore to bind the hatred and rage in his heart - and plucked a gem from his own chest, handing it to Siegfried.
"It is not weapons or armor which prevent peace, but the desire for wrath in the hearts of men." And with that, he left, leaving behind a necklace of beads formed from the spearhead embedded in his chest - his death wound. As we collected them, reality resumed the solidity that is so comforting to us all.
In the aftermath, Zeeva was not certain if our actions, or the notion of vengeful spirits kept the Aspis Consortium from bothering her...but I think she was certain she'd not be bothered, even if she'd rather we never came by again. She was, last we heard, converting the shrine of Galdron Greenheart into a raised fountain and a bas relief of his memory, over seven broken klars, represenign the need to set down weapons and talk. This appears to have won the grudging acceptance of Telmayne Fire-Eyes.
After events in Korvosa, and a month's downtime for travel, we returned to Absalom.
Pathfinder Ambrus Varsin asked us to do a mission, with some assistance from the eminently distasteful Guaril Karela. An elf by the name of Syrdathiel had fallen behind on his debts, and needed to liquidate some items of interest to the Society in a hurry. We were to meet him in a restaurant in the Ivy District of Absalom known as the Golden Serpent. It is an expensive place, but in an area patrolled by a locally hired constabulary and the Brotherhood of Abadar.
We were asked to persuade someone named Syrdathiel to sell some goods to the Society in a restaurant called the Golden Serpent. Our contact was nervous, and while it was supposed to be a milk run...these things seldom are. Hoss wanted to know how much physical torment we could deliver to Syrdathiel as part of the mission.
We seemed to be over-geared for a mission like this. Given the nature of the mission, one where I can sit down and not have my feet or back hurt is appreciated.
We went to the restaurant, and met Sendeli Foxglove, sister to Kiva Foxglove. Both Seigfried and Hoss tried to be subtle. Our companion Balek doesn't do subtle. We met our contact...and Balek's onion and garlic breath caused me to run for the bathroom to hurl.
While I was cleaning up, someone threw a fireball into the dining room. Hoss had Sendeli lock me into the bathroom to keep me safe. It didn't hinder me much - he forgets I'm better with locks than he is.
I moved out into the area, drawing shadows over me, using the arts of the D'ziriak.
I saw Hoss shoot a man on the south side of the room, while Saga was getting thronged by a crowd of patrons desperate to leave - there were dead people on the floor, and Seigfried was badly hurt. Balek healed him and got ganked for his trouble. I cast down Pharasma's Blessing and slipped back into the shadows, then threw a chakram at the man attacking Balek.
Then our contact betrayed us, attacking Balek, who slumped to the ground, bleeding and unconscious. I broke from the shadows and dove under the table to heal him. Our contact threatened to hold me as a hostage...and then Hoss shot him with merciful bullets, until he went under. I shackled his hands, and Hoss and Siegfried bullied him into coming to the Grand Lodge with us.
At the Grand Lodge, we spent time with Ambrus Valsin, and he talked to our captured contact, who said he'd fallen behind an organization called the Crowsworn. They had a base in Absalom, underneath a glassblower's shop.
Seigfried Hoss and Balek all tried to keep me from going along, due to the pregnancy. I outstubborned them, saying that if it was my fate, the Lady of Graves would take me when it was meted. It was a long, and tempestuous, argument. And I explained many things to Hoss that heretofore had only been in my journals, about what happened to me in the Plane of Shadow and at Nicasor's manse. Eventually, we rested, and went to the glassworks.
Hoss came from that evening stone drunk. Still, his suspiciosu mind makes him apt at finding traps - he found some sort of magical trap over a hidden door in the glassblower's shop, and we descended a ladder to a complex underground.
I found a room with some costuming - and using the uniforms there, I plucked shadows and wrapped people up in a passable impersonation of the robes of the people we were infiltrating - in the next room over, Hoss convinced some members of the guild to practice more...dilligently. Saga eyed me oddly as I clothed her with the art forms of the D'ziriak.
We went to a natural choke point, where Hoss, attempting to open the locks, botched it. A collapsing ceiling game down and nearly flattened him, and injured Saga. I had been trying to get up close to assist him, but...he shoved me back trying to keep me safe. I was the only one to come out of that mess unscathed...and next to Balek. Balek cast a defensive spell on me - as if being pregnant somehow made me fragile as spun glass.
The commotion of the set off trap brought out two members of the cult of the crow, who ganged up on Hoss. I ducked through the fight, nimble and quick, attacking one of the people there, and moving to flank. They went down quickly...and then I was enchanted. To protect one of the Crows. As Saga charged, I hit her with my pick. As Seigfried charged...I hit him as well. Saga's attack took down the man who enspelled me, and I stepped up and healed him.
I remember Hoss telling Saga not to attack me...but she did. And her chill touch caused my child to kick within me. Contractions began. The child wanted out. Siegfried felled the person who'd enspelled me in one massive chop and I came to with Hoss laying atop me to protect me, and Saga in her rage...and my pants wet from my water breaking. There was a lot less of it than I'd seen before. I don't know how far along I am or am not.
While I tended to that, the rest of the team entered the room the Crowsworn had come from, and encountered the real Syrdathiel - the man we took from the Golden Serpent was an imposter, and a man named Josiah, who was a cleric of Shelyn. Josiah healed Syrdathiel, and told us that he suspected something dangerous and dire had taken over the Crowsworn. We sent the two of them out by the route we knew, and pressed on. Or rather, the party did and I waddled to suit.
I waddled along and tried to keep the mess from being patently obvious by pulling shadow about me. Siegfried and Hoss went deeper into the base - setting off one more trap. Then Siegfried got attacked by two flying small creatures with claws - they damned near killed him. I stayed to the shadows, healing him - then cast Bless Weapon on his axe. I am not sure what it was keeping him on his feet, but in spite of Hoss' objections, I stepped in and smote Evil, felling one of the beasts flanking Siegfried. Hoss felled the other one near instantly; I think it was attempting to surrender.
We spent time - too much of it - rummaging through the rooms the two creatures were in. I spent a fair bit of it sitting down, and trying, discretely, to control my breathing lest I trigger labor early.
Further investigation led us to the western half of the complex. Hoss went south to investigate another room, detected a trap - and then set it off, while the rest of us stayed a good distance away - he fell asleep, then two doors slammed shut, then a chime sounded.
We turned - and saw Sendeli Foxglove standing there. It gave everyone pausel and I took the occaision to use the Sight of Justice - she radiated a strong aura of evil; Sendeli Foxglove did not. The creature - we never got its name - transformed into a red-scaled hideous thing with a viper's face, and six snakes for arms, blathering about how Sendeli was a little thin for its tastes, but she could see the benefits of adopting her face long term.
While this was on, I slid my wand of Bless Weapon and used it, and summoned Eltherin to my pickaxe, hanging back. Eltherin expressed concern about my condition - and I shared it. I was down to one of the healing touches left, and my child was kicking and my womb contracting. This was not the circumstances to stage a birth...
This creature laid out a barrage of energy spittle from its arms, putting Saga down hard, and staggering Siegfried. Belek moved into the room and cast a spell, then started casting healing spells...at range. I strode in, attempting to look impressive, and largely failing - then the creature started to flicker in and out of the material plane. She apparently did not recognize the nature of my pick.
I called upon the Will of Pharasma, and Eltherin glowed with the power of Justice over those who murder and send the innocent to the Boneyards. Saga stabbed it and her blade turned largely aside; Siegfried flanked her on one side - and I attacked from the other. We spent an interminable time barely harming it; Siegfried struck her once, and I kept missing. She kept attacking back at us - dodging her strikes was not helping my goal of not going into labor at all.
Belek withdrew, taking damage as he did so - but attempted to open the door keeping Hoss away from us. In doing so, he drew her full attention, and while she extended to shoot at him, my contractions began in earnest. Screaming in pain, and with every muscle of my body contracting behind the blow, I struck her through the chest with the pickaxe. Then I collapsed as my child ripped through the placenta, and not being of this plane, crawled through my body to the air, draining strength from me as it went.
After that, my memories are somewhat hazy. Someone woke up Hoss, who was screaming at me about the undead horror that I'd birthed. I was exhausted. I was tired. And I heard a voice calling "Mama..." in Celestial as Hoss was holding both guns pointed at me. Saga was staring in horror. Balek threw himself between me and Hoss and attempted to pick up the child.
I opened my eyes. It was a Shadow, half-tenuously shaped in a humanoid form, with eyes of starlight and wonder. It sang to me. I focused the Sight on it...looking for any taint of evil, and reaching for the bottle of Holy Water at my belt in case I found it. There was none...and it called me Mama.
There was a long, drawn out argument that I faded in and out of. I used my last use Pharasma's healing touch to mend the injuries of childbirth, such as I could. I think Siegfried insisted that it wasn't our duty to end the life of a newborn, and for that I am grateful.
There is a long drawn out discussion to be had with Hoss. I resent the fact that every time I tried to talk to hin about this, he avoided the discussion - except when we're on a mission. The Lady knows I had my doubts...and I still do, even if I've a child with eyes of starshine and an odd precociousness to her.
I've named her "Astrid," which means Beautiful One.
Pharasma's dance of bones, I don't know what to do.
Iroh had been part of an earlier mission, bringing Agosa Agion into Rahadoum under the cover of darkness, to investigate a mysterious plague. The Society sent a team consisting of myself, Lark, Saga, Hoss, Siegfried to assist Iroh in Rahadoum. The man he'd smuggled into the gods-forsaking country had gone missing. We normally go where the Society bids us, but our particular mix of people included a lot of the god-touched; I'm a communicant of Pharasma, Iroh an inquisitor of Shiziru, the Tian goddess of swordplay, honor and the sun, Lark a battle cleric of the goddess of Love and Beauty, Siegfried is a crusader of Gorum, and Saga is a spirit touched by the Fey...and Rahadoum persecutes all of those who accept the assistance of the Divine. Still, we go where we are bid. Fortunately for me, Astrid is a very...pleasing...child, and really wishes to be liked and loved. I shudder to think at what temper tantrums would be like with a child who regards walls as largely social constructs rather than actual construction. Even so, I've taken a lot of effort to talking to her and explaining that she's to hide under my cloak unless I say otherwise. I am slowly weaning her onto consuming the strength of animals rather than nursing off of me, but it takes...work. I've given so many patients advice on nursing babes...and none of it applies here. Getting her to Manaket was challenging...and Hoss still avoids me. Lark as well.
The Venture-Captain Obo of Swordmeet Lodge in Maniket told us that Agosa Agion had not reported in for more than a week, and that he feared the worst. He thought Agion has done a delve with other pathfinders near Wadi al-Hesr, a city that had periodically refounded itself due to shifting trade patterns and the availability of underwater aquifers refilling. Based on what Agion had told him, Obo surmised that Agion's team had found a network of ruins dating back to the Jistka Imperium somwhere around the area. They went out to investigate further, and all he had was fragmentary notes, which read 7x4211x15 - 11x4281x20. I guessed that this was a pair of regnal dates for a local ruler, and then we moved on to Wadi al-Hesr. While there, we discovered a large field that stood as a cemetary with many obelists with dates, and mausoleums. One, identified by locals as the Kharza Necropolis, matched the dates on the note we recovered.
We rested overnight, as we'd arrived late and our tempers were frayed. Hoss, in particular, was being a jackass towards me and Astrid...and though I didn't see the byplay that led up to it, bedded Lark in the next room over from where Saga and I were sleeping. Loudly.
Pettiness is beneath me. It really is. It really is. It really is...and if I keep telling myself that, maybe I'll believe it. I did lose some sleep over this, as I had to keep Astrid from walking through the wall to see what was going on. She likes Hoss. No accounting for tastes. I wonder if she thinks he's her...father? He's the only male who seems to stand up to me.
Eventually, Astrid amused herself and I got some sleep. Apparently, pettiness isn't entirely beneath other members of the party. Breakfast was presaged by Hoss throwing a blue stuffed goblin out the window of the room while the rest of us were waiting for our meal. Lark came down looking happy and vindicated, and practically rode Hoss's arm. I wonder how long that will last; Hoss is dumb enough to try and hit on me or Saga or someone else while Lark is around.
Even so, the mission comes first, and...as I wrote before, pettiness is beneath me.
We found the Kharza Necropolis in the cemetary after traveling a day out of town. It took about two hours to find the right place in the necropolis, and then it was obvious - it was the only tomb that was opened to the air. The name on the mausoleum was one Adel el-Manhir, and a bit of looking by Hoss and myself revealed that the sarcophagus concealed a set of stairs going down - a very long way down. One wonders at how much better everyday life could be in Golarion if the talents of its architects went towards building adequate housing for the living rather than digging underground catacombs for the undead.
Opening the stairway down released a roiling miasma of rot and decay, intermixed with spices. We went down the stairs; two of my teammates started transcribing notes about assorted dusty murals. Apparently, this complex pre-dates the Osirian Empire, and shows a mix of Jistka and Osirian influences. At the bottom of the stairs was a body, identified as one of the missing Pathfinders, Desi Talan. As we approached, Hoss and I both detected an arrow trap. We made short work of disabling it.
There were a lot of tracks in the dust; not all of them were human. I attempted to minister last rites by the Faith...and discovered that his body was infested with grave beetles. I was able to avoid them, and doused the body with alchemical fire potions.
Moving through the compound, we found two bodies about three hundred feet to the west. One had been stripped to the waist, its ribs broken open and its viscera eaten. The other, more intact body, was face down in a pool of blood, and wore a green turban of the local style. The room was laid out with burial alcoves in the wall. There are times when I feel the crack about the Pathfinder Society being the Grave Robber's Guild has more merit than I'd like. Clearly these are members of the Pathfinder team preceding us who met an untimely fate.
The rest of the architecture in this chamber had a collapsed roof, and a 30' tall statue of a giant winged humanoid beast with horns and a lionesque visage. After our return, my sketches helped identify the statue as being of Ahriman, a fiend of the Underworld.
I recognized that the first body had been eaten by ghouls, and moved to sanctify the corpse, having asked Pharasma's insight into that need in the morning. Iroh recognized the green-turbaned body as Agosa Agion, moving to roll the body over.
As he did so, Astrid caught a glimpse of movement in the niches, and called out "Mommy, what's that?"...and the "dead" cleric Agion channeled negative energy to harm us all, then rolled away as a half-dozen ghouls charged from the niches. Siegfried dropped one instantly, then got stunned by one of them. I moved to kill the ghoul in front of him before it could claw him to shreds while stunned, but missed. Lark moved into the middle of the room and channeled positive energy while Hoss let fly with his guns on Agion, dropping him quickly before he could channel or cast another spell.
