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You see a petite girl entering gracefully into the room. Her lustrous cherry red hair is held in place by a few laquered hairpins the same hue of vibrant green of her emerald eyes. Her creamy skin suggests a live without hardship, supported by the softness of her hands. But the one thing that is even more noticeable are her beautiful emerald eyes full of mischief suggesting a prankful nature and a flexible mind.
If someone would see her bare back one would see a beautiful ise zumi of a young girl dancing on an orchid.
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A lanky kitsune with orangy-brown fur stalks into the room. There are bits of leaves, twigs and flower petals tangled in her fur which drift gently to the ground as she walks. As they float down to the ground they fade, vanishing as if they were never real in the first place. She wears a green crop top and knee-length skirt with absurdly high slits up the side, both of which are covered with intricate gold beading. The clothes were clearly fine once--meant for a elegant party or a night out with noble company--but have seen heavy use in the weeks since. As if she'd bought them for an event, and never thought about changing back into simpler clothes. She's got a sturdy belt around her hips with a few belt pouches tied onto it, which clink with the sound of potions and vials, and she wears a lightly filled backpack over her shoulder.
The kitsune looks around the room with a wide, amused smile, taking in her surroundings and company. Her smile reveals sharp canine teeth. After staring around the room for a moment she gracefully picks her way across the room, finds a stool and sits on it. She inclines her head at the woman and takes a long, deep sniff...
Everbloom cocks her head, and her smile grows, spreading wide across her maw. "Are you ashamed?" she asks the petite woman with a toothy grin. "Why else choose flesh over fur?"
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Giovanni sits on the edge of the room deeply involved in his book as he notices people start to filter in. He closes the book with a page dog-eared for reference, and slips it into his bag. He takes out a kerchief and cleans his glasses before replacing them on his face.
Giovanni wears a smart coat with a rapier dangling from a sheath on his left. He is thin but not too tall. Bookish looking, but you'd be mistaken to underestimate him in a sword fight. His hands move swiftly but lightly.
Greetings, I assume we're here for the same thing. Giovanni Stellaluce. He delivers with a small bow.
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Dana walks with dignity and slow steps.
"Greetings to you all." says the young woman with a shy smile.
She looks a little scrawny but quite agile. Her black hair and her headscarf have an exotic appeal and she is wearing a long red dress.
Resting on top of her chest, an amulet showing the holy symbol of Sarenrae is visible.
She has a natural presence that only few can project at such a young age although she does not come across aloof or arrogant at all.
Below her dress light leather armor is visible and she carries a Scimitar at her hip that is attached to her wrist with a very fine chain.
Facing you all she bows.
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Walking into the room is a tall, muscular Nagaji. His scales have a metallic blue ting to them that matches the scale armor that he is wearing. Strapped to his left arm is a steel shield and hanging from his belts is an array of different weapons.
Hskoro hisses at the others and give a grin that reveals his fangs. "Greetings. I am Hskoro Tailfeather. It shall be my duty to protect you all on this venture."
Despite his deadly appearance, he talks very intelligently.
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A boisterous Dwarf almost falls backwards into the room, slamming the door open with his back. He holds rather large two tankards of ale in his hands. After sipping from one, he calls out to an unknown comrade,
Thankee kindly, stranger! I'll let ya know what kind of coins grow from these magic beans. Take care, now!
Realizing that his back is turned to his new team, he turns around and bows low.
Smiley Stonegirdle, at yer service. Take heart! Your endeavor is destined for success, for the luck of a Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is with you.
He moves through the room, attempting to shake everyone's hand vigorously with a hearty "How d'ya do?" or "Damn glad t'meet ya!" for everyone who doesn't explicitly object.
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An equally boisterous dwarf, long thundering laughs beating him into the room, follows in behind Smiley. He’s wearing a charcoal colored Gi, long reddish brown hair, with a long full beard.
Oi! This mus’ be the right place, mi name’s Tholand, nice to meet ye. Aye, any of ye get a look at that big lass with the chin stubble? She reminded me of mi mum! Such a sweet one she was.
Moonlight streams through the stained glass windows in the old Cathedral of Aroden, now serving as the Almas Lodge of the Pathfinder Society. Venture-Captain Brackett’s ornate desk is covered in neatly stacked bundles of documents. It is around midnight, and the venture-captain has called you here for a mission of great import.
“I need you to investigate the Irrica family of central Isger,” Brackett begins without looking up. “The Eagle Knights have finally released their documents from the early days of the Goblinblood Wars, when they fought alongside Hellknights and Druman mercenaries to contain the goblin invasion up north.”
He nods curtly at a young man across the room, who wears the golden epaulets of an Eagle Knight. “Captain Bascomb?”
The officer steps forward smartly. “The Irricas were supporters of House Thrune during the Chelish Civil War. After the Thrune family came to power, the Irricas stood up to a Thrune official’s extortion attempts. The Thrune agent apparently disappeared, and rumor was that the Irricas killed him using some sort of supernatural aid. The Irricas were not punished for their transgression; on the contrary, the family received several lucrative contracts from House Thrune and became quite influential regionally.”
Brackett’s eyes narrow. “Anything that could scare House Thrune into inaction is not something we want left lying around. Go to the Irricas’ summer estate and find out what sort of supernatural aid the Irricas had. Be here and ready to leave before dawn tomorrow. Any questions?”
The Irricas were an influential Isgeri family allied with House Thrune of Cheliax. They were based out of Elidir but often traveled the countryside in their dealings as merchants.
The Irrica family had a summer home on the south shore of the Conerica River, where they conducted business and entertained guests from across Isger and Cheliax. The last of them died defending this estate, which was more exposed to goblin attacks than their other holdings.
