The guard has too much in himself but nevertheless he takes profit of the opportunity to hit Lionel.
But his arm breaks under the weight of the blade thanks to Reed's wounds, exhausted, the man fells to the floor unconscious.
Bengeirr moves to the stairs front and his spiritual greatsword moves from there to attack Lionel whom dodges the weapon with ease.
The Ulfen boss shows his Gorum holy symbol again and pronounces words of destruction. A cacophony sounds at the front door hitting both Lionel and Reed.
The two men start to bleed through their ears, getting stunned by the savage sound.
Reed drops his two axes to the ground closing his ears with his hands.
Lionel drops both his spear and the Beacon of the North to the floor, also trying to stop the horrible pain in his head.
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Eveline sees how Bengeirr falls under Numair's strong blow, and also sees how all the other guards have fallen. Fearing the watch might turn in any minute now, she quickly sheathes her bow to her back and rushes down the way she came from.
No time to dawdle, she thinks to herself.
Eveline sees the tough ulfen warrior to be the greatest threat with his spells, and shoots an arrow through the skylight.
Numair jumps on place somehow managing to hit over the loft balcony railing. Bengeirr rears on pain from the strike "Ouuu!"
Eveline further shots at the Ulfen but the arrow just scratches the armor of the severely wounded cleric.
He rears back where Numair cannot reach him with his morningstar, and cast a spell in the corner.
You see how a considerable amount of wounds disappear from Bengeirr as he ends his spells.
The stunned pathfinders slowly recover their senses and are able to act again.
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Lionel looks at the bleeding guard next to him and mutters to Reed, "Can ya patch up this mofo? I'll go and get Bengie." before climbing up the stairs and saying, "Hey, Blondie! Give up and we'll take ya in nice and easy! I don like killin' peeps if I can help it! Drop tha sword and I give ya ma promise as a womanizin' man o' faith ta not harm ya at all!" before bracing his spear at the Ulfen. It'd be impropa to kill 'em now and let Skelg go without his revenge.
Eveline moves around the skylight looking for the best line to attack the Ulfen, but again her missile just rubs Bengeirr armor.
The man shouts back at Lionel "Who are you assassins? That old Skelg send you to steal me again the Beacon of the North?" he readies his greatsword ready to fight to the death "Murderhobos... I will avenge my father again if necessary, I have no fear, and I am not scared of that ship looter minions" the man looks stern and aggressive to Lionel in front of him.
Bengeirr words, if cryptic, they seem quite truth.
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Reed shakes off the sonic effects, picking up his axes and proceeding into the room and up to the second level, ready to engage the sorely-pressed Ulfen cleric. His brows furrow as he asks, "Surrender and lets talk, Bengeirr. I have no wish to take your life, and am curious as to what you speak of."
Draylan moves inside the warehouse following close at Reed.
Bengeirr's spiritual weapon flies towards Lionel missing him again.
The Ulfen shouts back "You are not going to bluff me again! Ship robbers have to receive their punishment for their profanation!"
Lionel launches an attack at the Ulfen as he moves forward, but he just hits the air. Bengeirr responds hitting hard at Lionel in his chest. The badly injured cleric loses his breath for a second and then collapses to the floor.
Bengeirr scowls at the multiple attacks flying over his head when Numair hits the loft ground and Eveline stabs an arrow into the warehouse walls.
The distraction is enough for Reed to take profit and hit the Ulfen in the arm as he goes up the stairs.
Lionel further bleeds under Reed's feet.
Draylan, behind the ranger, starts to sing, inspiring courage to the party.
Bengeirr snarls at Reed as he brings down his sword over the man's head trying to bring him down, but only smashing the floor.
Gorum's spiritual weapon disappears with a puff before it can make an attack at Reed.
The Ulfen boss, steps back to avoid being hit by the giant half-elf.
Numair locks the closed doors of the warehouse. He seems to hear some steps outside as he does so.
Reed scores a heavy hit on Bengeirr's right leg. A spring of blood emerges splashing Reed's clothing. The Ulfen looks at the ranger, for the first time fearing he might lose his life now and here.
The man crumbles to the floor, only standing with one leg "Haldyr, father, I failed you. Gorum, get a place for me to his side, as I will fight until the end!"