The ghoul in front of Siegfried unleashed a blinding flurry of blows with its claws, but did little damage to Siegfried through his armor. Siegfried threw off the paralysis effect, but was sickened by the ghoul's disease.
Iroh was hit by their claws, but proved immune to their paralysis effect. They were not immune to his steel. Saga stooed by Lark and intercepted the ghouls coming towards her and killed them - Siegfried then killed a ghoul while Hoss killed another. It was a clever ambush, but not beyond our capabilities.
I finished sanctifying the corpse of the death Pathfinder, to prevent him from rising as a ghoul to face us later. Iroh was saddened at the loss of Agion, whom he had grown to know in smuggling into the country.
His mourning was cut short when the tall idol began to speak, giving a warning for grave robbers to depart, and identifying the tombs as being of Vardizaam Charad, the Immolated Mirza and a great genie warlord.
We did not leave, though investigation of the idol made it clear the sound was coming from somewhere else. More information was given...as we heard the stone gate at the entrance of the tomb grind shut. A riddle was given, recorded here:
"Half past the new moon and twice the tides break, the sphinx feeds at the noon, and reclines in its wake."
We investigated the stone barrier - Astrid could fly through it, but was not clever enough to open the door from the other side. The stone block had a rectangular niche in it, of a purpose we discovered later - it was openable through the use of a puzzle map.
Moving deeper into the tomb, we encountered a chamber with tall ceilings, a marble pathway, and sculptures of iron, rusting slowly in the dry air. Cases full of dust and crumbled remains also dotted the area...and Hoss used charges of a Wand of Comprehend Languages to read the inscriptions, identifying several historical personages. There was a stone table, bearing the removed face of Agosa Agion, stretched out as for a mask, draped over a bowl. There was also a chalice bearing the markings of Sarenrae.
The chalice was filled with blood, spiced with something. None of us drank it, through Saga took a sample for later investigation. The disembodied voice returned - coming from the severed mask of Agion's face. Another riddle was given. I am growing to hate riddles.
"In a nation of godless folly, who is the greater fool? The follower of the empty god, unable even to protect its own, or the follower of an empty man, filled only with the knowledge of his own inadequacy?"
"Choose wisely, and we shall drink together to your choice: you the cup of your choosing, and I the other. For when we finally meet, one will make the drinker a lion and the other a craven jackal before him."
"Is it the accomplishment of man that emboldens his steps through his mortal journey or his faith in the unseen? Choose, and choose well, or choose not at all and face the stinging venom of your own folly.”
Clearly, this reflects some of the spiritual and philosophical discourse present in Rahadoum.
We heard a command word after we discussed whether we'd drink blood created by something undead. I and Saga and Lark were all opposed to this. At this point, a trap door on the table opened, and a half dozen iron cobra constructs awakened. We shoved the lid back on the table, and I disabled the locking mechanism to keep them trapped there.
Moving past the...trophy chamber, for that is what it was, we encountered an octagonal chamber filled with sand. Hoss moved in, then backed out as he detected tremors of a false floor. What came out were a pair of giant ant lions were there, as well as a pair of giant lacewings.
Hoss, Astrid and Siegfried made short work of the giant vermin; Astrid was immune to their attacks. They were not immune to her ability to drain their strength, nor could they hide from her in the sand.
Moving through the remainder of the chambers, we found an opulent room covered in cushions and carpets, silk draped adding a touch of warmth to the walls, and a quartet of hyenas yowling and fighting over the remains of two dead bodies, the last of the original Pathfinder team.
While we investigated, two of the hyenas changed shape...and attacked. I heard the incantations of a spell, but could not see the caster. Then a swarm of beetles appeared, and needed dealing with - I kicked a brazier over onto them and poured alchemist's fire. It was clear we were facing an invisible opponent.
Hoss threw a bag of dust into a square, revealing the creature for a moment - then Siegfried got in a good solid hit. It vanished again; I heard it move through the corridor outside. Hoss and I went out to pursue it...Hoss going further than I did. It then attacked him. I rushed to heal Hoss...and heard it move by me. I swung my pick at it as it did so, and connected. I was too busy healing Hoss to pursue directly, but we got Hoss out of the area, and moved back into the...apartment.
I slipped into shadows and focused the Sight, until I could isolate its evil Aura. Meanwhile, it attacked Lark, who was channeling energy to heal others...and then, for reasons which baffle me, moved out into the corridor. Alone.
It followed, and I pursued, breaking stealth - and lost line of sight on it when it want around a corner. I didn't see where it had gone...until it attacked Lark from above. I was close enough that when it tried to leave the area, I was able to attack after hearing it attack - and the connection was quite solid.
I told Lark that we needed to all stay in one place, and force it to come to us - it was clearly attacking people on their own...and after Siegfried had hit it, and after I'd struck it the second time, it was apparently avoiding the two of us.
It also appeared to be largely immune to Hoss' bullets.
In the chamber, I used a wand of Bless Weapon on Saga's arrows, on Hoss' ammunition belt, and on her spear, and set her in the middle of the room, while Iroh and I were both sitting on opposite corners trying to overlap it with our abilities to detect evil, both of us doing so from hiding.
Vardizaam Charad had grown cocky - Iroh and I eventually detected him. We saw a drawer opening, and a potion drank. Iroh cast True Strike, then summoned his bane abilities into his Tian blade, while I sprung out. Saga fired with her bow. My attack missed due to his invisibility, but Iroh's landed, and Saga felled him with a cold-iron tipped arrow.
Sorely wounded, and nearly out of healing, we continued - there was a back entrance. We hoped it was a way out of the chamber. It proved to be a chamber holding a chained sphinx, which challenged us with, sigh, yet another riddle. Which, having an insight in the nature of flattery, we solved handily. By offering to free her, we gained her alliance, and she showed us the puzzle map, and Vardazaam's voluminous journals about the fall of the Jistka Imperium, which had a map to a buried citadel, and information about how Vardizaam created the Night Plague which has been ripping through Rahadoum.
We were able to return to Obo's lodge with this information and are currently contemplating when we shall move on the buried citadel.
Venture-Captain Obo spent more time than we'd expected deciphering the puzzle map we recovered from the tomb of Vardizaam Charad. Iroh, Lark and Saga went on another mission of their own, while Gonk eventually caught up with us, after having had a romantic interlude with Ekkie, the goblin female he consorts with, coming with a quiet man named Doyle, leading...a dinosaur he called Conan. This gave us a team of Hoss, Gonk, myself and Astrid, and Doyle and his dinosaur to seek out the buried Citadel of the Weary Sky.
Some delving in Obo's library revealed that the Citadel was associated with Ahriman, whose statue and cult we discovered in the tomb of Vardizaam Charad. The Citadel was deemed "The Oasis to Spite the Barren Heart" and similar occult metaphors. There were also rumors of the Jistkan Imperium's use of bound elementals as shock troops, and that they had rings to control them. Most have been lost or destroyed over the last 8,000 years, but some may still persist...and any new Jistkan citadel is usually a magnet for looters and those who seek their secrets. The Society included, and factions within the Society, such as the Shadow Lodge. We were told to retrieve that item, if it existed.
Obo gave us valuable information from the original archaeological team, and we went out prepared with scrolls of several spells to unmask the portal. We gathered resources and mounts, and prepared to cross the sandy wastes of Rahadoum. It took two weeks to get there, and Obo lent us two of his household staff and a train of camels to make the trip. Much of my effort on the trip was keeping Astrid amused and to keep her from trying to play with Obo's servants, or to pester Hoss that much.
We reached the area shown on the map to find an obscured crater in the bronze sands of Rahadoum. Our preparations to open the portal proved unnecessary - it looks as though the Shadow Lodge agents beat us here. At the bottom of the crater was a 20' diameter portal. Hoss and I went down the slope of the crater, with Astrid flying with me. Our steps woke some giant insects of some variety; I believe they were called dust diggers - and they were huge, nearly the size of elephants. What they eat in this desert waste, I've no idea.
Hoss and I were too nimble for their attacks. Doyle and his dinosaur stayed at the rim of the crater, and we made short work of them - Hoss through gunfire, me with my pick, and Astrid just by touching them until they were too weak to hit anything. This got Doyle and Hoss more than a little alarmed.
Past the enormous insects, the portal dropped by about 60' and was an easy climb, going down through worked stone. The architecture changed abruptly at that point to a set of stairs spiraling down, decorated in malachite and gold. These stairs were pristine, and not been used in ages. Indeed, I'm amazed that the mechanism that works the door still worked after all this time. Normally temperature changes from night to day and back will cause warping...but I've grown accustumed to this type of surprise.
At the bottom of the stairs was a narrow corridor, barely seven feet high. Gonk kept running into problems with his horns there. Hoss and I moved on ahead, I left Astrid back with the rest to keep her safe. The corridor led out to a round chamber paneled in mosaics glorifying the Jistka, and three armed and armored men looking very bored as they waited.
Hoss was in favor of killing them while we had the advantage. I stepped out of Shadow and talked to them instead. It took some work and some misdirection - we claimed to be their relief, which is technically true. I asked if the "old man" had done anything odd - I suspected Amenopheus as an agent of the Shadow Lodge based on prior encounters. They were happy to recount what was going on, that he'd gone down the hole in the center of the chamber with five other people, and left the three of them to guard.
We told them we were covering for them, and Doyle led them back to their camels, explaining we'd dealt with some aberrant vermin en route, and they should make haste to get home as quickly as possible before another moved in.
We climbed down the provided rope - it was dangling from an extradimensional space. Climbing down, we went through a peculiar black fog...that shocked Hoss and Gonk with electricity, burned Doyle and his dinosaur with acid, and then did a flame bolt that narrowly missed me.
We made it past the elemental fog and the place was blisteringly hot. Hotter than the desert several hundred yards over our head - the fog hugged the top of a natural appearing sandstone cavern. Around us, there were roiling cauldrons of hot mud and what looked like molten basalt. The place reeked of sulfur...and it was hot enough to make us not want to stay here long at all.
There were several ruined buildings surrounding a lake that smelled of rotten eggs trying to be brimstone. The only good news was personal - the lighting was ideal for me to do shadow-weaving.
Astrid, Hoss and I moved carefully around the area - the place we descended into was a shallow pool of water, not exactly healthy to stand in when lightning is coming from the sky. Through the flickering, we saw four men on prayer mats. A woman in white robes was tied to a pedastal facing them; as we got closer, we were able to make out the words of the litany. I grabbed shadowstuff, and moved closer, using the Sight upon her to read her intentions...and by doing so, I detected the ruse. She was not there to be sacrificed by them - she was there to lure wood-be rescuers in. Her aura was otherworldly and evil.
I used my shining wayfinder to cast Protection From Evil upon myself. Other members of my party were not so well equipped. Hoss got hit with a hideous laughter, and was more or less out of the ensuing fight. Very smart move on her part - he was our best ranged combatant, and she was dedicated to flying past us and attacking en passant. Gonk pulled out his bow, I pulled out my Chakrams. Gonk activated his boots of flight and took to the air to combat her as best he could. I sent Astrid up to assist him by flanking if she could, but with instructions not to touch the creature. Some extra-planar creatures are more than capable of dealing with shadowlings.
In the end, it was Doyle who solved the conundrum - I called upon the ability to smite evil, and threw Chakrams at her, but Doyle started calling lightning and simply electrocuted her in mid-air as she tried to fight Gonk.
After she fell, the men she'd had enthralled slowly came to their wits. They said they were in the pay of a man calling himself the Sapphire Sage, had come down here under protection of feather fall and protection from energy spells, and mostly wanted to get home. Doyle cast communal resist energy upon them, and Gonk flew each of them up to the rope leading past the horrific elemental storm. More important, they said that the Sapphire Sage was hunting an artifact that would be of use in Almas. They said that they were not the first group of people to find this place and enter - the portal had been open for them, too.
Doyle was able to find tracks heading east after that, and we followed them - past a building that was slowly sinking into a pustule of lava. Our guard was lax - a giant magma elemental rose out of the ground, belching a puddle of molten rock. I took the time to cast a scroll of resist energy on myself.
It attempted to bull rush me into that puddle. I was, to be honest, merely lucky. It missed by inches. Astrid, on the other hand, did something terribly foolish and brave. She tried to distract it, flying down and draining its strength. This got its full attention - and it lit its hands on fire, and attacked her.
I think this was the first time she'd encountered something that could hurt her, just a bit. She caught on fire, and then dove beneath the ground...and I attacked it. I attacked it with a fury I'd never felt before. Hoss moved away and shot at it, while Doyle and Conan provided flanking for me as I kept hitting it. It was a difficult fight - we kept having to maneuver around the puddle of lava it had created and it kept slapping us into it. We were all regretting that Doyle had cast his spell to let others leave this awful cave.
I healed people - Gonk healed people. Eventually the creature went down to Hoss's gunfire...and I went and looked for some remnant of Astrid. There was none. Not even the amulet I got her to let her touch things. Hoss...said that this was, perhaps, for the best, because the child was, in his words, an "undead abomination."
I read him the riot act. Astrid is his daughter. Then I started to cry. It took a lot of time to recover from this emotional let-down. Hoss and I mostly snarled at each other as we walked another mile or so - towards a ruined building shaped barrel canted at an angle, piercing the strange cloud of energy. It was full of music. Working our way around the ruins, we encountered a chatty...salamander named Calipharo. Hoss and I were attempting to sneak past it, and it spotted both of us; the music we'd heard was its singing hymns to Ahriman in its own language.
We tried to negotiate our way past the creature. It believes that a mortal incarnation of Ahriman has returned to this wretched place, a creature with the face and features of a lion. We almost succeeded, but had to combat him. He started with his pipes, creating a fear effect. Her Lady of Bones has granted me immunity to fear, and my friends were close and took inspiration from my presence. Hoss took to shooting at it from range...I ended up wading into its cradle of hot coals to fight it directly. I got pulled into its lava pool, but was still protected from fire energy. I was alternating with healing touches and trying to break free - eventually I did so.
It had two....companions, that attacked from invisibility. Both went down very quickly as soon as their positions were revealed - they were Hoss's first targets; he has developed a profound dislike of invisible opponents since our explorations of the tomb of Vardizaam Charad.
The effort needed to try to keep me grappled in the lava allowed Gonk to move up and attack it with his falchion, and for Hoss to shoot it with his pistol doing cold damage. Eventually the creature went down.
I used many charges of my wand of Cure Light Wounds to patch us up after the fight.
Leaving the chamber of the lava pit out the back way, we eventually climbed to the pinnacle of the building - only a few tens of feet shy of the roiling mass of primal elemental fury making the sky here. There was an irregular shelf of stone jutting out over a severe drop. Encased in sand fused to glass by random strikes of energy was a skeleton with multiple shattered bones.
