|
Feeling the healing evergy course though his body, bits of charred flesh slough off of the elf, exposing pink, tender skin below. Rising to his feet with scimitar in hand, Finarin looks towards the Aspis duo.
"You will pay ... for ruining my shoes."
Muttering arcane words through cracked lips, blackened fingers swirling in swift patter, blue energy cascades around his arm, arcing, looking for a conduit to be released.
Cyrus appears next to Na'alu and slices the man's throat as the Bonuwat man looks for an escape. Blood chokes the man as he uncomprehendingly tries to gasp for breath, red liquid the only substance available to his starved lungs. Angrily, Cyrus again goes for the man's throat, this time slicing into bone as the ninja realizes he has made it to Na'alu's spine. The transmuter jerks back involuntarily as the sickle severs more than a few nerves and his head lists ghoulishly to one side, his ear touching his shoulder. Utterly dead, Na'alu collapses.
The strange human-like automaton notices Na'alu's bloody death, "Owner dead! Initiating mass murder protocol number nine!" Its eyes glow read, just as Gunari steps in and pierces one of them with his rapier.
Not to be outdone, Finarin piles on, discharging electrical current into the construct as it lies there on the ground. With a jolt, it sits up as the strange colored cords seem to melt, revealing thin, braided wires beneath. An ungodly smell, worse than smelling salts, erupts from the now smoking machine-man. All at once, the glowing lights in its body and eyes wink out and it moves no more, sitting bolt upright even in death.
|
"Well, my friends, it looks like we survived another one. Let's roll the corpse, and get out of here, in case more friends are coming. Thank you, Ibid, for that timely shot. Probably saved my life!"
Gunari makes sure that everyone is in traveling condition, and we'll also identify anything that helps get us out of here faster. He'll also take a quick look at the automaton, to see if there is anything he can learn from it that he didn't learn in Trial by Machine.
Bedraggled, the Pathfinders work their way through Na'alu's belongings (the humanoid construct only carried a spear, javelins and its skin acted like leather armor). They find the following items of note on Na'alu:
- potion of cure moderate wounds;
- potion of invisibility;
- A pill in a vial;
- masterwork quarterstaff;
- cloak of resistance +1;
- ring of protection +1;
- Na'alu's spellbook (pocket travel edition);
- diamond dust worth 250 gp; and
- 50 gp.
Gunari can learn nothing from looking at the automaton, save that it is indeed a constructed being.
Na'alu's spellbook contains the following spells:
- 0th: acid splash, daze, detect magic, read magic
- 1st: charm person, expeditious retreat, mage armor, magic missile, mount
- 2nd: bull’s strength, glitterdust, scorching ray
- 3rd: fireball, slow, stinking cloud, suggestion
Just let me know which spells you'd like to copy into your spellbook (and please calculate the costs for me) and I will happily scribble them on your chronicle sheet and sign away.
In addition to his regular gear, the Pathfinders find several encoded messages located in a secret compartment of Na'alu's robes.
Finarin and Ibid pour over the notes, which appear to be gibberish, and eventually they figure out the secret code. It is a simple letter transposition and the message is in Taldan, but it uses the Thassilonian alphabet instead. While unable to read the entire message without consulting a Thassilonian translation manual, they get enough words to know that Na'alu was actually a double-agent, working in truth for an organisation calling themselves the Technic League .
The letter instructs Na'alu to discover the purpose and as much intelligence as he can on the Aspis Consortium's upcoming expedition into the Mwangi Expanse. It further warns to be on the lookout for Pathfinder agents, as the Pathfinder Society is showing an increased interest in the area.
The Pathfinders hike the remainder of the way to Nantambu, a task that takes them over a week. However, it was well worth their while as they encounter no pursuers from either the Aspis Consortium or the Technic League.
Aya Allehe is overjoyed at the Pathfinders' return and calls them into her office.
"So, Pathfinders. It seems your efforts were a success. Please, tell me what happened - and spare no details!" she says eagerly, pouring each a drink of their choice. Her Chelish red, in particular (a gift from Novaria herself) is delightful. It has somehow been kept in ideal cool conditions despite the oppressive jungle heat. Finarin later learns that extradimensional spaces, like bags of holding, are ideal for this purpose.
|
That made me feel better... I think... He thinks as he replays the moment of the killing blow over and over in his head.