Raising again his greatsword, ready to hit Reed, the ranger uses his second handaxe to chop Bengeirr's Greatsword hand. The weapon collapses to the floor, and so does the stout North warrior, filling the ground with his own blood and drops.
Lionel stabilizes while Numair comes back to normal shape.
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"Right. Let's search this place, and then clear out. I'll start cleaning up the mess."
Numair then sets about searching the bodies for valuables, before roping them to some heavy weights, and 'burying' them in the sea.
Following that, he makes liberal use of Prestidigitation to clean up the blood spills, and any other signs of the struggle.
The goods stolen from Skelg’s vault are stored in the loft. There are carpets, urns, sculptures, and other works of art, weighing a total of 800 pounds and worth 3,000 gp. There is also a box
containing 2 potions of cure moderate wounds which are probably not the property of Skelg.
The most important item you recover is the Beacon of the North, a huge bullseye lantern designed to be hung on the prow of a ship.
Masterwork greatsword, half plate, wooden holy symbol of Gorum, chain shirt, greataxe, some money (you will receive at the end of the scenario.
You have read, heard or have otherwise an innate idea of how the Beacon of the North works.
To activate its powers requires a special lamp oil that only the white witches of Irrisen know how to create. It can hold enough oil to burn for 8 hours, although it currently has only 2 hours of oil remaining. When lit, the lantern burns with a cold light, and if the burning oil is used as a weapon, it does cold damage instead of fire damage.
The lantern also opens portals under the right circumstances. If hung on the prow of Haldyr Bjornsson’s funeral ship (to which it is attuned) and lit, it opens a shipsized portal to Whitethrone harbor in Irrisen.
If the light is focused on the main mast of the ship or on the tapestry depicting the ship, a 5-foot-wide portal opens connecting the tapestry to the ship’s main mast so creatures touching one appear at the other. The portals remain open as long as the lantern is lit, even if it no longer shines directly on the portal. A portal appears as a shimmering blue-white patch of light, and it is impossible to see what is on the other side.
As a standard action, the wielder can focus the beam on a single living creature, which creates a small portal from the frozen north to the creature’s body (Will save DC 15 negates).
Cold energy leaks through this tiny portal, exposing the creature to a permanent cold environment. If the Beacon is focused on the creature for multiple rounds, the portal opens further. A second failed save worsens the exposure to severe cold, and a third failed save causes extreme cold. Regardless of the level of cold, the portal only inflicts environmental damage once per day plus once for every round the Beacon shines on the creature.
Any creature that dies from the environmental damage caused by the Beacon rises the following midnight as a frozen zombie.
Creating a portal of any size consumes 10 minutes of oil. If the Beacon is used to open a ship-sized portal, all other small portals created by it close immediately. If the Beacon of
the North is lit while separated from the ship it is attuned to, the ship slowly turns and drifts in the direction of the Beacon unless actively steered in another direction or moored in
place. This continues even after the Beacon is doused and only ends when the two are reunited or a knowledgeable spellcaster attunes the Beacon to a different ship.
Numair finishes up silent and efficiently cleaning the warehouse from any track of battle.
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Seeing the combat end Eveline rushes to the edge of the roof, monitoring the happenings on the street. She's primarily on a lookout for the watch.
If she does spot a regiment of guards close in towards the warehouse, she'll rush to the skylight and tell others to hurry up.
Eveline's worried about Reed and Lionel, who both got hit by the Ulfen warriors. She's a little baffled about how Numair disregards Lionel although the elf can't do much to aid his condition.
Eveline observes the Ulfen guard has returned. She hastily moves to the skylight and quietly informs the others about the news.
The guard seems a bit angry and frustrated, but otherwise lost into his thoughts. No other soldiers or immediate danger is found in the surroundings of the warehouse.
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Reed breathes heavily after the manic combat, experiencing the adrenaline dump that always followed a difficult fight. Seeing that Lionel has been taken care of, the ranger looks again to Bengeirr, wondering what his story was. Feeling for a pulse, he realized he would not be able to satisfy his curiosity.
Helping the others gather up the items from the fallen, he waits for Eve to lead them out of the warehouse and back to Skelg's.
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Eveline eventually climbs back down the wall as carefully as she can back to the pier. She dusts herself, silently cursing her lousy aim in the battle. Unable to get inside the warehouse without going underwater—a repulsing thought—she remains on the pier on a lookout.
