A Wish Upon a Shattered Star

Game Master Dragoncat

Andrezi doesn't particularly like to speak too much on his background and so far has avoided any such topic. Everytime he would be put into a situation to have to speak he has lucked out. This streak continues when Heidmarch once more saves the day. Completely ignoring the question from Azura, the Varisian swings to face their hostess.

While it was clear that she intended to receive answers on the thugs and not the drinking, that is where Andrezi decided to place the conversation. "I requested ale in addition to the wine. My companions toiled hard with the duties as assigned and a bit of relaxation was in order. Pardon the mess we may have made."

Azura seamlessly switches to explaining, saying, "As directed, we investigated, found a cursed item, dispatched several goblin hostiles, and recovered the poor afflicted woman so that she could be cured of the curse that the item placed upon her."

[dice=Diplomacy]1d20+12

I see that my usual crappy luck with dice rolls at important moments is in effect.

"A cursed Item you say? How interesting. In the future I would leave your messes on the street..."

She began making a motion torwards the thugs tied up.

"Im Sure Koriah could help clean that up, Trendon be a dear and go fetch her please, I will call upon you on that other matter some other time perhaps."

She began and the nobleman turned bard sighed and nodded, tossing a quick wave to the ones he knew in the room.

"Lets see this cursed item shall we?"

She began pouring herself a glass of the wine as well.

"Zev, if you would be so kind...?" says Azura. "Mind you, don't touch it! Apparently the effects are... bad. On your mind."

"As for those idiots maam, as you know the city guards has been....a little overzealous recently. We wanted to question how it was they had such large numbers out hunting Natalya down, and who they were working for, but figured it best if the guard didn't have the opportunity to stick it's nos too deep in Pathfinder business." Ryn chimes in.

At Azura's request Zev will take the bag and gently pour whatever its contents actually are onto the table.

Andrezi straightens up top take interest as the contents are spilled on the table, very curious what the party recovered from the prisoners.

Ada remains quiet and watching the whole event. She sips a bit of wine, and listens. I guess we could have questioned them while we were waiting.

Azura's knee bounces up and down slightly as she waits anxiously for the appraisal of their patron.

At the sight of the shard Sheila's jaw opens in shock and her eyes widen.

"No thats... it can't... Oh..."

She began stammering and immediately turning towards the doors and rushing from the room. With the doors still wide open you can see her rush down the hallway torwards the houses very large library.

It is clear that whatever it was you laid on the table... she recognized it. Her quick exit from the room didnt seem filled with fear either quite the opposite that was excitement of the highest order.

She returns in very short order carrying a tray with several small cases on it.

"Sorry for my haste my friends, this is... well if its what i think it is... Well."

She opened one of the cases and pulled out a scarlet and blue Ioun stone carefully and tentively reaching out to the small depression in the sliver of strange metal.

"What you have found my friends, is nothing short of a miracle. Varisa has seen its share of miracles of late-- the discovery of Xin-Shalast and the defeat of the Runelord Karzoug, or even the release of Korvosa from mad Ileosa's rule come to mind. But this... this discovery will soon be remembered as equal to those events mark my words. This I am sure is a powerful Thassilonian artifact, a fragment of horacalum and a portion of the fabled Shattered Star of Xin: to be precise... the Shard of Pride."

The moment the ioun stone came in contact with the shard The woman whom carried it, Natalya sudddenly sat up with a hoarse cry of shock and fear... then abruptly fell back eyes rolling in the back of her head for a moment.

The shard took on a strange orangish yellow glow... and moments later that same glow seemed to emmanate from Ada's chest albeit weaker. The shard flashed again, Ada's chest just a second behind it... then they both flashed at the same time and then grew still.

"The... the Sihedron Star?" says Azura with a gasp. "But that's... it's... it's a lost artifact of incalculable power!"

She takes a deep breath, winces, and says, "What do we do about it?"

All this talk of artifacts means nothing to Ulfr. He sits starting at Ada seemingly caught between congratulating her and beheading her.

"Uhm....is that supposed to happen" Ryn asks Sheila as she watches the glow emanate from Ada. "You okay Ada?"

Just waiting on Ada to well read her spoiler i guess :)

She better read faster before Azura's knee bounces right through her.

Leaning closer to Ulfr, Andrezi holds his hand half over his mouth as he mumbles, "What the f$#$ is a Shattered Star of Zin?

When it begins to flash his eyes flit back and forth between Ada and the object. "This is some freaky s++% going on right now. You all are seeing this, right?