Cyrus seethes with anger at the caster as he bleeds out. Once he is sure the man is fully dead, he moves urgently back to his friends to see them mopping up the remaining parts of the mechanical creature, and breaths a sigh of relief that none of them are in immediate need of life saving care.
Wordlessly, he moves about the bridge area assisting with gathering the spoils from this nearly very deadly conflict. He grunts a simple yes or no whenever asked or spoken to, though with the weight of what nearly happened here, not many words are spoken anyways.
The long trek back to the society outpost is a welcome reprieve from... anything. Cyrus sinks into his thoughts, reflects on his dark mood and the bubbling anger within him.
Maybe it didn't make me feel better. The real question might be... why don't I care? Maybe just being angry makes me feel better.
...
Can't argue with the results...
|
|
Cyrus sinks into a plush chair, and nurses a reasonable facsimile of the kelish fire mead that reminds him of Sheeba.
"Ibid takes the best notes. Locals are split about the consortium, not surprisingly based on how it affects their bottom line. Noveria is interested in business dealings, she is smart enough to see the money in it. We met an interesting woman named Ungala who is already an expert at stealing and smuggling things under the consortium's nose, Gunari knows the details about that one."
He takes a long pull from his mead, and continues. "We got some information from a dead drop, from Malika. No sign of her, so hopefully she is still ok. Lots of good stuff on the snakes there, I think Ibid had that in his pack too. Its got a good rundown of the agents they were going to send on that trip into the Mwangi. Speaking of that... That trip won't be happening anytime soon. Warehouse fires are a wonderful way to brighten up the Bloodcove skyline." He says with a wry grin.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As Finarin stands above the smoking man machine, he notices the absence of pain. Looking at the bits of exposed flesh he is not sure why that is the case, before his mind snaps back to focus and he realized that all the nerves must be brunt off. Activating his wrist sheathe, his wand of cure light wounds appears in his hand.
In Aya Alleh office, Finarin, along with everyone else, turns all the intelligence over to her. Weighing his words, reflecting on what they had just gone through, Finarin simply says, "Cyrus stole a ... boat."
|
|
"Aya, it was a very interesting trip. Yes, we met a quite... interesting... woman by the name of Ungala. I was able to negotiate an agreement that her interests will be willing to help smuggle goods and agents into and out of Bloodcove. Noveria was also willing to work with us, but not with Ungala's organization. Given the nature of the beast that is Bloodcove, I recommend working with Ungala.
"We also learned that an organization known as the Technic League is infiltrating the Aspis Consortium. They are very interested in what is going on in the Mwangi Expanse, which makes me think we need to get very interested in it as well.
"On that... I don't think that the Aspis Consortium is going to be making much progress, soon. There was an... accident. Their warehouse burned to the ground accidentally... and it seems their riverboats must have had a fatal flaw in them, because they both sunk. I expect that their operations have been put on hold for some time.
"We were not able to find Sharrowdale... she seems to be in the direction of Absalom, but beyond that, we don't know. We did recover her documents; Master Ibid here can fill you in on the holes I left."
'I need a drink' Gunari reaches for a glass of the Chelish red. 'It isn't ale, but it will do in a pinch!'
|
|
Ibid being pointed out as the repository of the remainder of their knowledge, Miro just relaxes, smiling as his companions tell their tale. He decides to add, "Yes, and the Aspis Consortium/Technic League double agent had some kind of automaton with him, a robot-man of some sort. My friends were able to deal with him, but I worry about these things becoming more wide-spread."
"Wonderful work, Pathfinders! You have certainly earned your reputation. Ambrus Valsin was not wrong to send you this way," she gives everyone a very genuine smile at that, her golden eyes twinkling, "We now have enough time to plan our response to the Aspis Consortium's expedition. Hopefully, we can figure out what they are doing there.
"On to another matter: I grow ever more concerned with Venture-Captain Nieford Sharrowsmith's absence. I am expecting word from Fort Bandu regarding his whereabouts. Hopefully, with that information, we'll be able to track him down at last. In the meantime, please avail yourself of Sharrosmith Exports' facilities. However, I need you to stay here in Nantambu. I will call you when word arrives."