Descending from the cloud was a man of obvious fiendish descent, with the face and features of a lion and wings. He demanded we worship him as the manifestation of Ahriman made flesh...and clearly he was attempting to transcend to an apotheosis. Left to my own devices, I'd've left him there to starve. We were low on healing. Hoss attempted to shut him up with gunfire.
He cast blesphamy. This nearly killed Doyle outright and deafened Hoss.
It was yet another fight with a flying opponent. I used Smite Evil and let fly with Chakrams, while Hoss shot at him. Gonk flew at him with his boots, and Doyle cast air-walk so I could run up to the fight. He attempted to smite good, and I smote evil upon him...but it was largely Gonk who ended the fight, with Hoss doing a fair bit of the damage. Enlarged, he was simply a bigger target for Hoss's pistols.
Eventually we prevailed. With further investigation, we tried to recover the body encased in glass - all we recovered was a ring, which, apparently, Amenopheus missed in his investigations. Tracking along, we did find trails to Amenopheus' escape route, which was a small tunnel leading out and avoiding the horrible energy field under the top of the chamber.
Aside from Astrid, none of us died...and a day after we returned to the safehouse, Astrid...re-formed. Or re-coalesced....or simply found me again. Talking to her, she had dove under the ground to put out the fire that had been set on her immaterial essence...and she still has the mind of a child. She is bound to me - but she couldn't find me there, so she left through the ceiling when she could and flew back to the safe house.
We were sent by Shevala Lorae to treat with Grandmaster Torch. Hoss showed up...Lark did not. But the team had Gonk, Saga, and someone I'd not known named Haru. She lent us a wayfinder, while Hoss made inappropriate comments at Haru. Hoss and Lark and I need to have a sit down talk. Preferably with Abadar's Truthtelling running. It tends to not suit itself well to diplomacy, but Hoss thinks he can keep the two of us battling at each other.
Torch's headquarters was a bathhouse carved out of a sewer system under the Puddle's district of Absalom. He had a pair of half-orc guards, one of whom recognized Gonk. They objected to his presence...and accused Gonk of having a romance with Haru. Got to watch two of the guards flirt with Gonk...who responded to the flirting, and then had Ekkie throw feces at him out of jealousy - Ekkie was a Goblin follower Gonk acquired. Hoss laughed. The temptation to kidney punch him was quite high. Or trip him. A Pathfinder named Striesand was on his way out - Torch was soaking his burn scars and gave us our mission.
We were asked to recover four faked items, so that Torch could preserve his reputation as an underworld information broker. A person who sold things to him was bragging that he'd sold forgeries to Torch. He showed us a shield he'd recovered - ostensibly the shield of Varovan III. He asked us how we'd determine its provenance; Hoss tried to appraise it. All of us tried to remember what we'd studied about the history of Varovan III to determine its provenance - I let the scholars futter over it to discern things; I have many talents, but this is not one of them.
Haru eventually dug out that it had a transmutation spell upon it. We were shown something that was ostensibly a chunk of the hide of the terrasque. Hoss shot it - the bullets dented it, which it shouldn't've been able to - and he set it on fire. Proving it a fake.
The next object given was a cracked skull of Ergol Nirmath, a historical artifact of the Freedom Wars. The skull's death wound was in the wrong place; the skull we were given had a cracked bowl. Ergol Nirmath was dead by an assassin's blade to the heart.
The final object was ostensibly a historical document pertaining to the Chelaxian conquest of the Shoanti areas, with ten signatures. They proved to have been made by the same scribe. The seals proved to be the final provenance. One of the signatories was also dead before the date on the scroll...
Torch said that a team of Red Mantis assassins had moved into the north of the city, and that they were targeting him. He sent us in a pro-active team to deal with them. He asked us to kill them all, which I have qualms over. Hoss asked why Torch was asking us to do favors for him. He sent us with one of his child-spies with some information on the Red Mantis' base. We got to see a sketch of the Red Mantis uniform.
We were sent on up to an area to the north of Absalom, under a waterfall - we were attacked on a waterway by a group of fighters, who served as a distraction for a pair of assassins. Haru was dropped by two assassins, and Hoss was greatly injured. While I dealt with three fighters on their own, Astrid flew to Hoss and poured a potion of cure moderate wounds down his throat, calling out "Daddy!" in Celestial. Gonk cast Breath of Life on Haru, and Astrid and I (and Hoss) took out the two assassins. Their leadership gone, the fighters fled.
We found a door with five faces and a musical instrument - the instrument played a series of notes, which, when translated through the treble clef, gave us words and the sequence to press on the five faces. Inside, there was a large room with cages in it and people who had been taken prisoner from Absalom. We freed the prisoners...who shed illusions to reveal themselves as Red Mantis assassins and leadership cadre. We were attacked in the ambush - but were well prepared for it. Or thought we were. There were two medusae hidden in the illusion and they were right next to Hoss and Haru. I was attacked and missed, and counterattacked. Astrid saw her father in danger and ran up to defend him, distracting the medusa enough for him to step away and fill her full of lead. Haru put one assassin to sleep and one of the medusae. After that the fight ended fast. We encountered a note and it had a simple substitution cipher, shifting all the letters 4 forward in the sequence. The note was turned over to the crusade with the key. The note names Grandmaster Torch as the leader of the Pathfinder Lodge.
Further exploring the complex, we ran into three giant mantises, and their minder Vashion the Needle. The battle dropped Haru, causing Gonk to use another Breath of Life scroll to revive her, but I took out Vashion the Needle.
We confronted Grandmaster Torch about the contents of the note. Torch was once a Pathfinder himself. His adventuring career ended with a horrible curse, and the death of his team of Pathfinders. He claims the Decemvirate abandoned him to his fate on a secret mission. Torch confessed to running the Shadow Lodge, an organization dedicated to keeping the lives of Pathfinder agents from being spent like loose coin in a brothel. I had strong words with him - that the Silver Crusade is better suited to watching out for the safety and well being of Pathfinders than his organization of shadowy malcontents. Saga had been doing favors for the man, as had Gonk. I think I may take the time to introduce Saga to Ollysta Zadrian.
We got called in in the pre-dawn hours to find someone named Airk Jarigan, who claimed to have found an artefact called The Sniper, a statue of Erastil drawing a bow. Our team had Osahar the Risen, Lark, who was shocked and delusional at thinking that Hoss was monogamous and raised a stink in front of the Venture Captain. We also had Iroh, Saga and two companions new to me, Colm, who had a giant bird following him, and a man named Cecil.
We went to a tavern named the Lusty Mermaid. Airk wasn't immediately visible. Cecil and Lark and Osahar confronted the owner. After a bar fight broke out, I summoned Eltherin to make my pickaxe merciful, and we eventually subdued the owner, Laro, and a man in his employ named Garon, who had Airk's amulet. Interreogating Garon, we discovered that Investigating further, we cound a map to the wrecks Airk was investigating, and a stash of potions of "Breathe Water." We were sent to an abandoned part of the Absalom harbor, where we rowed out to the Iron Tide - a submerged ship impaled on another underneath it. Colm used a device to make his appearance change to look like Laro, and talked the guards into leaving. Exploring the wrecked ship, we had to fight underwater; Lark cast "Freedom of Movement" and "Bull's Strength" on herself. Saga cast "Touch of the Sea" on a number of us, and we dove down. Cecil, with his armor, moved very slowly as we explored, while Iroh dragged a chest out and left us on business of his own.
Deeper within the wreck, we encountered a spectral jamboree, the spirits of deceased pirates set as guardians. Lark took the brunt of their attacks, before I moved in after seeing her nearly withered to death. My ability to do full damage to incorporeal creatures proved quite useful - they were dispatched, two by me, one by Colm firing a bow...underwater. I'm amazed he tried at all.
Further into the wreck, we encountered two moray eels tended by two fishmen, called "Skum" - a fight ensued, and Astrid proved critical at keeping the giant moray eels from ganging up on us, and feed off of the life energies of one of them. Moving towards the bow of the ship, we went up - to the part of the lower wreck that was only partially submerged. There, we met Draga Mor, and a bound spectral servant of his. I was gravely wounded by the servant's corrupting touch, but Astrid poured a potion down my throat - I am grateful I got that amulet of ghost touch from the Crusade. Colm took out Draga Mor while I put a great wounding on the spectral servitor. Lark channeled positive energy to finish him off - and to harm Astrid, whom she resents as a sign of Hoss' infidelity, I suspect.
We returned the statue to its rightful owners, and had a number of restoration spells cast to help us recover from the fight with the spectres. Still, there was unfinished business to attend to.
Cecil had discovered where the more unsavory sorts who patronize the Lusty Mermaid disposed of bodies, and led us there - it is always a solemn procedure to recover the body of a Pathfinder.
Boris - this came through backchannels from Shiela Heidmarch. We were to be there by the first night of the full moon. Our group had Gonk, who provided transport on his boat, Siegfried, Lark, Saga, myself and...Hoss. Astrid has taken to trying to win Hoss over by leaving crayon drawings in his room. Hoss was worried about Astrid's health, and I explained that leaving behind an easily bored six-year old child who regards walls as a social convention not a barrier wasn't...practical. She's also taken to hiding from Lark.
Gonk has been having romantic troubles with that Goblin, Ekkie that we encountered in Magnimar. The trip north to Sandpoint was tense and involved a number of tight conversations with Hoss and Lark and a few with Saga. We reached the bar, and were met by a representative of the Ten, who told us that an up and coming venture captain, Boris Mesmerov, who's been missing for a month.
There was a Varisian carnival in town, where, according to his notes, a seer named The All-Seeing Hajeck, had the keys to a lot of pre-Thassilonian knowledge. Boris Mesmerov was being groomed to replace Aram Zhey, and had a knack for finding things he shouldn't.
According to Boris' letter, he was meeting with a carnival in Riddleport a month ago. The same carnival is in Sandpoint now. His disappearance would be around the time of the last full moon...and the name of the carnival is the Full Moon Circus and has its show dates leading up to and past the Full Moon. The Varisian carnival split off from a larger troupe the Umbra Carnival; the Pathfinders say they aren't as notable as thieves.
Siegfried, who’s of Varisian background, knew a fair bit about Varisian performer culture. He gave us a lot of background on Varisian traveller culture. They are the type of people who enjoy the life of perpetual travel and entertaining, according to him. My own experiences, growing up with my father, are that we always did good business selling new locks travelling ahead of the Varisian travelling troupes. We had good relations with them - a lot of their reputation is undeserved, but not all of it.
I asked what Mesmerov might have been researching; the representative of the Ten knew nothing of it - but said the man had a meticulous mind for research and that he had a tinker's brain for finding puzzles and solving them.
We moved towards the carnival - Hoss showed off by throwing hedge apples at bottles, and won two stuffed animals. One he gave to Lark - a pink bear. He won a blue goblin which the vendor dusted with something that allowed Astrid to hold it, or so they claimed. He handed it to Astrid and called her "darlin'."
Lark talked to a gnome in Sandpoint who had a small waxy brick of silver sheen of some sort. They're worried about lycanthropes. We found the wagon of the All Seeing Hajeck - while we were looking, Astrid drew a sketch of her stuffed blue Goblin and wrote "Thank You Daddy!" and named it Grangly. Lark got a sooth said - the woman in the trailer said something perceptive about Lark's love of Hoss...and that Hoss has the affection of a child of Shadow.
In the wagon, we all felt something askew on this woman's bearing. Like something else was at play - she wasn't lying, but she might have been shading the truth or lying by omission, or that there's a seeming or possession to her. Lark cast Detect Magic, and offended the woman...or the entity controlling her. When offense was given, Lark attempted to dispel magic...it seemed to fail. Lark drew her glaive after seeing that failure.
Hajeck threw her deck of cards and opened a funneling vortex...which pulled everyone into someplace else. Looking up, the sky seemed...mechanical in nature. A moon swinging by on an armature, stars circling against a dome painted dark blue. We found several fake trees...that looked like theater props. But they felt like real trees.
We were surrounded by the cards on the ground. I helped others pick them up after some...unpleasantness with Lark calling me a Slut. Gonk attempted to identify their magic and got stunned by the arcane power contained within them. Hoss ended up with the deck and threw a card down in front of Lark, almost in spite. It was the card of “The Crows”...he threw one down in front of Paltinor. The one of “The Marriage”. Apparently...Hoss is destined to marry Paltinor. Lark and I had a bonding moment over Hoss marrying Paltinor and which one wears the dress.
At that time, we heard the voices of someone in distressed. Paltinor and Hoss moved us towards the noise to avoid the discussion between Lark and I. We ran for about 20 minutes and encountered a circus...where there were tengu clowns beating up a man. Siegfried and Lark moved up and confronted the clown-birds. One threw a dagger at Siegfried after Lark challenged them to be joyous and happy.
Hoss went into hiding immediately on seeing the clowns. I moved towards the center area of the conflict. Saga ran up and cast Stabilize on their victim. Lark cast Blessing of Fervor and included Astrid in it - Astrid went out and grabbed a clown's ankles, weakening him. I stepped up to guard Saga, who was armed with a bow. Paltinor shot one of the clowns - hitting three times, while
Hoss moved into position to fire - the shot was deflected by one of the clowns throwing a pie into the line of fire. This is a very strange demi-plane. The demi-plane of slapstick...
Siegfried left the opponent that was facing Astrid to try to grandstand, attacking two opponents - and missing both of them. Lark dropped the foe in front of me. Saga shot the one who was facing Astrid...who then channeled positive energy to harm her. While I went and dealt with one of the rogues attempting to flank Siegfried, Astrid hid in the ground, because that positive energy hurt her. Paltinor finished off the one who harmed Astrid. Hoss finished off the last opponent.
At the end of the fight, I heard a giggling, "You guys sure showed those clowns! It's about time someone did." We had a conversation with a...winged cat...named Curchanus. I had to keep Astrid from trying to pet him. He claimed that this demi-plane was part and parcel with the creation of the Harrow decks. He said he'd seen Boris Mesmerov, before he'd been taken off to the Striding Fortress. This demi-plane was created by Sonnorae Bard of Harrowed Tales, who made the plane to embody the children's stories. It Controlled by the Conspirators...and most of the manifestations in this plane are story-kin, they don't have free will, they follow stories from which they were plucked.
The leaders of this demiplane, called the Conspirators, were the villains of the children's story this demiplane was meant to contain. Each of the Conspirators has a piece of Sonnorae which lends them reality. Their leader, Zassrion the Patchwork Lord, has the aim to stitch together a body that can leave this realm and retain his full power. This reminds me far too much of Nicasor and the Mansion of Midnight, and his aim to escape to Nidal.