As Ada and the fragment glow in tandem, Azura's knee stops dead.

Azura has an "oooh" look on her face, then she replies to Andrezi, "Uh... yes! So, um, this is... in theory part of a powerful magical artifact that was thought broken and lost. Maybe Thasillonian? I am not really sure."

Ulfr shrugs. Her guess is as good as mine.

Because Azura spoke to him, Andrezi now nods like it all suddenly comes back to him. Smacking his forehead with his palm he exclaims "Oh right, right, right! I suppose Thassalonians makes perfect sense now that I think about. Thanks for the clarification." I have no clue what she is talking about.

Azura apologetically says, "Sorry, it's kind of ancient history, not... really my specialty. I'm sure Miss Heidmarch could explain better."

Waving his hand without the ale dismissively, Andrezi raises his eyebrows and says, "Oh no-no. It's Yeah. I got it. History, not my thing either. Funny how we have so much in common, eh?" Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. Stop talking now.

Clearing his throat he looks to Ada and says, "So, what are you thoughts?"

Ulfr barely manages to supress a snort as Andrezi initiates clumsy flirt mode. As a good wingman he manages to disguise his amusement. As a fellow man he's dying laughing on the inside.

Ryn fails to suppress a snicker. As much as simply being next to Azura made her a little giddy, she still wasn't as awkward as Andrezi.

Turning back to Ada, she looks over at Sheila to gauge her level of concern.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

Zev rolls his eyes before looking at the glowing shard and then to Ada.

At the mention of the item they had found being a piece of the Sihedron Star Sarsha's attention was immediately snagged and she went over to look at it. She didn't touch the thing, though it took a lot of effort, and asked, "D.d.d.did you just say the Sihedron Star?!" As the discussion continued Saersha recalled all that she knew from her studies of the Runelords. While what she knew mostly focused on Sorshen she did know a little about all of the Runelords and she tried to recall the lore that might be relevant.

Lore (Rune lords): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

Taking a bite of the roll and nodding, Andrezi turns to Saersha as if he was an expert on the matter. "Yep. Sayidruns Star. It's ancient Faissilonian."

"We know. We were here. When it was explained to us. Just now."

Andrezi taps his forehead twice with his index finger he then points to Zev and winks. "Exactly, my friend. Exactly."

Ada suddenly starts. She'd been sitting there in a trance after the glow surrounded her. "I'm sorry what was the question?" She can't take her eyes of the shard.

As if she can't help herself she picks it up, and carefully tucks it away. "It feels like mine."

Shacking her head slightly she looks at the others. "So what was it? Am I going to go crazy like the other woman now that I've picked it up? Is there a goblin army in my future?"

A slight "eep" escapes from Azura as Ada picks up and pockets the broken artifact piece without a second thought.

"Aw crap." Ryn mutters, exchanging glances with the others. She readies herself to deliver a knockout punch if things head south.

Strangely Ada, you dont feel any urges to dominate the world, or rule the lands... You feel... well like you.

"From all that I've studied of the items, I believe that Ioun stone should well counteract any sort of curse. The Shattered Star was designed by the ancient Xin as some sort of powerful defensive artifact. When the runelords rebelled againt him, it broke into seven parts.... according to legend of course. I only recognize it for what it is because im... well something of an expert on Thassilon, Ive spent my whole life pratically studying it."

She paused and one of the servants rushed in carrying two very old looking bottles of wine.She nodded and the servants began to pour.It was clear this was the very finest wine they had in the mansion.

"This item alone is enough to bring us fame beyond belief... but there can be more to be had. According to the legends ive studied, any wielder of the star can focus on the peice they have... something about the shape of it... and it supposed to guide them to the next peice. Try it Ada.... see if the legends are true."

She began the excitement clear in her voice. She took a deep draught of her wine but watch fervently.

Give me a concentration check miss Ada :)

So did my Lore check give me anything of use?

Andrezi taps his forehead twice with his index finger he then points to Zev and winks. "Exactly, my friend. Exactly."

I hate this man Zev thinks as he blankly stares at the human talking to him.

When Ada nonchalantly picks up and pockets the shard he twitches and looks at everyone present (mostly Ryn), cautious as to how any would react. When a fight doesn't break out he relaxes.

So did my Lore check give me anything of use?