She does come up with some idea for a distraction which includes luring the Ulfen guard to the Rosy Fingers Tavern. But unwilling to seemingly abandon her colleagues to the warehouse forces her to remain vigilant.
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Numair looks at the boat thoughtfully.
"Well, I suppose we could sail it to another dock... Do we have a sailor amongst us, though?"
He pauses for a moment, before continuing.
"Failing that, we could invite the other guard inside, to acquaint him with the facts - namely, that if he wants to stay vertical, he needs to leave, and never look back. That should enable us to hire a cart to lug all of this stuff back."
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Lionel nods at Numair's suggestion, speaking out loud. "Le's talk to the brotha. I'm sure he gonna see reason, after all, we kinda had ta kill his boss. I'ma let Nummer speak, because it seems folk don' real like me 'round these parts.", he says, apparently sad at the thought. "So, any o' yo got nicks and scratches I can mend? I swear, it don' hurt that much.", he says to the others, grinning and grabs his Calistrian symbol.
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Somewhat used to Lionel's entendres, Reed steps forward, showing the wound he received near the beginning of the battle.
"Yes, Numair would be a good choice. We'll be right behind you, Nummer." The ranger grins at the use of the nickname, but does indeed move to stand beside him should the sorcerer go to the door to converse with the remaining guard.
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Taking a deep breath, Numair nods to his fellows, and unlocks the front door.
Numair waves to the guard.
"Good day. I am afraid that your employer and colleagues have disappeared without a trace, taking a trip to the Boneyard. We have no quarrel with you; we simply wished to retrieve what was stolen, but the others were not interested in a peaceful solution. I hope that you will be more amenable to it than they were. If you leave now, I can promise you that you are free to go. Why die for am employer who will never know the difference, when you can live your own life, which I sincerely hope will be a long and profitable one."
The guard turns surprised as the door he is guarding is opened by an unknown half-elf. It is easy to see how the fearless guard look turns into rage as Numair's words flow "What da'... f@#&ing half-elf, what have you done to my fellows!?" the guard shouts as he runs into the warehouse moving his longaxe over the sorcerer.
The group is readied though, and as fast as the man places his feet into the warehouse the doors are closed. The Ulfen has no time to even see what goes over him, an overwhelming rain of blades and arrows. Finishing his life as he last looks at Draylan eyes "You... coward... lier..."
The party easily cleans again the scene and loading all of Skelg's stuff they move back again at the Greydog Manor.
As you arrive to the property, everything seems to be exactly the same as you left it. Tyros and Skelg receive you at the sick Ulfen's bedroom.
"Y-you... re-returned!" exclaims Tyros "W-what ha-appen-n-ed? C-can you h-help th-the master?"
On the other side, Skelg says with difficulty "He...e...lp me"
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Reed grimly proceeds with helping to cut the man down, wondering why everyone seemed to want an early death. He shook his head, helping to collect everything before the group made its' way to Skelg's.
At Tyros' question, Reed nods. "What happens does not matter...hopefully we can help him, if he is not too far gone."
The ranger looks to Numair, "Go ahead and retrieve the lantern so we can cure this friend of the Pathfinder Society." He can not help a bit of suspicion creeping into his voice...the dead Bengeirr's claims of thievery still rang in his ears.
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Lionel sighs as the man commits suicide by Pathfinder, before going over him, and doing his best to perform everybody's final rites. He turns towards the warehouse, telling the others, "I need a minute, folks. Ya can keep goin', I'm gonna catch up. Or if ya wanna, ya can stay." Handing Numair the lantern, he drops down his weapon.
Looking to the sky, Lionel begins speaking in a calm, collected voice, perhaps slightly sad. "Ma name's Lionel Wynne. I hereba commit them people's spirits ta you, Pharasma, so ya can judge best who ta give them ta. I don' know who their prayas went ta, but what I can say is that they died doin' what they believed in, and did their duty with no secand thoughs. May they find peace, whereva they go now." He then sighs heavily and begins the walk towards Skelg's mansion.
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At the mansion, Lionel stands at Skelg's side quickly, and says, "So, does any o' ya know how ta use this thing? I don' know too much 'bout magic, ta be fair.", asking the question with due haste, ready to get somebody who does.