Rutillo Irrica’s will was fled in Elidir in 4680 ar, but few of the people named in it survived the Goblinblood Wars, and no more recent will has been found. Other than a few personal items, none of the Irrica estate has been distributed.
"As far as I know the house has remained unoccupied since the tragic attack," Brackett says, "Though you never know."
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Thank you, Captain. If I recall, the Irrica estate saw a higher rate of goblin attacks at their home on the Conerica River. Another curious fact is the execution of Rutillo Irrica's will; few lived to receive their share and most of the assets of the estate remain intact. Giovanni recalls the facts from a discussion with Chelaxian trade merchant he became familiar with in his early schooling.
"That is correct, agent. The Goblinblood Wars were a bad time for Isger. As goblins and hobgoblins attacked settlements all across the region, the steward Hedvend VI ordered his forces to protect the capital and primary trade routes, leaving most outlying towns on their own," says Brackett, sighing.
"Little assistance came directly from Cheliax, so an improbable alliance of Hellknights, Eagle Knights, and Druman Blackjackets joined forces to fend of the goblin menace– but not without cost. By the end of the war several years later, many of the unlikely heroes of Isger had fallen before the goblin hordes, and the fghting had left the countryside devastated and under the control of roving bandits. The local economy still hasn't recovered twenty years later."
Rutillo Irrica’s will was filed in Elidir in 4680 AR, but few of the people named in it survived the Goblinblood Wars, and no more recent will has been found. Other than a few personal items, none of the Irrica estate has been distributed.
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Tholand’s jolly joking manner shifts, at the news of goblins and hobgoblins, he becomes stern and serious. Them nasty buggars we’re responsible for slaughterin’ mi clan, I would like nothin more than to find a couple dozen and smash em with mi bare hands!
He allows time to calm down, and gather his thoughts. Sorry, I know this was a while ago, I’ll be happy to check this place out.
"Isger is relatively temperate this time of year, and we won't have to deal with any particularly unusual terrain, at least near the estate. It lies just north of the Cornerica River. There are mountains to the east, as well as to the south where the gnome city of Umok and the Hellknight Citadel Dinyar are located, and also to the south lies what remains of the Chitterwood after it burned. But those are all hundreds of miles from the estate."
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Hskoro listens to the mission statement and to the history given about the situation their mission contains. It interest him but he doesn't feel confident enough to talk about such subjects with those smarter than him. If it was about battle, that would be different.
"So a search and retrieve mission. Do we know if anyone else might be after such information?"
"Well, the documents about the Goblinblood War were just de-classified by the Eagle Knights, along with a massive number of other files, so anyone could read them I suppose. But I don't know of anyone else currently investigating the Irrica family," says Brackett.
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Captain Brackett barely finishes his sentence before the door slams open, and another dwarf, of comparatively lean build but intense of eye, in flowing red and purple garb and wildly brandishing a fearsome silver flail and an iron icon shaped like a serpent's head, storms into the room.
"THAT, Captain, is because the Infernal Inquisition is second to none in keeping its operations clandestine!" He bellows somewhat breathlessly, as though he's just come a long way. "Our chief weapon is surprise. Surprise...and oblivion." He blinks at this, before continuing: "Our TWO chief weapons are surprise and oblivion...and ruthless efficiency!" There is another momentary awkward pause. "THREE!...but, I digress. Vicar Mikhail Ximenez, atyourservice."
The venture captain dismisses you, and the next morning you meet up once more outside the old Temple of Aroden. Travel to the Irrica estate from Almas takes 14 days by horse; the Venture-Captain is willing to lend you horses if you do not have mounts.
Two weeks into the journey, Venture-Captain Brackett points out a dark silhouette on the horizon. "There’s the old Irrica estate. Check it out, and then meet me in Elidir to report. I’ll be staying at the Short Sorcerer Tavern, near the Druma Road gate."
The Irrica summer estate is a two-story gothic structure. The few narrow windows have been boarded up from inside, and the main doors are scorched and scarred but appear intact. The upper floor appears to have collapsed completely.
Broad stone steps lead to an open-air veranda and small vestibule. Sturdy wooden doors bar your entrance.
No ones detects the presence of any traps or hazards on the main doors, but on attempting to open them they seem to be not only locked from the inside, but also barred shut. There are also two windows present on the exterior of this side of the house, both boarded shut.
As you make your way around the house, you find that the door on the northwestern corner of the manor lies in splinters, providing easy access up the steps and into the house.
The group finds themselves in a once-grand hall, now ruined. Marble pillars support a painted ceiling above an ornately tiled but bloodstained floor. Broken glass and debris cover the floor. Stern portraits of Irrica family members look down from gilded frames hung above the reach of goblin vandals. A wrought-iron spiral staircase, its railings evoking the fires of Hell, leads to the collapsed upper floor, and a pair of sweeping staircases are choked with debris. The exterior doors are ornately carved and barred from within, save the one in the northwestern corner. There are several closed interior doors as well.
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Stepping into the manner from the broken door, he looks down on the blood stained floor and draws his battleaxe. "We should assume we aren't the first ones here but I agree we should secure the floor first and then do a thorough search of each room."
Hskoro walks down the other side of the hallway from Giovanni as he listens and taste for any threats.
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On the trip to the manor on horseback, Everbloom gives hers a big, deep SNIFF. Her stomach grumbles. She spends much of the journey salivating on it.
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Everbloom follows the others around the house and into the broken back door. She wanders through the hall, past pillars and old bloodstains...
She eyes the many grand stairwells curiously, with her lip curled up in amusement.
She strolls through the centre of the room, looking around for enemies, tasty morsels, or interesting magical objects. When she reaches the t-juntion at the end, she looks both ways...
And if nothing jumps out at her she saunters back to Giovanni to see if he's got the lock open yet.