Sorry somehow missed that >.<

You recall something of an old book you once managed to read from you mother. Something about the betrayal of Xin by his very lieutenants the Runelords. He (Xin) was using the power of the Sihedron Star to make some sort of immortal construct to use as a body. The Runelords sent assasins in and after a huge explosion slew them and presumably Xin, each Runelord took a shard to keep their master from returning.... or something like that.

You also recall each shard corresponds to a primary sin... in this case a school of magic.

Concentration: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

Ada pulls the piece out of her pocket and concentrates on it. Squinting her eyes and wrinkling her nose in concentration, as she stares hard at the item.

Rin raises and eyebrow as she studies Ada, taking a relieved breath as Shiela explains the likely effect. "So this is one of seven like it?"

"Soooooo..."

Munching on the roll Andrezi slowly looks around the room, "What. She's going to locate the next piece? What happens when she identifies where it is? We're supposed to go tie up some more people and that one from them too?

Shrugging, Andrezi says. "Ok. No problem."

Looking to Ada he asks, "So where's it at?

"Sounds exciting," says Azura eagerly. "It's a treasure hunt, and Ada's the map!"

Saersha considered the information they had been given and felt a niggling something about it that reminded her of something she'd read, somewhere. Finally it hit her and her eyes lit up as she said, "Yes, I remember reading about the artifact in one of our family texts. Xin used the artifact to construct an immortal body for himself, a construct of some kind. When the Runelords betrayed and killed him they each took a portion of the artifact, a shard, that was aligned with their sin, and each sin was aligned with one school of magic." Warming to her subject matter she continued "The seven sins were Envy which focused on abjuration magic, Gluttony whose magic was necromancy, Greed who controlled the very nature of things via transmutation, Lust, of which I am trained in, with control of enchantments, Pride who focused on illusions, Sloth who conjured others to do his bidding, and Wrath who destroyed via evocations."

As they began to discuss searching for the other fragments Saersha was very pleased she chose the day that she did to finally seduce Lady Heidmarch. The chance to recover more of her history was something she wouldn't pass up. "I like this idea of looking for the others."

Ada looks up suddenly when Azura says she's a map. As long as she doesn't try to read me, it will be ok.

"Which shard is this? Pride? I feel as if I can create illusions, but I don't feel any more prideful." She looks at the shard as if it might change her personality just for touching it.

"I believe you dont feel the insidious pull of any sort of curse because the ioun stone placed within deactivates it. I think it was pulled torwards you because you held less pride within you than the others... I guess.. that last part is theory and conjecture. This is so exciting. You all will do this yes, follow the clues to the next one and collect it?"

Shiela began almost giddy.

"That's amazing! So... do we need another ioun stone so that we can safely collect the next piece? To neutralize any curse it may have?" asks Azura. "I'm certainly up to the task, if everyone else is!"

Ryn smiles, Azura's enthusiasm both infectious and very appealing. "I'm in! But yeah, having another one of those stones could be really important."

Ulfr nods almost stoically. Sounds like a good time to me. I'm in.

Going on a quest for ancient treasures certainly sounded interesting. He didn't know if he should speak up yet or not, since he was not a Pathfinder.

Granted he could say he was just a mercenary hired on to help this group, which... he kinda was? But all this being revealed might be for Pathfinder eyes and ears only though.

He started on another roll.

With a shrug Andrezi accepts. "Sure why not?"

Looking over to Shelia he asks, "Though. If we are risking our lives for these items, what is in it for us? You know, besides fame and and all."

"More food?" Zev asks, hopeful.

" Whats in it for you besides the academic knowledge to be gained from legendary artifacts being discovered from a time long past"

She began raising an eyebrow and half glaring at Andrezi...Then she smiled and chuckled.

"Of course you will be paid. Well to. As to your question, I do have another one of those stones... though not exactly the same. Different Ioun stones have different properties. We got lucky that the first stone i tried matched... though with what books i did have I believe this."

She began pushing forward onother one of the cases.

"I believe this stone should be able to be joined with the next shard.... deactivating its curse."

One of the servants came in with a tray bearing several scrolls and laid the tray in front of Mrs Heidmarch. It held wax for sealing and an inkpen and jar.

"These writs will give you access to a line of credit... consider it payment from me for your work so far."

She began signing each then sealing it with her signet ring. As she finished each one the same maid handing you each a scroll, that if taken to the proper moneylender gives you access to withdraw 500 gold to be used as you wish.

Azura looks at the line of credit, then with a nod says to Zed, "A lot more food."

"So, should we go check in on this now, or tomorrow?"

Ulfr nods. It was a good amount to start off with.