Skelg points you to a tapestry in the room.
The tapestry in the hall depicts an Ulfen longship on a rolling sea, mostly encased in an iceberg "It was a meadow scene with shepherd and flock before the lantern shown on it."
You notice that a large lantern ring hangs from the mouth of the dragon figurehead, but no lantern hangs there.
With his faint and weak voice, he explains you that after Bengeirr’s raid, one of Skelg’s men named Tirfyr walked into the portal on the tapestry to investigate.
He returned a moment later saying that it led to a ship encased in ice. He went back to investigate further, but after half an hour, the portal disappeared, trapping poor Tirfyr in the frigged landscape. Skelg recognized the ship in the tapestry as the funerary ship of his old enemy, Haldyr. He believes Tirfyr traveled to the ship and that the cure to his curse lies there.
The dying Ulfen finally admits Bengeirr was the son of Haldyr. The items in Skelg’s vault came from his raid on the funeral ship of the Ulfen jarl, Haldyr Bjornsson. Skelg took the gold and silver lantern from the bow of the ship, along with most of the funeral offerings. Natalya, a pale Irrisen of unearthly beauty left on the ship to burn with Haldyr, convinced him to give the ship to her.
At that point Skelg quakes and utters “This freezing cold is killing me. It is as if the frozen fingers of winter’s blackest midnight clutch at my heart. I’m freezing from the inside out.”
Apparently desperate he tells you "Please, help me, I cannot hold any longer. Whatever solution to my problem, it should be there in that ship. I don't know how to open back the portal, but there should be a way to do it provided you know how to use the Beacon. I will hand Beacon of the North over to the Pathfinder Society, I believe it has a great value, as well as any unique or bizarre magical items found beyond the tapestry. I trust on your loyalty and honor of Pathfinders."
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"Funeral boats, huh. An' it seems like this boat here got it's lantarn stolen from its pointy bit. Maybe we should put it back or somethin'? I don' see much point in tossin' away good loot for a funeral, but hells. I don' judge other people's custams. Well, Nummer, yo are tha specialist with arcane magics. Care ta,", Lionel snickers, "Shine a light on that lantern?"
Lionel stands available, ready to do anything requested from him. "If ya want me ta get something or anythin' ya may need, I can go and get a carriage."
Non trained in any use of magical objects or knowledgeable of magic, Numair has no real clue of how the Beacon works.
He places the lantern in front of the tapestry and nothing happens.
Observing the scene Draylan approaches and inspects the object "This is similar to some kind of lanterns used by the witches of Irrisen. The oil there is necessary for the lamp to use, and we might have oil only for one more use. We better go in, find a solution for Skelg and go out within an hour, or the portal could close leaving us trapped inside"
Immediately Draylan fires the lamp as Numair holds it in front of the tapestry. It starts to glow with a cold flame. Nothing seems to happen. You all look at Draylan and the oil as it gets consumed.
Suddenly a deadly blue grows in the prow of the ship and slowly a portal opens to the ship in the tapestry. You can observe beyond the portal it lays a ship trapped in ice. The frost reaches you from within the portal.
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Lionel shivers, "Bhrrhrrh... It's damn nippy down there, folks. I say we move quick like the constabulary's after us, how's 'at sound?" He braces himself and says, "Whenever you give the go, Dray Dray.", ready to take point in the portal. Man, I saw that fine fur coat a week ago on High Street. I knew I shoulda gotten it., he thinks, looking at the others.
As you step through the portal, you find yourself in a strange ice-cave. Sunlight filters through the walls and ceiling, and three braziers give some warmth to this otherwise chilly space. Directly ahead of you, a tunnel leads through the ice, sloping steeply downward. Behind you, a shimmering portal hangs on what appears to be a main mast embedded in the ice. Following the mast downward, you can barely make out the blurry outline of a ship’s deck below.
The coldness here is so hard that you would say the ship below has created the iceberg itself. Floating somewhere in the midst of an unknown see, it seems you are into a carved tunnel inside the iceberg. From the walls of the tunnel, you would say it has been carved using some kind of flame, probably magical as you cannot imagine how a fire would melt the ice at this temperature.
The portal remains still open at this cave.