According to our guide, the story-kin, when killed, slowly come back into reality.
Curchanus was the familiar of Sonnorae. He says that when she was killed, her body was eaten and the gems from her kapenia became items of power. And those gems being collected...called Conspirator Tokens - there are eight total, we think. They could be the key to returning home. And they could lead us to the Conspirators, who we otherwise have to find by tracking down the kobold-piloted striding fortress.
Sonnorae’s Harrowing deck is the conduit by which the Patchwork Lord dominates people in the Material realm. Apparently, having the deck in the Demiplane of Slapstick hinders the Patchwork Lord's plans - he will need to come through us to get them back.
Curchanus showed us more of the power of the deck. If you visualize the card you seek, it appears at the top of the deck.
Curchanus told us to seek out the first Conspirator - called Bernaditi the Ringmaster. We went out to find the big-top for the main display - Curchanus than vanished, and said he would contact us when it was safe for him to be around.
Saga asked questions of Curchanus about the spirts that follow her and rise out of her when she rages - she is touched of the raging spirits of the Fey, that they were not Evil, but of Chaos.
After some time spent travelling, we found the big top - the rest of the team prepared their battle-lore, I had the wand of Bless Weapon in my hand. We didn't know what to expect - there was a stone giant juggler, and four bears riding unicycles...and in the ring, a creature that looked like a toad dressed in tights and a quilted jacket.
Hoss and I tried to sneak in...Unsuccessfully. The stone giant threw a giant club at Hoss, which stunned him. Hoss threw down the "Bear" card from the deck, hoping for the best...and tried to command the bears to attack the juggler-giant. It didn't succeed.
We were fighting in front of an audience of storykin...and they paid special attention to Gonk when he started his sea chanting. Then the bears came and attacked. On unicycles. The juggler went down, and we disposed of the bears. The crowd was pleased with our performance...and we were brought before the ringmaster, who had hands on backwards, the sign of the Rakshasha.
Rather than fight for its token, he wanted to bargain with a game of riddles. He makes statements and we can ask questions and derive answers to prove why his
"I am good friends with Baba Yaga." was his first assertion. Hoss asked when the last time he saw Baba Yaga, trying to pin down their last meeting to a date...which was 12,000 years ago."
"Her daughter on the throne was Maeve. What color was her hair?"
We continued onward in the Demiplane of Harrowing, moving towards our second objective. After two days of travel through briars and brambles, we found a clearing and camped for the night after dealing with mechanical bunnies.
We set up a three watch rotation and something happened on the second watch. Some of our party - Hoss, Saga and Platinor...stopped casting shadows. Siegfried recalled some...fairly obscure...children's stories about an owl that stole shadows for its nest. Where we'd find an owl's nest, I'm not sure. However, not wanting to lose Astrid, I stayed up for the third watch. Gonk used his abilities to erase my fatigue, but those abilities did nothing to help those who lost their shadows.
I wove shadows around Hoss to give him a false one...in the hopes of luring this creature out. The rest of the third night of our second leg of the journey passed without incident.
Hoss started hitting on Saga the moment Lark was asleep. I am afraid Lark's going to be hurt by his callousness.
Saga was able to find tracks for the owl creature - surprisingly, it barely flies, but hops. We followed them to another of the odd false trees. Siegfried moved up into the trees using his odd cape. He found a spot that's been landed on a few times - he looked funny with his head popping out of the top of the tree with his blue hair.
Further wracking of memories pulled out the phrase "Imbur comes at night." And then Hoss started talking to disembodied voices in trees - there were three exchanges, with Hoss getting agitated. And the voice moving counter clockwise through the copses of trees. I moved to the next tree in the sequence to keep an eye on things...and spotted a winged creature.
After Hoss failed to intimidate it, I attempted to bargain - looking for things it might value. We bargained some of my underthings, Saga's snow and a kiss from Lark, along with other silk items. The creature is a minor type of angel called an avorel.
I stitched everyone's shadows back to them by the techniques of the D'ziriak. He gave me a needle and thread to do it, and agreed to watch Astrid keeping her safe while we dealt with the next token acquisition.
Moving down the path, we encountered a winged serpent hovering over a pool of multi-colored water, crying. Hoss tried to talk to it. It claimed to be saddened over a horror it had done in the past. The story of the winged serpent was of a creature of unfettered joy. This was not its demeanor.
After discussion with it, it felt guilty about having fallen in with the Conspirators, and it had taken one of the Conspirator's compassion. Lark attempted to assauge its feelings and offering it a hug...and then it used a spell like ability to set Paltinor and Gonk to crying uncontrollably.
At that, we attacked it, beat it handily and crossed the bridge - over to a grave yard out of a bad children's storybook. Crossing a bridge, we faced the Barrowking, a wight that cast grasping hands in a strange parody of a graveyard...which seemed to regenerate him when he moved through it.
I smote evil and hit him twice, drawing his attention - then was nearly killed in one blow. I cast Bless Weapon on Siegfried and on Hoss' ammo belt then stayed back to channel energy with Lark, while Gonk took his gaffing hook to spear the body of the Barrowking.
After getting through the combat, we lit two candles on the altar...and the Barrowking appeared again, but was willing to converse. Hoss attempted to snatch the token from his crown, and got caught, and level drained. I persuaded him to hand it over peacefully, and gave Pharasma's blessing unto him. He let us leave peacefully, and asked if we visited again, to light a candle to help keep the restless dead asleep.
Saga's bow was largely unrecoverable after the fight - it was shattered to flinders. Saga also didn't recover from the energy drain of the wight, while the rest of us prepared for it and did so.
Travelling on, we encountered a Prince Brambleton, Prince of the Briar Patch. We talked of the gems needed for our escape; he said he knew of the location of another and would trade the information for a price. His price was single combat with our mightiest warrior.
After getting his assurances that it would not be to the death, and promising to heal him if he lost, Siegfried challenged him to the combat, staking rare dyes he uses on his hair as his wager.
Brambleton used magic to vanish, and apparently clothed himself in mage armor. Siegfried cast See Invisible from a scroll, and then alternated between missing a lot - we could see grass being bent by his opponent as he moved, and Siegfried cast more spells to improve his odds to hit, feigning being unable to see him to buy time for casting.
The fight danced around for nearly 6 minutes - we could hear solid hits, and Siegfried spent spells to heal himself and renewed a few attacks of his own. It's rather challenging to watch a fight where one participant is invisible. Eventually Siegfried collapsed, but his opponent called it a draw and swapped wagers.
After his defeat in battle, Siegfried chased after Lord Brambleson to recover a pot of hair dye. I think this place is affecting his mind. And it may not be limited to just him. Hoss and Lass pursued him - and the way this place changes according to the whims of fairy tales, all three...vanished.
We went overland for three days to our next objective, called the Prophet Garden. En route we encountering a storykin man named Algon, who demanded our tokens...and fought us for them. He claimed to smite evil, and did, indeed, do extra harm to me. I fought defensively and Paltinor shot him at range. Our path was marked clearly by signs and mini-dragons pointing the way. There was a goblin dressed as a dragon capering and yelling at a unicorn with a pear stuck to his horn.
The goblin playing as a dragon was demanding that the unicorn give him the pear. Behind the goblin was a stack of pears. The goblin said those pears were worthless because they had words written on them. A negotiation ensued - led, thankfully by Saga. The goblin behaved rather childishly...but we negotiated in good faith. The goblin wanted the fruit without the writing, the unicorn didn't want to trade with a childish goblin. Like bickering children.
We swapped the fruit the goblin didn't want for the one he wanted - the unicorn left after that. Leaving us alone to entertain a childish goblin. Assorted attempts at appeasement ensued. We bought him off with some pepper sauce and flying him around with Gonk's winged boot. I found a circlet that called to my fingers. I put it on.
Six of the pears were potions of protection from fear.
We moved on and found a dias surrounded by pillars. Each pillar was carved with one of the images of the Harrow deck. In the center was a bent old woman. Curchanus appeared and told us that this was a shade of Sonnorae. There was a long negotiation with her shade. Curchanus told us that we needed to put her down...and Hoss appeared, looking confused.
A fight broke out - she cast a large Cone of Cold that I nimbly dodged as did Hoss and Paltinor. Saga and Gonk took some cold damage...and the fight went very quickly from there, with Paltinor dropping her with a stream of arrows. I sent her to Pharasma's realm and told her we would do what we could to put her spirit to rest. Her token was found at her chest.
We pressed onwards for two more days and found a large building, which, according to Curchanus, is where destroyed storykin reform. The Conspirator in this site was called Marzelee, known as the weaver. We navigated through a twisty warren of wooden corridors...and then Lark appeared as though she'd just been written into the story. We came into a large room with a humaniform ant and her assistant.
Marzelee was distraught about other Conspirators taking control of her storykin, the Tik-Tok Man and the Night Peddler. We offered to deal with the two rivals in return for her token. Curchanus appeared and offered his words to our nature and character, and to stay as a hostage on our behalf. When we return, she'll give us the token.
We moved on to the Sanguine Playhouse where two grigs ran the box office, one of them with a floating self-playing violin...which compelled Hoss to start stripping and Saga to gyrate in time. It was a magical compulsion, and Lark clanked around noisily in her armor attempting to dance...and trying to cut me off from Hoss.
Really. I train deportment and dancing to the nobility of Magnimar. She had no chance in a dance-off, and I cut in and swept Hoss' attention to me, and broke the compulsion on him and the others. Lark was completely shown up...really, isn't jealousy and vanity something that priestesses of Shelyn are to avoid at risk of drawing the ire of their goddess? I swear, she's one whip-crack away from being a hooker for Callistria.
We got into the theater and were called up on stage to do improvisational theater. Which caused the creature acting as the director, Eliana, to change shape to a bare-breasted woman with the lower half of a snake...and with pet cockatrices which she set upon us.
We had to check weapons with the box office to get into the theater. Gonk lent me one of his daggers once we got inside, having made it vanish. I dealt with three of the cockatrices using Divine Favor on my dagger - Gonk chanted to boost morale. Hoss deat with the cockatrices sitting near him while Gonk make mirror images of himself. We waded through the fight - I had to smite evil against the snake-woman, but Hoss shot everything down.
At the end of the fight, we were given a token, our fifth overall, and our directions since them took us to a giant caldera, worked up with stone work and a cut staircase made for giants. We came closer...and saw Siegfried running across the road, without his axe, his hair turning black at the roots.
Up the stairs, we heard singing in a language none of us knew, and saw azers throwing hammers into rocks trying to keep us from climbing.
As we climbed, they poured lava down the path. It took more work to get us up there, but we did. Within, we met a community of fire elementals and giants. While initial negotiations led to a fight, which put Hoss at the threshold of death, I...moved through a wall and talked to the Ettin that was there to negotiate upon our behalf, ending it. Paltinor's bow was destroyed during the fight, and he attempted (unsuccessfully) to negotiate with the smiths to repair his bow - they did fix Saga's bow from the the prior fight, with the central grip of her bow redone in Mithral with an ice-and-snow motif.
While Paltinor attempted to get his bow repaired, and Siegfried moped, we went on to the Tick Tock Man. And Lark, Hoss and I had an awkward conversation, asking about whom Hoss loved. This resulted in Lark more or less decrying all emotional connections with Hoss.
We talked to the Tick Tock Man...and had been in the process of negotiating a deal. Except that he wanted us to go back on our arrangement with {Name} the ant-queen. As we were talking, Hoss opened fire from the shadows.
So much for a peaceful resolution. I realize there are some who call the Pathfinders murder-hobos, but I do try to avoid living down to expectations.
The fight started with the Tick Tock Man using a black ray that did horrible things to Hoss. We had to beat up on him; he did not drop any of us. On ransacking his body, Hoss was unable to find his Conspirator's Token. I put the most recent token on a string and used it as a dowsing tool, walking through the caldera forge...and found it in the bottom of an ale cask. Gonk was in the process of drinking a Cyclops under the table.
We spent some time getting Paltinor's bow repaired, and then went over the mountain, and then down to the desert to find the Night Peddlar.
En route to the desert, it was cold. Bitterly cold. We camped and ate hard tack - while we reprovisioned in the caldera, we are running low on food, though potable water is less of a concern. It took three days to cross the mountains and go down to the desert plain; on the last day, Saga heard a struggle off in the distance - there was a mist obscuring her sight. She woke me, and slipped off to investigate. She came back to report two shadowy figures fighting, a gigantic wolf fighting a large man wearing robes, an eye patch and a staff - both were badly torn up. Clearly storykin fighting out some hopeless conflict eternally as a moral fable.
During the night, Hoss sniveled trying to get into Lark's bedroll, claiming to be cold. Lark laid into him, and he tried to be charming. I went on Lark's side - in spite of her venomous jealousy towards me. Saga came back with an amulet - and we found our way to the hot, blistering desert, where we encountered a centaur being chased by a giant cyclone. We fought the cyclone and dispelled it with a joint effort.
After banishing the elemental, we talked to the centaur, who was named Ever Ready Jacob, who told us of the Night Peddlar. While trying to negotiate with him, Hoss immediately returned to form and started threatening him with bodily harm. There are days when I wonder why we take him anywhere...this entire expedition into the Pocket Dimension of Cliche'd Stories has been a constant reminder.
After smoothing over Hoss' faux pas, again, we did business with Jacob, who gave us directions to the Night Peddlar's travelling emporium. When we arrived, there was a palisade holding a bunch of storykin slaves, two guards at the gate. Hoss opened up by negotiating to buy slaves....then got us in to talk to the Night Peddlar. The slaves asked me to assist them; if we have to deal with the Peddler by violence, as I suspect will need to be the case, we'll lead them back to the Waxworks.
We went into a pitched battle with the Night Peddlar and his guards. Curchanus appeared with the last token when we defeated the construct at the end of the fight, with instructions to the Wandering Tower from here.
Hoss Malone:
*snuggles up to Lark for warmth
Lark the Pink Nun:
*Brushes him aside* Your no longer welcome under my pink bedroll
Hoss Malone:
C'mon baby, I'm cold.
Lark the Pink Nun:
I care about your chill as much as you cared for my love.
Hoss Malone:
So that would mean tons and tons Baby.
Lark the Pink Nun:
*turns over and ignores*
Hoss Malone:
*Sits there shivering and sings, "And when I see you cry, it makes me want to die... I'm sorry I'm bad, I'm sorry you're blue, I'm sorry about all things I said to you... And I know I can't take it back... I love how you kiss, I love all you're sounds, and baby the way you make my world go round... And I just wanted to say I'm sorry..."
