Dot.
The fall rains have come early this year, and a chill wind blows off the waters of Absalom’s harbor, bringing with it the smell of a storm somewhere far off at sea. Venture-Captain Drandle Dreng hurries down the street in a most unusual outfi for the aging Venture-Captain: some sort of blue military uniform complete with a green sash displaying a pair of ornate medals and a black umbrella.
“Ah, there you all are,” he half-mutters to himself. “Is everyone here?” Without waiting for an answer, he turns on his heels and heads off at a brisk pace, occasionally turning around to make sure everyone is keeping up.
“You’re probably wondering where I’m dragging you, eh? Seven years ago I sent young agents much like yourselves on a preliminary exploration of the necropolis below the Drownyard in the Precipice Quarter. The Drownyard is the name that was given to the old Tri-Towers School, once home to some of Absalom’s wealthiest progeny. It was destroyed in the great earthquake of 4698 AR, and we thought that all of the children, teachers, and staff had perished.”
“But let be back up a bit. Eight years ago, the Society discovered an ancient necropolis under the Drownyard. It dates back to the third century AR, and if you know anything about Absalom’s history, you’ll know that we know almost nothing about those early years. It took me almost an entire year of negotiating with the parents of the children who died in the Tri-Towers Yard to convince them to grant us access to the site, and when we did, what did we find? A lot of spooky stuff: undead, haunts, and some nasty bugs. But we also found something completely unexpected: a survivor. A little slip of a girl named Junia Dacilane somehow survived in a death-like state for 10 years. The only thing that kept her alive was a ring of sustenance that she had found among the crypts. Junia’s mother, Lady Miranda Dacilane, was of course beside herself when we pulled her living daughter from the ruins and she vowed to not only give the Society full access to the property, but personally underwrite our archaeological efforts there. Soon thereafter I set up an archaeological dig at the Drownyard, and we’ve been pulling out fascinating fragments from Absalom’s early history ever since. Every year I visit Lady Dacilane to renew our contract to maintain the dig, but this year it seems that she wants us to jump through an additional hoop. She wants us, or rather you, to escort her daughter back to the Drownyard. It seems that Junia’s become a bit obsessed with her alma mater, and since the Precipice Quarter is no place for pampered young noblewomen, she needs an escort. Think you can manage that?”
Without giving the PCs a chance to interrupt him, he quickly adds, “Oh, and don’t forget to call the Drownyard the Tri-Towers Yard while we’re at Dacilane Manor. No one who lost children in the earthquake likes to be reminded of that tragedy… even the ones who got their child back."
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“You’re probably wondering where I’m dragging you, eh? Seven years ago I sent young agents much like yourselves on a preliminary exploration of the necropolis below the Drownyard in the Precipice Quarter. The Drownyard is the name that was given to the old Tri-Towers School, once home to some of Absalom’s wealthiest progeny. It was destroyed in the great earthquake of 4698 AR, and we thought that all of the children, teachers, and staff had perished.”
Lief quietly scoffs at some of Dreng's choice of word but follows along regardless.
"The girl, Junia, how well has she recovered from the ordeal? Children in these warm southern lands tend to be a bit softer than I'm accustomed to dealing with", the aged northman asks coldly.
"Well she isn't wrestling bears in her off time but I hear she is doing well."
"Junia did not age mentally or physically while sleeping in the crypt. It is a mystery that has never been explained. Even though we should be celebrating her twenty-eight birth year, she appears and acts like a child of eighteen.”
"Maybe. Either way you can ask her yourself kiddos."
After about ten minutes of walking through the rain, you reach your destination. Dacilane Manor is an imposing four-story townhouse of heavy masonry with a parapet roof that is festooned with numerous leering, demonic gargoyles. After knocking on the door, a middle-aged halfling woman in a large apron answers it. “Please come in. My lady will join you momentarily in the drawing room.”
After you are gathered in the sitting room, Lady Dacilane enters. She is a tall, stern-looking, yet attractive Chelaxian woman with sharp features, a fair complexion, and black hair accented with gray and white. She is dressed in a well-made, floor-length black gown streaked through with crimson. A plain looking silver pentagram necklace is her only jewelry. Dreng immediately jumps up to greet her, bowing and kissing her hand in a formal fashion. "These are the whippersnappers I've assigned to guard your daughter."
“As I am sure Master Dreng has already informed you, I have a particular request of the Pathfinder Society this year. My daughter Junia has recently celebrated her eighteenth birthday, but she maintains a certain obsession with the traumatic events that befell her at the Tri-Towers Yard so many years ago. I have stopped her from sneaking out of the manor and visiting that place several times, and I feel that her past is keeping her from fully embracing her future. I would ask that you accompany her to the gods-forsaken Precipice Quarter and let her see her fill of the decay and misery. Perhaps those sights will cure her of her unnatural obsessions.”
“Junia’s experiences during and after the earthquake were terrible, and they have left lasting mental scars. Despite my efforts and those of some of Absalom’s best healers, I have been unable to truly help her. Nevertheless, it is time for her to put her childhood experiences behind her and face her adult responsibilities. She needs to grow up.” She then turns to Leif. "I hope so. I am at my wit's end. Take her wherever she wishes within reason in the Precipice Quarter. It is a dangerous place even during daylight hours, so use your best judgment. Let her stay as long as she wishes, but bring her back before nightfall tomorrow."
"Junia, your escorts are here for you!" The Lady exclaims.
Her daughter comes bounding down the stairs and into the sitting room a few moments after he mother calls her. She has her mother’s height, black hair, and fine facial features, but that’s where the similarities end. Unlike her mother’s carefully coiffed hair, Junia’s is short and practical, and she carries herself with a confident and unladylike swagger. She is dressed in grey breeches, knee-high leather boots, a white cotton shirt, and an azure blue riding coat with tails with a golden eagle pin on the lapel. Beneath her coat, it is clear that she is wearing a mithral chain shirt.
Upon arriving in the drawing room, Junia clicks her heels in a military manner and greets her mother with a mischievous grin. Lady Dacilane immediately turns bright red with embarrassment. "I don't know why you would appear in such a ridiculous outfit in front of our guests." She says reprimanding her daughter before giving up and storming out of the room.
"Call me J, like the letter." Junia says shaking each of your hands.
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"Oh, and Mr. Gorumson, before I forget. Please keep your positive energy away from me. You won't do me any favors with it.
"Whatever you say boy", Leif replies with little humor.
The Gorumite priest leaves the girl's evaluation to his peers. Instead he gestures toward the door with his mailed hand. "Where would you like to visit first?"
"The Precipice Quarter." J nods to Leif and you go on your way. You walk through the Foreign Quarter and then through the Docks. However as you are walking through the Docks, a group of four Chelish Marines stumble out of a tavern, quite obviously drunk. They start off cheerful until they see Junia. "Hey you traitorous peasant! What are you doing here! No stupid Eagle Knights allowed around here!"
The quartet of drunks look to each other at Itra's threat. "Uh alright fine, hide behind your friends, Eagle jerk." One says before they walk away. Junia however looks shaken by this and you see a blue tinged ephemeral outline of a boy standing in front of her as well scowling at the drunks as they run away. The image then quickly fades away.
"I believe that is a phantom, a psychic companion of sorts. Perhaps the young lady should explain herself."
“I guess I should tell you, considering who you are and where we are going. I’ve been keeping him a secret for far too long in any case. Grishan, can you come out, please. These people would like to meet you."
Grishan steps out of J’s body, revealing himself to be a green-tinted apparition that resembles an emaciated 14-year-old boy with sunken cheeks and hollow eyes. He is still wearing his school uniform consisting of a blouse covered by a vest. His legs end just below the knees, trailing of into nothingness and he flats above the ground at the same height he stood in life.
"We were friends back in school. When I died, I came back as this spirit and decided to protect her. When she was rescued I helped reunite her soul with her body so she could awaken. I've been hiding more or less to avoid being exorcised. And I've been the one encouraging her to go back." The spirit states.
"Well you see, my older brother asked me to spy on my friends and their families before I died. I went to parties and snooped around in their parent's offices. But before I could give the information to him, fate had other plans. I hid the packet of information in the Arboretum Arcanis. I'd like to get it to my brother."
"I think so. It's my life's greatest unfulfilled mission."