Lark the Pink Nun:
*smiles but hides it*
Agda Haskell:
(( watches in the dark. arches an eyebrow. shakes her head. ))
Hoss Malone:
Sings, "Sometimes a fool doesn't know he's a fool Sometimes a dog, he don't know he's a dog Sometimes I do stupid things to you When I really don't mean it at all Sometimes a man is gon' be a man It's not an excuse, it's just how it is Sometimes the wrong, don't know that they wrong Sometimes the strong, ain't always so strong."
Lark the Pink Nun:
Oh shut up, Im trying to sleep!
Agda Haskell:
(( waits for Lark to cast Silence on Hoss. ))
Hoss Malone:
C'mon baby, Im cold... I can be good. I just dont wanna lose you.
Paltinor:
*snickers*
Lark the Pink Nun:
You only say that now! After all the things you've done, *eyes Agda* All the times you embarrassed me, you want me to believe you can change?
Agda Haskell:
*rolls over in her bedroll* "Hoss, be a man and stop sniveling. If she'll have you back, you'll have to earn her trust. And perhaps use your brains as something other than a hat-rack."
Agda Haskell:
"Honestly, Hoss...your treatment of Lark? Think it through."
Hoss Malone:
I can change, I'm really a good man, deep down inside *lowers his voice hoping everyone else wont hear him being pathetic*
Lark the Pink Nun:
A good man?!? You just tortured a creature and you expect me to believe your a "good man"??
Hoss Malone:
*lowers his hat and lights a cigar*
Paltinor rolled over and said to Siegfried:
"Now watch the excuses fly."
Lark the Pink Nun:
*glares at Hoss* "So, no response??"
Agda Haskell:
"Hoss, when you're not thinking with your dick, you're charming. This isn't about your charm. This is about your character. The choices you make. The expectations you set, and then act wounded when people are upset that you fail to meet them."
Hoss Malone:
*Tastes the cigar and doesnt speak... spits to the side*
We trekked along Curchanus' instructions for four days - we're nearly out of food - before meeting up with the Striding Fortress. Hoss threw a line up, and we entered - on opening the first door, we found a crescent shaped bathing pool full of three nude women. As I was attempting to use Her Sight, Hoss, of course, attempted to "negotiate" with them....and then Lark shoved him into the wader after seeing him lead with his dick, just as I saw their auras and called out "No! Don't!"
Once in the water, the three women bathing transformed, growing wings and transformed into their true nature of succubim...and he got electrocuted. He pulled back from this, trying to run out of the water, and got more damage for his trouble. On seeing their wings sprout, I cast Bless Weapon on my pickaxe and moved up.
They lunged and attacked. Hoss got out of the pool, finally, badly hurt, while Lark went up to attack them - the one nearest her counterattacked, while the one nearest me tried to hit me and failed. The one in the middle moved to the south of the room and let fly with a lightning bolt, which Hoss barely evaded, and Saga took some harm from it. I strode forward and killed one while Hoss poured fire into a second, and Saga fired arrows into a third. I dropped two, and Saga dropped one. We had to expend a fair number of healing resources after that fight. During that fight, I think one of the succubim tried to alter Hoss' brain. He was yelling about how he'd been "tricked by pussy too many times to fall for that s~~#." before.
We found the doorway to the command post of the Walking Fortress where the kobold pilot, Meepo, said he was from our plane, and asked if we knew the Irrisen man with the huge books - a good description of Boris Mezmerov, who we'd been sent into this place to rescue, three weeks (our personal time line) before.
He directed us up the tower stairs, where we found two creatures - an Ifrit and a Meryl. Hoss tried to "negotiate" with them by threatening to kill them. I'd already slipped past them, and was expecting the others to do so. The Meryl summoned a swimming pool of water, and I knew that Hoss was caught in it because he sounded like a cat in a washing tub. The Ifrit created a wall of flame and then I saw billowing clouds of smoke. Lark made it up the stairs. Then we heard Hoss screaming.
I went back down, fetched Hoss out of there, found a wall of smoke, pulled Saga out of the smoke and directed them up the squares. I tried to convince Paltinor to run through the fire to join us, but he didn't. With the water coming in, I had to lead the rest up the squared. I used the arts of the Shadow Plane to create a pit to slow down the Undine and her attempts to flood the tower while we withdrew.
Lark barred the door with her glaive while we went through the rest of the tower, where we found Boris Mesmerov. I took his hands and pulled him through the Shadow Plane out of his cell...and he used his magic to deal with the two of them. We rescued Mezmerov and tried to find out more about the final antagonist...neither he nor Meepo were forthcoming.
Meepo directed us to the stairways up to the top of the tower where the Patchwork Lord, named Zassiron, held court. Lark attempted to negotiate...and what she was negotiating with was an illusory duplicate. We knew negotiations had failed when Paltinor got bitten by a dragon's maw coming from behind me.
I cast Shield of Faith and Bless Weapon, then Divine Favor and moved in to attack; it swiped at me and missed. Lark cast Blessing of Fervor, and moved up to attack it as well - and neither of us could hit it. Hoss was able to, firing his guns. The dragon attempted to use fear; I held our resolve by pointing out that my Lady of Death would welcome us all. The dragon was surrounded by a crackling nimbus of energy, and I backed away - but not far enough. It blasted me with its breath weapon, and I blacked out. When I awoke, I was prone, before it, and used the Blessing of Fervor to leap to my feet and withdraw, the better to cast from a scroll. My plan was interrupted when he downed Lark. I had to sneak in around the edge of the curtain, grab her, and use the shadow transferrance to get her back to Saga, who'd pulled out a scroll of Breath of Life from Hoss' backpack.
While we were grouped together, Hoss continued firing, and Paltinor shot him - and the dragon charged, just barely missing the Dwarf. Lark was put back on her feet and she started casting a summoning spell, while I moved in position to attack it...and Hoss filled it full of lead before I could get back into position. Hoss started bragging, Lark gave him a kiss...and then Hoss started acting like an a@$!$+% again.
With the dragon slain, and the token retreived, Mesmerov was able to use the astrolabe in the fortress to figure out where on the Material Plane we needed to depart at. Meepo (thankfully) drove me back to the forest near the Demon-gate to pick up Astrid, who had been watched the entire time by Imbur-comes-at Night. Astrid had many stories to tell about playing hide and seek among the trees, and how much she missed me and Daddy.
After this, we were all set free of this wretched demi-plane near Sandpoint; Meepo followed Mezmerov, as did the dispossessed catlike familiar. Hoss cavalierly hooked his arm around Lark's waist and said he'd see us all in a week, and Lark that entire time. Lark shoved him away and said she was through with him, except in a strictly professional sense.
I stood next to Astrid, and said "Malone...leave her be. You've got other obligations. To me. And to your daughter." This sent Lark off in a rage of sorts...and Hoss looked like an ass. Not that this is anything terribly new.
Sheila Heidemarch asked us to investigate the burgeoning cult of Lissala, sending us to a town called Palin's Cove, where her prior agent, Charito Menas, had vanished. Our contact was a Gerhart Antrim, met at a bar called the Baited Hook. Our team included Iroh, Lark, who appears to be en route to converting to the Callistrian faith, an Elven woman named Adelaide with a...peculiarly separate conscience. Siegfried, Doyle and his dinosaur, and...Balek.
While we went to meet with our contact, Lark...had business. And walked towards the Callistrian temple. Our contact was...dubious about our ability to blend in to this town, which is covered in soot and mire. Adelaide was propositioned by a villager, and then drew steel on them. After Balek...intervened...the situation was resolved. She and Siegfried went on to play cards with local card sharps. Adelaide talked of Desna, and the men she played cards with talked about how Desna's faith has left the town, as the pot and stakes were raised.
I kept Astrid under my cloak, while Doyle turned into a bat and pretended to be Balek's familiar. We learned that a few Stedoris factory workers had turned up as corpses in a coal bin. They suggested that when those bodies turned up, all the blood had been drained. Not a single drop left. They shuffled and were a little hesitant with this information.
After comparing notes, we followed people and heard about the asylum, where patients were talking about secret cults. Rumours passed around. We'd heard about a further pattern of disappearances, along with many people claiming they'd lost their faith in assorted gods, and were looking to...fill the void in their lives.
I used Balek as a stalking horse while gathering more rumurs. Adelaide investigated the Herney Factory and learned that the Herney's had their estate about four miles upriver. I cautioned people to cover themselves in soot and try to blend in with the townfolk. Lark, of course, is so vain that this fell not only upon deaf ears but outright recalictrance. I really wonder when Shelyn is going to abandon her for her inability to see the beauty in others...
Rumours picked up said a woman named Malena Tollach lost a child - badly deformed - in childbirth. She now sequesters herself in her factory, and periodically talks to patients in the sanitarium. This is a town of madness, it seems.
Sanitariums and Asylums - why does it always end up Sanitariums and Asylums?
We went to the Belodia Asylum, and were introduced to the chief of the orderlies, and then, after talking to them, led down to the holding cells, where Tomasz Kosta was. He was mad, his eyes gouged out, and...a dhampir. I think he might have been the child of Malena Tollach reputedly lost in childbirth. Between this, and the fear of bats, I think this town has a vampire playing subtly in the power structure, likely based in one of the foundries. Possibly Malena herself, since she is not seen out and about. Given the soot and poor days, it would be amenable to one with that affliction.
Malena appears to be at the top of the church of the feasters of the heart. Tomasz had talked to a woman with a honey'd voice - could this be Charito Menas. He said that the cult of the feasters of the heart met in the night of {get detail} by the standing stones, wearing dark robes.
He talked to Lark, flirting with her. I talked to him, and he...sensed...my sojourn in shadow. He asked to be released, to face the light of day. He asked if I could release him, I do not know that I have the authority. When Siegfried talked to him, he demanded his freedom. Doyle cast Daylight on a stone, and he flinched from it, as thought it burned him.
Adelaide approached, and refuesed to let him touch her, then her...Conscience kicked her. She cast a spell that clothed her hand in a nimbus of negative energy, which Tomasz reacted to like a cat looking for catnip. He said that the ones that come for him in the night.
Then the orderlies started coming down the hall...and they showed the taint of ill thought and the nether realms. The first one lunged at Iroh, transforming into a snake creature. A fight broke out - I closed to stand next to Iroh. The creatures were called totemmaskes, and Iroh bore the brunt of the attacks. I smote one, and leapt through shadows, allowing Siegfried to do massive damage on the two in front of us. I took a moment to pull out a wand of Shield, and cast, then charged into the fray with the second, finishing off one that Iroh wounded. After the fight, it was clear that these creatures were tainted undead, and that Iroh needed assistance and time to recuperate. I was trying to figure out where the standing stones were for the Feast of the Heart Eater.
We were asked to contact a townsman, and moved to a Menhir, wearing black robes. I wove Shadow around those who needed. As the mission called for stealth, I felt it best. We were led to the Talich foundry. I kept my weapon carefully stowed, and my primary wands on hand.
We were led in, and asked to take the sihedron as a brand on our flesh. Balek refused and was escorted out. Lark accepted the brand, and was escorted through a door. Siegfried did as well. I took the brand, and through the door was a furnace. On the opposite side of the furnace was a secret door, which I let myself through - to find Agda, Siegfried and other people attempting to join the cult. Doyle assumed the form of a bat and clung to the ceiling, he did not pass through the furnace. Lark, Siegfried and I were there - Lark cast communal Protection from Evil.
I burned a charge from the wand of Blur on Astrid, and sent her to find Charito Menas and then find me, staying under the floors.
We were challenged to produce the strongest and weakest among us. Lark's friend asked to be called the weakest. Lark did not permit this, and we worked out a ruse, where Lark would claim to be weakest and I the strongest. When we were confronted with the time to present our choice, I made a paen to the power of unified action, and Lark's ego caused her to claim to be the greatest and me the weakest.
We were pulled into a room - where we found Charito, clearly turned to a vampire. Charito promised Lark eternal life if she removed the heart from the weakest of their number. Or eternal undeath. She handed Lark a dagger, and I kept my faith that Lark hadn't turned. Lark challenged her, and channeled energy. We heard screaming from the next room over. While under the robe, I called Eltherin to my pick-axe, and called up the Vengeance of our Lady of Bones. Lark and I dealt with the cultist. Balek commanded Charito to kneel, and I granted her Pharasma's mercy, slaying her. She turned to mist, and I had Astrid follow through the walls to see where her coffin lay.
While I was doing this, Siegfried was turning one of the rooms into an abottoir of salavared undead parts, and we regrouped outside of the double doors. Lark, in a fit of pettiness, kept me out of the effect of one of her spells, but I pressed on. In the main room behind the furnace, we encountered Milena and her husband, Ilan, and three more undead monsters. I cast shield upon myself from the wand, and Milena put Lark, myself and Adelaide into a web spell. I returned the favor and transposed a chunk of the floor to a part of the Plane of Shadow...which she barely avoided. Doyle hedged her in with a giant ball of water, after turning into a fire elemental and burning the web around us.
I had Astrid step out of the wall to flank Ilan, and I ran to attack him, drawing a lucky attack from one of the undead creatures in my way that just barely hit. When I reached Ilan, I missed the first time in my eagerness to smite him. He cast Slay Living and groped at Adelaide, who'd moved up to attack him directly once she slipped the web. He missed, barely. I called upon Pharasma's insight to strike him down...and Astrid helped. My pick-axe clove him from crown to crotch, and he turned to mist...while Doyle had Milena in the water orb and was bashing her against the spikes in the bottom of my pit.
Lark demanded a compliment to salve her petty ego; she'd irritated everyone else on the team. I told her that I believed that under that armor of jealousy, she had a beautiful soul, and if she put that green burden down, the rest might someday see it. She gave me a look of vipers...and then channeled energy into Milena.
I advised Adelaide to make the insides of those coffins reek of garlic oil, and Balek converted the aqueous orb into holy water. This caused Milena to turn into a mist to flee....I had Astrid follow her to her hiding place, and we pursued once Astrid told us where she was, putting an end to her blight on the town of Palin's Cove.
I required some Restoration spells, but the Society came through on covering the cost of powdered diamond.
Lark and I went forward to explain the horrors done, and rekindling hope for the Crusade, and we gathered information about the distributed nature of the cult of Lissala for the Society.
In Kaer Maga, we met a man....woman...sex worker named Miss Feathers. Miss Feathers reported that several of her co-workers had been approached by a cult in the Leaf House. She'd gone through a ritual where she ate something on a cracker and didn't feel well afterwards. She also talked about false Pathfinders, reported to her by one of her other clients. She wouldn't tell her client's name. I had prepared several pages with the same trap that was sprung on me in the Plane of Shadow, and gave her one - explaining that anyone who read the note would be trapped, nonlethally, for several days - if she felt the need to do this to someone, please contact us to remove them when they're frozen. Miss Feathers seemd a bit non-plussed by this.
We went to the House of Leaves, which appeared to be a misnomer - the House of Leaves may be the House of Lethe, devoted to partaking a drug that erases memory. Do and I scouted to the back, and Doyle, the dinosaur, and I waited in the alley. Do scouted, with his Message cantrip going, moving in stealth through the front room. When presented with opportunities to "sacrifice a part of himself for greater power", he seemed all too eager to do so...and then, while he was reconnoitering, he abruptly went from his usual arrogant snarking commentary. Honestly, it took us a few moments to notice. I picked the lock on the door, we waited for the inevitable conflict. Karenna and Iroh went in and tried to talk their way in...and then came back out with Do, who was...as limp as a jellyfish. I arched my brow. We found an abandoned building, and I shadow hopped us into a spare room. Karenna spent 15 minutes getting a prayer ready to restore his strength. I hopped us back out to the alley. Geroph burned an Invisibility spell, which expired while we were restoring Do.
Karenna eventually mentioned that the patrons in the front, an unsavory dwarf, had offered to let us observe the ritual. Or participate. I tucked Doyle, in bat form, under the hood of my cloak, after he conjured something with Conan to make him inconspicuous. So we went in, with me being stealthy, Astrid under my cloak. Geroph turned himself invisible. Do, Karenna and Iroh went in to brace them openly.
While they talked, I observed from a corner. I followed Iroh and Karenna in to the chapel of Lissalla. The room was laid out in oak and cherry with runes engraved everywhere. There were six of us and six of them. The number seven was very much a thematic element. Sadly, I was spotted by Drollis, the dwarf. I think I'd bathed too soon and he smelled me over his own reek. Do sat at the table, and participated in the ritual...I was offered a chance. It was not something I was comfortable with.
The ritual involved reading phonetic Azlanti, and draining blood into the chalice. As the ritual progressed, the seven participants had their blood mixed with ink. It was then drawn into runes on wafers, which were fed to the participants. I understand why Miss Feathers felt drained by this ritual... Three wafers were consumed, four were put in a gilded box...and a rune in the center of the table was uncovered. Which then weakened everyone in the room. Fortunately, Pharasma's guidance - and Astrid chirbling - meant I was looking away from it and was spared. Doyle was hiding in my cloak, and missed seeing it at all. He threw the ball containing Conan.
Do froze up. Again. This appears to be what got him before. Karenna staggered and then stiffened under her own resolve. I did not see Geroph, so have no idea if he was looking. No doubt he was staring at it. Iroh stepped over Do's prostrate form, and attacked the dwarf who was leading the ritual.
I braced myself for combat. One of the cultists tried to flank Conan and moved next to me, apparently unaware that I was there. Astrid was hiding under my cloak, but I had a plan. I swung my pick at the cultist, melding into shadow on the first strike to appear on the other side of him, while Astrid remained where I was and distracted him. My second attack felled him thoroughly. Astrid stepped up and touched one of the other cultists, weakening him.
Karenna cast called down the Blessing of Our Lady of Bones, and moved out of the way. The Dwarven cultist used a spiked chain to sweep Iroh off his feet, and then attacked. Another tripped the dinosaur. One of the cultists mysteriously fell asleep, sprawling almost as if he were cuddling something unseen on the floor.
Iroh stood up and took a minor wound, Conan stood up and mauled the cultist that Astrid damaged earlier. Iroh cast a healing spell upon himself. I stepped up and Astrid and I took out the one threatening him from the south. Karenna cast a curative spell upon herself.
Then one moved to the west of Iroh, drawing an attack of opportunity which disabled him. The Dwarf fell asleep, and Iroh made short work of the last one. We interrogated the dwarf, after Astrid drained his strength, discovering that the cult's prisoners were held in the cold storage under the building across the alley. I used a Lesser Restoration on Geroph, while Karenna spent 15 minutes praying for a full Restoration to use on Do. Drollis said that eating the wafers could help people recover...and Geroph volunteered. This later proved to be a mistake...
We also found a man chained to a desk with a note that read
This morning’s divination with the goddess was not good. We have been betrayed and someone stalks us. No longer should we linger. We have more than enough sigil wafers to charge the runestones and the sooner we get to the ritual and do our part, the better our place in the new kingdom when our lord wakens. The time is upon us, I am leaving tonight.
We freed him, Karenna had apparently been looking for him. We ransacked the room of the dwarf - at least I assume it was his - it smelled like his bedding. Then we went across the alley to the second building, where there were people on the floor staring at faint blue glows. We faced four...invisible lighting elementals of some sort. I narrowly avoided one, and got zapped...hard by its bigger brother. It also fried my cloak and staggered me. I moved down the alleyway, pulling out a wand, and I called upon the healing of Pharasma to bolster myself. Karenna cast communal resist energy through her Rod of Reach. Iroh told us what we faced and what they were vulnerable to, but they still turned invisible. Geroph cast glitter-dust on one of them....and once they discovered they could not harm us, they left us alone.
Do ran on ahead, down the stairs to the hidden temple...and shouted "Run!" And was not seen again. I sent Astrid to fly down the stairs and report. She came back saying there was a woman casting spells and four men in armor. I sent her to find Do, afraid for what might happen if she encountered a full priestess of Lissala. I used four charges on the Wand of Blur, a charge of Shield, and a Bless Weapon Charge, while calling Eltherin to my pick-axe. One of those charges of Blur went on Astrid to keep her safe while she hunted for Do.
We went down into the temple, and fought the woman in armor, Kasoulla. Her thugs were not able to hit Iroh, and I tried to vault across the Forbiddence spell, but took it hard. Kesoulla cast Blasphemy, and I was weakened by it. Seeing where she stood, I signaled Karenna to delay her actions, and summoned a shadow pit underneath her. She dodged the shadow pit - but was put in a place where Karenna could lay a blade barrier. I'd been hoping that Doyle could throw his aqeuous orb spell on her and keep her in the pit, but the aim was to keep her from channeling energy.
Geroph put one of her minions to sleep, and Kasoulla called down a flame strike catching Doyle, the dinosaur and Karenna, Iroh did a spell that caused people to burst into flame, and Geroph threw a lightning bolt that finished off one of her minions and hurt her badly, and would have killed the dinosaur had he not gotten the benefits of Karenna's resist energy spell earlier. It made me wonder a bit about Geroph's...sanity...but I've heard rumours about hoe he threw a Venture Captain into a pit after said captain had been pummeled to unconsciousness after being unfortunately possessed, but I digress in speculation about my companions.
I moved around the pit and lept through shadows to clear the blade barrier, calling upon Pharasma to smite Kesoulla down. Geroph threw in another lightning bolt after maneuvering around the room while flying. Karenna attempted to hit her with Slay Living, and missed...but I did not. My pick-axe felled her in one blow. We kept her alive for intelligence gathering. The note about the wafers being needed is...disturbing.
Do, it turned out, had gone down into the underground temple, seen the people there, and cast Dimension Door back to the inn we'd booked rooms at, saying "Run!" Astrid couldn't find him and I smuggled her back under my cloak.
When sweeping the room with the Sight, it was clear that Geroph...was not himself. And that the sihedron on the floor was palpable, tangible evil. We found the sex workers, and found their stash of wafers. With a bit of investigation, we discovered that the creation of the wafers consumes some of the ability of the people who contribute blood, and gives a measure of their essence or soul to the consumer of the wafers.
We spent two days working through the mix of peopel who'd participated in the ritual, and trying to find the wafers to match them where we could, and I provided Lesser Restorations to those we could not match. Ms. Feathers convinced one of her clients...associates...to read the letter I prepared, and we've taken him back to Magnimar to find out more about those who pose as Pathfinders. We also worked to get both Do and Geroph into temples to atone; for Do, this required having Geroph bestow the Evil Eye, while I handed him a note with instructions about future missions. It was either that, or Doyle turning him into a squirrel, and this was more dignified.
I am deeply concerned about these trends. The danger of Evil is not wanton destruction; the danger of evil is the seduction of easy solutions to problems, the lure of power without conscience...and this cult is very good at siphoning power from the weak and unwary, to be used by those lacking in scruples to whatever end they may seek. I've written to Ollysta Zadrian of my concerns.
Lark, Hoss, Doyle, Iroh, Geroph, Siegfried, Do
We remained in Kaer Maga for two days after the incident with Karenna and the Feast of Sigils. Iroh, Siegfried and Lark arrived with further communications from Sheila Heidemarch. Lark was not happy to see either Hoss or I. I've copied the letter into my journal for future records.
“Greetings, Pathfinders! I have new information for you about our agents’ discoveries regarding the cult of Lissala. When the Ten learned of the cult’s active existence, they sent a team to infiltrate a cell in the industrial town of Palin’s Cove. During that mission we learned that the cult intends to bring back the ancient Thassilonian Runelord Krune to rule Varisia. Pathfinder agents next encountered Lissalans here in the City of Strangers and discovered that the cultists aim to return the runelord by using refuge tokens that he created for his followers to reach his hidden location. Our Pathfinders also uncovered the location of an ancient Lissalan shrine, documented to hold a cache of these refuge tokens. The enclosed map shows the location where the shrine is said to be—the fastest way there is from Kaer Maga west into the Wyvern Mountains. “Find the shrine and recover the refuge tokens so that we may use them to access Krune’s lair, thus preventing the Lissalans from raising their runelord. Don’t attempt to use the tokens yet—we also need to uncover the proper command words. And hurry, please! A group bearing the Sihedron—Lissala’s holy rune—was seen leaving the city two days ago. They must seek the shrine as well. ”Should you have additional questions about your mission, seek out a trusted informant in the Downmarket District, a textile merchant named Allira Vandane. She will aid you as much as she can. May Desna smile upon you, Pathfinders.”
We sought out Allira Vandane in the Downmarket to find out more of what we fought. En route, we started researching the history of Krune, the Rune Lord of Sloth, who was rumored to bind angels to protect his assets.
Allira says that the tokens are fairly costly, that they were part of the casting of a spell that's still known today - Refuge. They appear to be a command word and token, when the command word is spoken and the token is shattered, a refuge is taken. The complex we were to find these tokens in were the Thousand Spires.
We spent half a day poring over maps; the location that Heidmarch asked us to go to was deep in the Wyvern Mountains. There were rumours that the team ahead of us had four to seven members. None were wearing heavy armors, per Allira. She gave us some bolts of cloth to return to Heidemarch.
I handed her a letter enchanted with a sepia snake sigil in case she needed to defend herself, Hoss took the bolts of fabric, and Hoss and I had a long talk about our concerns with Lark. Lark was spending more time with Siegfried, avoiding both of us as we collected.
Over two days of riding, I prepared two more instances of Sepia Snake Sigil.
When we got to the site, there was an angel, calling itself Skip. He was charged with protecting the holy site, and bound. Our opponents summoned him three days prior...and bound him in a tightly worded contract.
I showed him the brand on my palm, gained in Palin's Cove...and that seemed to create a loophole in the contract. He approached, and chatted with Astrid a bit.
He offered to let us pass, if we were to submit to a discern lies, and to divest ourselves of our magical items. Iroh objected when it was not reciprocal. Geroph tried to fast-talk his way out of doing so...I submitted, and eventually quelled the rest of them into line.
We negotiated in our skivvies. Skip was fascinated by Astrid. And around and around the conversation went. With dick jokes. Eventually, he said a Holy Word, which deafened Do and Conan....and confused him mightily, as he was baffled by the evil taint of our brands and our non-effect from the spell.
I offered to leave Astrid with him as a proof of my good intentions, leaving my daughter as "hostage." In reality, given what I was tasked to find and destroy by the Silver Crusade, I was concerned for her safety. A suit of armor that bolsters the abilities of undead implies people who might be able to harm her, or command undead via a spell. I did not want to risk her being turned against us.
He let us pass after that, and played patty-cake with Astrid, who also went about playing hide and seek in the walls.
We advanced and found a group of five, three Shoanti, a starved looking Dwarf and a Taldane man in muddy trousers and a blue greatcoat. The stealthy members of the team, including myself, moved into position. Hoss came forward to talk, and Do recognized one of the names - a Qadiran contact named Wattley, the female dwarf. She had no recollection of how she'd gotten there...and needed an escort home. They may have been plucked away. It took some persuasion, but we got them out of the temple and past Skip.
We moved past and found a statue of Lissala that was reeking of magic, and a room with aspirants being flagellated as a design motif. Hoss took point, looking for traps, Do and I followed closely as did Iroh. On the bas relief, there was an area that...had a malevolent aura.
Then Conan started to behave oddly - he bit at Lark, viciously. Not one of his somewhat terrifying play-bites with feather-ruffles. I realize I'm talking about a dinosaur that plays tea party with my daughter, but there's a relative scale to these things. Do reacted oddly, which gave me just enough notice to go on my guard... Lark avoided getting hit, while Conan attacked her. Doyle tried to stop him with a spell I didn't recognize.
Do cast a spell which seemed to buffet the dinosaur and weaken him, Lark said to not hurt the animal, and Iroh tried to dispel whateve effect was controlling him. I summoned Eltherin to my pick, making it merciful...while the dinosaur charged and mauled Geroph, finding Lark too difficult to hit through her armor.
Iroh again attempted to dispel the effect, and Geroph cast a Web spell...catching the entire party, because he's an idiot. Lark came close and touched Conan with a Protection from Evil spell...and then Siegfried dropped him with the flat of his axe.
A thing coalesced out of Conan's body and mauled Lark. She dropped and stopped breathing. I stepped over the unconscuous dinosaur, turning off the merciful effect from Eltherin....and missed. Siegfried moved Lass' body with his animated cape, and Hoss used a scroll of Breath of Life. I was a bit distracted, but I think they reconciled their differences then.
It attacked me viciously, then dove into a wall. I moved to corner it while Siegfried attack the wall it was hiding in.
Lark stood up and channeled energy. I missed it twice, and then it focused all of its attacks on me, as it was as afraid as anything can be of my pick. I was dropped multiple times and disarmed...and spent most of my time trying to heal myself faster than it could damage and drain me of my blood, while Conan was ensorscled and became a tailed, feathered buzz-saw of death.
Siegfried picked up my pickaxe from where I'd fallen, and finished it.
We recouped our healing, and regrouped. When I walked out, the statue of Lissala was activated...and emanating evil. Geroph was saying he'd activated it...and Siegfried and I destroyed it.
We moved into another part of the complex, and found a female mounted spectral knight in heavy armor, on a nightmare steed. I recognized its standard as that of Emkatta, one of the scourges of Nidal, thought dead four hundred years ago, one of the few creatures so foul that even the devil-lover of Cheliax allied with the Mendevians to drive her out. Her spirit was bound into her armor in a cruel mockery of the protection of steel over the hearts of the valiant...and the destruction of that armor was my charge from Ollystria Zadrian.
Assuming we could defeat the bloodthirsty beast wearing it. I could feel its corruption blocking my access to Pharasma's powers.
Hoss went in and shot with both guns, attracting her attention, but doing little else to the monstrosity. Emketta couched her lance and charged across the room at Hoss, and I attempted to take her down as she rode by, unaware. I hit it, and its lance ran through Hoss, nearly killing him. Siegfried came charging in, and Emketta flicked her lance, flipping his axe behind him by fifteen feet, while Geroph cast a Haste spell. Siegfried used his animated cape to recover his weapon and prepared for battle. It looked like we were going to need him. This looked bad.
It got worse.
She summoned Astrid, calling in the tongues of the nether planes, and Astrid flew through the wall at her summons I have never seen Astrid commanded by anything before; I know that undead have that weakness...but I'd somehow thought my child was immune.
I strode forward, summoning Pharasma's blessing upon my pick.
I stood before Emkatta, and said "The Lady of Bones has bid me to end you. That I do for duty."
I swung, and struck, wounding her, her essense of undeath oozing out of her armor as foul ichor. As she staggered a bit at the blow, I stepped through the shadows she created as part of her corruptive taint, to stand opposite Siegfried, and between her and Astrid.
"You have DARED to command my daughter." I struck her again. "This, I do out of love." My last hit drove the baneful head of my pick upward into her sternum, the head bursting through the crown of her helmet.
"You will not have her."
And her undeathly aura ended. I know the lore of grave knights and know that their armor contains their essence. Siegfried and I destroyed the armor, his adamantine axe doing yeoman work breaking it into pieces no larger than my fingernail. I gathered the pieces into a sack and sternly led Astrid back to where Skip was. I explained to her that it's a dangerous place, and she should stay with the people I leave her with for her own safety and the safety of others.
I handed Skip the damaged armor, and asked him to take it with him to the plane of positive energy, and therin, to disintegrate it and throw the dust into a volcano.
By the time I returned, they'd unlocked the door to the final chamber. We prepared before going in. I had a blur, shield and bless weapon spell ready from wands just to be safe.
Inside the door, a swarm of sin spawn were attending a cultist, a slovenly man in a tattered robe. The room had suffered millennia of decay, but it was obviously the most important room in the chamber. There were rugs and sculpture showing the Thassilonians doing massive construction projects, giants hauling blocks of stone. A large statue of a six winged, half-snake, half-woman thing with a sihedren glowing in place of its head, and the same rune on its whip. The room was covered in Thassilonian scripts. The room was brightly lit by sunrods. Many of my talents work best from the shadows.
Inside the room, I had Do throw a darkness pebble in to hopefully keep the spellcaster from seeing us, and to give me some areas of darkness to work within. Siegfried drew an enervation spell, and was gang-mobbed and dropped by the sin-spawn, then healed by Iroh. Geroph threw a lightning bolt at the caster when he popped up near the ceiling, outside of the darkness bubble. That's when we learned that this spellcaster was prepared. He had Spell Reflection up and Geroph nearly died as the lighting bolt arced back upon him.
I wove the darkness of Do's pebble into a pit to the Shadow plane to contain the sin-spawn in the edge of the darkness. Iroh let fly a spell that burned the sin spawn badly, and Conan nimbly avoided falling into the pit with them. He might have been happier had he lept in and just eaten them.
Geroph, seeing that the sinspawn were contained, summoned black tentacles in an area where it would continue to bludgeon them upon the spikes in the pit.
I ran to the edge of the darkness, able to see the flying wizard, and jumped through Shadow to land on the top of the horrific statue of Lissala, and lay in wait lest he inadvertantly moved my way. Instead, he cast Acid Fog.
Doyle came in and cast Daylight to cancel the Darkness spell, and then Siegfried ran to the area and grabbed him with his cape, dragging him down to the level where the velociraptor could reach him.
I threw a chakram which bounced off of him, and then he vanished, reappearing on the opposite side of the room. Geroph attempted a mind controlling spell and had it reflected back at him, then Hoss shot at him. Iroh cast Shared Wrath...just as Conan ran up to attack and Doyle enlarged him. Conan finished off the wizard quickly.
It was surprising that the wizard didn't attempt more offensive spells, but even the sin-spawn (who were bludgeoned onto spikes in the pit during the battle, and ended) were of the sloth variety.
All opponents defeated, it took some research to meet our final objective, getting the Refuge tokens. Ultimately, it came down to Iroh and myself being the only ones willing to face the consequences of bowing down before a statue of Lissala and cutting ourselves. Someone had to set an example...and I know that what I do, I do for the greater good.
We also found a cache of Ioun stones of a type I've never seen before, hidden in the statue. Given the nature of other "gifts" of Lissala, I suspected the worst. I played on Hoss' insecurities to keep him from trying to keep one, and Iroh and I divided them amongst ourselves.
I will have to apologize...and atone...for my sins when I get back to Kaer Maga. I can feel the Lady of Bones' disapproval for this act.
Skip seemed...saddened when he saw me leave. I think he could see that I no longer held the favor of the Lady of Bones. He held to his end of the bargain, however, and left with Emkatta's armor for proper disposal.
On our second day traveling back to Kaer Maga, Astrid got into my things during the night. I need more sleep than I usually do, and I sleep more heavily - I hear whispers in my dreams. She's been...fascinated...by those Lissalan relics ever since the events in Kaer Maga, and more so after Emkatta tried to bind her.
She socketed one of the Ioun stones we recovered into my Wayfinder, much as a child would put blocks into holes in a toy. I've been cut off from Pharasma's favor, and can't even get Eltherin to answer me...but this can't be good. Even worse, I can't...seem...to get the stone out of the Wayfinder at all. It resists every attempt...and I find myself peculiarly...covetous of that Wayfinder.
So far, none of my companions have noticed. Most have been too busy trying to not see Lark throwing herself at Hoss like a giddy schoolgirl.
This trip has been soul-deadening. The comfort I normally take in knowing my place in the world is not there. I feel afraid of what may come. My Wayfinder always finds its way into my hand when I sleep, clutched within it where the brand of Lissala once scored my palm...and it whispers to me, incantations, talking of gifts. Of opening my eyes to the unseen world. Astrid has been contrite, but I've taken to compulsively counting the Ioun stones we recovered. She's been spending a lot of time with Hoss, or, well, trying to. I think she's trying to make sure that Lark doesn't replace me in his eyes. I lost my temper with her the other day. Hoss was alarmed...and tried to intervene, with all the poise and grace of a gaffed fish, and caused him to collect the ire of Lark once again.
And I now conceal my Wayfinder from my teammates, furtively. I'm acting like Hoss when he's trying to conceal that he's just stuck his dick in some barmaid...and while I know I'm doing this, and I know it's irrational, the compulsion remains.
We reach Kaer Maga tomorrow, and with that, my time performing penance to get back into the graces of the Lady of Bones. And then, no doubt, noisome meddling from Ollysta Zadrian. It may be days before I can write in this again.
(Later entry)
I have spent a two days fasting, supping only on water, and without sleep. I have shunned my daughter this day, leaving her with Hoss, and lit the candles. It was harder still leaving my Wayfinder behind; I discovered it in my pocket three times while trying to make my way to the Temple. It is so much easier to hold myself to the proper precepts when Her approval flows through me. I have contemplated the circle of birth and death and the balance that comes in all things...and beseeched the Lady of Bones to let me continue to work in Her service.
I confessed to Her the tempation of Lissala's call, the temptation to act, rather than to wait and observe, to strive for greatness, the pride that o'erweened me. I asked her to forgive me of my transgressions, as I have attempted to give others chances to overcome their own.
I was a day at Temple doing this, quelling the demands of my body, listening to the sussurations of the priestesses moving about...wondering if my pleas were even being heard at all. I let go of my pride. I owned my hubris, and my sense of superiority.
And remembered my purpose. In doing so, She appeared before me, Her guise garbed in gray, her eyes white. She held up her hourglass, the red sands drifting from the top to the bottom.
Your fate is known to me, daughter of man. It is not known to you, and the decisions you make - and the mistakes of pride, including those yet to be made, are part of you.
Do not mistake my intervention for kindness. You and your daughter have roles to fulfill, parts to play, and when those acts have ended, you shall come before Me and be judged.
Even your doubts serve me, noble pawn. And you are but one in the spiral of birth, death and fate.
And with that, I passed out from hunger, and slept peacefully for the first time since venturing to Palin's Cove. I awoke more assured of myself than I had been in ages.
(Later Entry)
I have turned over the Ioun stones we recovered to Ollysta Zadrian, rather than hand them over to the Society. Now that my Sight has been restored, I can see the terrible taint upon them. I also showed her my Wayfinder...and even she was unable to remove the stone from it, even with the assistance of a priest to cast Remove Curse.
As I've been restored in Pharasma's grace, the whispering from my Wayfinder is less beguiling. Ollysta remarked that this might be the only Shining Wayfinder with an aura of the nether planes. In light of past events, she cannot deny that that very affinity might be of use in future missions against the Cult of Lissala. She has never...quite...seen eye-to-eye on my methods, but does acknowledge they produce results. Particularly after reading my accounts of negotiating with Skip.
She has said that the reason I keep finding it in my pocket is that the Ioun stone is bonded to me, and is powerfully cursed. That I brought it to her shows the curse isn't compelling me that terribly, and she has faith in me.
I'm not at all certain I would've brought it, or the other Ioun stones, to her had I not already done the rituals of Pharasma and re-centered myself. Indeed, reading my old journal entries on the trip back is...eye opening. And alarming.
I must remain on guard.
We got a summons from Sheila Heidmarch, after we returned with the Refuge tokens. We were asked to go to Desgard's Thousand Towers where there were rune plates bearing what might be them, in Desgard's Thousands Towers, and we had a race to the site. Our mission was to recover the rune plates, with some discretion. She got information from a captured cultist, named Kurethia.
Kurethia provides aid to the Pathfinders, but is bound by a Mark of Justice. She was supposedly coming with us - and is providing us with teleportation to Desgard's Thousandth Tower. Ollysta had briefed me on the need to be diplomatic with dragons, and I borrowed a book from the library on the Dragons of Varisia, including the ones what assisted the defeat of Xin-Haruka.
Kurethia arrived, wearing a blind fold. She was not compelled to explain her reasoning or endanger herself by the Mark of Justice. I briefed the others not to do anything that would interfere with the mark of justice.
We linked hands around her, and were teleported to Degard's Thousandth Tower. A scape of ruins of large cylindrical towers, grown from the stone, nestling a cradle of shattered crystals the size of an auroch, with boulders defaced with Shoanti script.
And a copper-hued dragon. Iroh approached and faltered. I stopped him and went forward with Siegfried and Doyle. I brought forth the petition from Ollystra Zadrian, and we had a pleasant conversation with him, Zonaladin hight he. We restored him from the effects of Enervation and healed him, and made our case that removing what was drawing the Lissalans to him.
This required recounting the demise of Emkatta, and the {insert dragon from Harrowing's name} as well as other resources.
He let us in. The tower had four entrances from the main entryway, and murals covering the actions a Rune Lord summoning extra-planer beings to do its bidding. We identified many of the creatures from the images. Iroh and Do scouted on towards the center chamber, which was octagonal with 8 doorframes, each with metal studs. On the floor were Thassilonian numbers, and a series of phrases in Thassilonian on each door lintel. In the center was a carved red marble statue of a dwarf.
Siegfried guarded the door from the inside while we explored.
The Thassilonian read through as this:
I the lord of multiple
Obscure the one from primal sight
Hidden now by factors few
A century I wait in night
Product of the fewest steps
Rise again the runelord’s might
Twice I strode, the lord of sloth
Walk these doors to tower’s height
The numbers wre 1, in the center, with numbers, going clockwise, of 8, 12, 16, 25, 40, 65, 1 and 7.
Thinking our way through, our first conclusion would be that the two we wanted to see would be the two that are prime numbers. The other significance was possibly a least-common multiple problem, fronted by Do, with divisors of a century, making 25 a number of significance, as of the numbers present, it was the one that divided 100 evenly into fourths.
The tower we were in was 100 feet tall. Another option was to find the number of doors that summed to 100, and take them in that order. However, product is the term for the result of a multiplication problem, while sum would be the term for the result of an addition problem.
Doyle and Do suggested going through 25, we eventually drew straws. Do and Doyle went through door 1, and came out door 25. Astrid and I went through Door 1, and came out of portal 25.
The first time through, we went through door 1 and came out through door 25. The second time we came out through door 7. The third time, we came out through door 64. 1>40, 1>25. 1>7, 1>64,
We covered the number one on the floor, and before anyone could stop him, Doyle went through door 7. And didn't come out...we prepared buff spells and went through, only to find him in a stone bubble and bleeding onto the floor. He described unearthly quadrupeds that flickered with strange angles that hid in the corners of the room. Iroh said they were Hounds of Tindalos.
We chipped him out of the stone and handed him the wand from Conan's back...and then the Hounds returned, squeezing through the corners of the room. One lunged at Astrid, harming her, and Do spread out a burst of flame which harmed many of them.
After that, the fight turned viciously ugly. Looking at the creatures caused searing pain, and I was nearly felled. They also cast slow, which hindered all of us, and I was badly hurt. Doyle made Conan large.
Astrid got badly mauled, and I sent her to get Siegfried as reinforcements. I got badly hurt...but figured out that I needed to close my eyes. I channeled energy to heal the group...as Iroh dropped one, and Conan dropped another...then Conan was dropped by concerted effort. I healed Conan to stabilize himself, I healed myself, and struck back.
That proved to be ill advised. I was dropped, then Doyle woke me up with a spell granting vitality I tried to hide and use my wand of cure light wounds to heal myself. I partially succeeded...but the Hound grabbed the wand and broke it.
I had better luck hiding next round. Iroh was dropped...and then Siegfried came back in; he slew two wounded creatures, then I stood up and grabbed my pick. Siegfried drew all of their attentions while I drank a potion...and then I stepped out of shadows to attack one. Doyle started casting call lightning, fighting from his carrier on Conan's back.
Siegfried slew two more of them, Siegfried pulled out his blood gem to keep fighting and then Do struck one with a snowball, felling it, and numbers slid into our favor.
We were sorely taxed.
We made the mistake of camping inside the tower, after Do used Arcane Eye to explore the other portals. We fought a long and painful retreat out of there, or I think we did. I was dropped early on. We were attacked by incorporeal outsiders, and I could not successfully hit any of them with my pick - the favor of the gods was not with us at all.
After recuperating outside the tower, we pieced together the puzzle, and discovered that the portal that Do could not send his arcane eye through had to be the one that led to a different plane of reality. We geared up and went through...only to encounter three sphinxes.
As was par for the course, we were asked to answer a riddle.
“What virtue acts long after others, yet rules supreme over six jealous brothers?”
Patience.
Who is the runelord all fear?
"Xin."
They let us go down the southern branch; beneath a trap that would drop an entropic ooze, I sent Astrid on ahead with a description of the plates. She came back with...obvious...plates that were what we were supposedly looking for. I read Thassilonian...and the plates were utter gibberish. Iroh said that they had a faint aura of illusion about them. When we came out of the southern corridor without them, we were attacked.
Siegfried was turned into a mannikin with a Polymorph Other spell, and we fell back. One of the "sphinxes" came back into the area...directly under the area that the Entropic Ooze was in. I created a pit beneath her, and Astrid triggered the trap leaving her in a pit and under a gelatinous ooze. It wouldn't hold her for long.
I asked Astrid to fly through the walls to the North and tell us what she saw; meanwhile Doyle attempted to polymorph the androsphynx to no effect. One of them attempted to drive us mad with a spell effect, to no avail, while we finished off the one in the pit - it was a tell that it simply couldn't fly out of the pit. Astrid came back and told me how far away the northern corridor was...and Iroh didn't fall back far enough and got turned into a doll, as Siegfried did.
At this point, I hatched a plan. Doyle took both Siegfried and Iroh and put them on Conan, then sent Conan into his extra-dimensional carrying pen. While Doyle flew to the portal back to the tower in elemental form, Do threw an illusion of us hiding carefully around the bend of the corridor.
I then grabbed Do and Astrid, and Shadow Jumped through the stone wall. Astrid and Do grabbed the plaques we came for, Do came back and Dimension Doored us to the portal which I then shoved him through while Astrid and I followed.
We successfully escaped Delgard's towers, with the plates. It's our hope that this was...enough.
We were called to Shiela Heidmarch's office to attend a meeting with Ambrus Valsin. The Cultist of Lissala have progressed in their plot to raise Krune, the rune-lord of Sloth, and we were being asked to directly meddle in their affairs. Our team was Iroh, myself, Siegfried, Paltinor -- whom I'd not seen in ages -- Doyle and Geroph, whom I'd done some of the earlier Lissalan cult missions with.
They had the refuge tokens which we had recovered, and had figured out what needed to be done with them to get us to Krune's location. Ollystria Zadrian gave me a brand to use on one of Lissala's minions, Kurshu the Undying.
If we face Krune, he is a conjurer, and his banned schools are evocation and illusion. He hasn't been out and about since before Earthfall. Krune had a spear and rod, and both are...possibly very powerful.
I came with two scrolls of Silence, two scrolls of Fly, a scroll of Breath of Life, two scrolls of Beguiling Gift, and one instance of Sepia Snake Sigil woven from Shadowstuff; I keep it in hand because I do not trust Heidemarch. When I thought this, the member of the Decemvirate present said I was wise to have that in my pocket.
I sent Astrid to duck into the plane of Shadow, and told her I would call her when we arrived at our destination.
We broke the stones of summoning.
When we arrived, there was a six armed, six winged...thing. She matched the description of Kurshu the Undying. I charged the brand with a use of Pharasma's healing tuch, and wove shadows about myself to conceal. She hovered over a small pyramid; I moved up as my action. I used a charge of Bless Weapon on Siegfried, and moved around behind her. She cast a spell to block arrows, with fickle winds after Paltinor hurt her with a cluster of arrows. Siegfried kept attacking her at distance with his axe, while I moved behind her with the brand charged - she cast a Chain Lightning spell which never targeted me...then I got behind her, just as Siegfried clove her from crown to sternum.
I charged to where her still bleeding body lay - she babbled about how the runes would grant Krune amazing abilities, with the Rune of Alacrity giving him perception and a sixth sense allowing him to thwart time itself in dealing with personal danger. I rammed her spine with the brand at the base of her neck, and it finished her, disrupting her spirit.
We found that the door she was guarding was trapped - with an empowered Vampiric Touch that sent the stolen vitality to someplace far away. Rather than trying to disarm it, Doyle flung down a spell of stone shape...and we walked through his new made doorway.
We then made a circuit deactivating runes - four of life, one of alacrity, one of defenses, one of armor. Astrid proved very capable at damaging the Life runes. We collected curses in the process and spent resources on lesser restoration. We found the door to Krune's final resting chamber - Doyle went in with Astrid, they set off a glyph of electricity. Astrid found someone doing chanting, and came back, opening the door to let the rest of us in.
I went in, pulling a scroll of Silence...and was attacked by someone who was waiting, invisible to disrupt it. I nearly went down. Then I got hit by a scorching ray. My spell fizzled. Siegfried started casting the spell on Astrid; I fought desperately and managed to hold my own, using two more of Pharasma's gifts. Astrid, now radiating Silence, flew through the wall and stood in front of a female who was chanting, while we dealt with a human minion and a dark Naga. She attacked the caster who fell quickly, drained of strength. Siegfried and I damaged the Naga and dropped it, after cleaning up their other helpers.
We tried to figure out what to do next - the chamber had a stone casket (presumably containing Krune) suspended over a pit by four chains. It had a number of crystals and metal plates that hummed and vibrated. While others suggested that I send Astrid into it, I was not willing to risk my daughter on their mad plan...and then Krune appeared. Krune addressed us in ancient Thassilonian, and, bluntly, I told him where to shove it. Meanwhile, Siegfried cast Silence on Astrid from his own abilities, and I cast Flight on him, on the theory that having Siegfried flying would make it harder for Krune to rain death from above upon us.
One of the spells cast on Conan made Doyle retreat from the combat; I never found out what it was. Conan and Doyle were making a perimeter around the corridor where we had damaged the assorted runes Krune was drawing power from. After we returned to Magnimar, Doyle said that he'd been casting fire seeds to detonate later.
There was a battle with Krune - Paltinor hit him repeatedly with Human bane arrows, while he dimension doored around the complex. With Astrid radiating Silence, I sent her ducking through walls - she found Krune, who'd created a Cloudkill area in one part of the complex, and was in the process of summoning more creatures to do his bidding. Siegfried, Iroh and I dealt with a number of his summons, Siegfried being airborne for most of it, and doing the bulk of the damage.
Astrid got hurt by his spear throwing a bunch of arrows as thrown daggers, but came back and pantomimed where they were hiding. She also saw Krune step through a portal that none of us could see; the significance of that didn't occur to us until later.
Krune came back to harass us; Paltinor fired at him, doing significant damage, while Krune summoned another wave of creatures for us to fight. Astrid positioned herself such that her radius of Silence covered most of the chamber Krune went through while he'd left - she hid in the Cloudkill area.
Krune went through his portal, I went and touched Siegfried and Iroh and teleported them through the wall. By happenstance, I teleported them in such a way that Krune couldn't get to his portal in the wall...and Astrid was concealed from his sight, while her Silence complicated his spellcasting.
Krune's spear attacked Iroh of its own volition - grappling him telekinetically. I had no action to take, having moved Siegfried and Iroh through the wall...and Siegfried dealt him several grievous blows. Iroh finished him off.
We recovered his body, and recovered the mechanism needed for us to return home.
Sheila Heidmarch was somewhat astonished at our return. As was Aram Zey. I cannot say that I blame them for being so.
While I did almost no damage during this fight, this was very clearly a victory made possible by Astrid and myself; having Astrid able to move through walls and disrupt spellcasting in an area, and my own ability to temporarily match Krune's ability to move were the only reason Krune didn't whittle us down to nothing, taking his liesure and killing us one at a time as we moved to try and find him and keep him from leaving.
I was en route to Stom's Claim, on business for the Crusade, who use the mithral mines there for making Shining Wayfinders, and was contacted by an animal messenger, an Osprey, a venture captain, said we needed to meet a metallurgist named Courone Adele who had a silver ingot he wanted us to get a rubbing of. There was also a personal aspect to this; I'd been told that the Du Mers were there, possibly smuggling slaves across the border from Nidal. I had unfinished business in Nidal. It isn't often that personal and organizational objectives overlap.
I was waiting for the rest of the group to arrive, at the gate of the mountain route to Stom's claim. Hoss was there, the first time I'd seen him two months. He'd lost weight, and Astrid ran up and hugged him, then rode his shoulders. He gave her a doll with a ribbon in its hair, and asked me if...well, let's just say it was an unpleasant suggestion.
Doyle had arrived in bat form, on Conan. Astrid went over to say "hi", and tried teaching Conan to read again. Conan shredded the book and Astrid laughed. Astrid then introduced her new dolly to Conan and started setting up tea time with him. When I mentioned that I'd done some work in Palin's Cove and that Lark had attended with me, Hoss got all mawkish. I mentioned she'd found an old friend there, and his jealousy arose...and then subsided when I'd said that the friend had died. Lark was grieving deeply for her friend, and was more vengeance minded. I was wondering if she were falling into the Callistrian faith.
About the time Hoss started asking if Lark asked about him in Palin's Cove, Gonk arrived. We started working our way up the mountain pass. Saga met us halfway up the pass, with Iroh in tow. We went up the path for most of the day, and then a silver-tinged fog descended as we met the crest and went down a valley that had a black brackish lake at the bottom.
As we walked down the path, there were signs in the mist pointing out public buildings, including one called the Assayer's Office. Then there was a blood-curdling scream. And cries for help, and "glub-glug" - in the general direction of the assayer's office. We ran.
In the assayer's office, there were three giant...swamp, or lake creatures. Reeking of fish. We took them out in reasonably short spans, and rescued Adele. She showed us two ingots of pure silver, with Celestial script, with Kellid flourishes. With a fair bit of work, we were able to translate two names: Aroden and Nicoroux.
Nicoroux was a female pit fiend a thousand years ago. Uncertain why it was on the bars. It looks like the ingots were used to make a binding to hold Nicoroux in the bottom of the tarn. Adele said there were six ingots recovered, of which we had one. She led us to the public house to talk to the crew that was dredging the silver bricks from the bottom of the tarn. Given that the tarn is full of liquifid tarnish, the fact that they were unmarked is impressive.
The fog was thick - a pea souper if ever there was one. We dealt with more of the creatures as we walked through the fog towards the house. Iroh and I rescued a child, and Iroh decided to stay with the children and keep them safe; the person he needed to meet in the town was the schoolteacher. I used the ability flow through shadow to lead the creatures away from the children, but made it to the bar.
In the public house, we were confronted by Stom Dolok, who founded the first mines here, who didn't want to be shaken loose from his claims. I had Doyle in my hair under my cloakhood, and Astrid under my cloak. There was an ongoing discussion about how the townsfolk felt about the rising threat.
There were five groups, each holding one ingot, in the public house. I recounted stories from Carrion Hill about the dangers of appeasing the things from the depths and gained one of them. Gonk bullied one from one of the weaker minded folk. Saga tried to recover one from Stom. Hoss tried to talk one out of the bartender. Honestly, how he manages to succeed with women with the things he says is one of the main sources of my doubt in an ultimately lawful and rational universe. Gonk played a battle of wits with a logician, which was a fascinating thing to watch...even more so when he won.
I pointed out to Stom that Gonk had just won a game of wits with a mystic...and had intimidated another group into giving their ingot up. I asked Stom if he really wanted to have Gonk attempting to seduce him. Saga backed me up. He eventually relented.
With all six ingots in hand, we brokered a plan to get them to the temple of Aroden in the mountains. Hoss and Saga went out to lure the monsters to the south, while I sent Astrid with him to watch his back. Astrid helped Saga stay alive when they got cornered. Meanwhile, I loaded everyone into wagons, and summoned mounts from the Shadow plane to pull them - with Hoss and Saga running a distraction, we got them to the temple of Aroden to defend themselves. Iroh stayed with them there to keep them safe.
Within the temple, we did some searching. A recent frost-heave in the winter had opened up a grotto beneath the temple. Moldering books, rusting iron bars, and an alter with three tomes. Hoss and I opened the gates, and proceeded in. I put a blur upon Astrid...and we were challenged by a disembodied voice, a temple spirit bound to keep it secure from all invadors. She did not know the name Nicoroux.
I fed Hoss some of the things I'd learned in Temple school about Aroden's rites as he tried to bald-faced lie about being a follower of Aroden. Sadly, I don't think it worked, as the temple spirit laid down a Stinking Cloud. Which missed me, but got everyone else. Hoss was having flashbacks to the time in the Sanatarium in Carrion Hill, and almost lost his cookies.
We didn't give up on talking our way out of the conflict. We persuaded it that it would remit its obligation binding it to the temple of a dead god, if it were to stealthily protect the townsfolk. Hoss went up to examine the carved books on the dias at the opposite side of the grotto. Two of the books were hollow and trapped, the middle one was solid brass, enchanted to be flexible.
The book was written in Celestial, and covered the Chelaxian conquest of the Kellid barbarians, with the Kellids dipping into horrible forbidden magics to defend themselves against the Devil lords of Thrune. A ritual, involving sacrificing the eldest daughter of the chief was done to bind the pit fiend Nicoroux, who started slaughtering the Chelaxian forces. She then turned on those who summoned her.
The Kellids beseeched Aroden to assist them; it was hard fought and Nicoroux was bound under the tarn. Instrumental in sealing Nicoroux were these ingots, which needed to be re-sanctified and dropped to the bottom of the lake.
Doyle had communal breathe water prepared. We rode back to town on the summoned shadow steeds. The blackened water was surrounded by a choir of thronging tarn spawn, crooning in their strange language, like frogs, echoing against the water and the valley walls. We dove into the water after casting Breathe Water...and got zapped by negative energy...and a gigantic monster rose from depths, with wings and covered in algae, the tarn itself arisen by demonic magic and accumulated negative energy. Hoss had been keeping watch and let us know when he saw it by firing off those damned pistols.
We swam in negative energy infused tarn-water, getting vortexed by the entity of the tarn, which was something like an unholy water elemental. Hoss kept firing, and I was able to smite it with my pickaxe. After defeating it, Astrid went below and placed the ingots to seal the breach.
The townsfolk, saved, devoted themselves to keeping the bottom from getting dredged again to keep those ingots in place. Armand Du Mers slipped out during the revelry; the connection to slave trading to Nidal was not conclusively proven, but Laura Citiat said she'd shut down his easy route while we were gone.