"There’s trouble at the Blakros Museum again," VentureCaptain Adril Hestram growled when you first entered the meeting room in the Grand Lodge earlier this afternoon.
"The museum’s curator, Nigel Aldain, came to me this morning asking for help. Apparently, a wayward daughter of his illustrious patrons, the powerful Blakros family, has disappeared, along with a few of the museum’s watchmen who went looking for her."
"The Society has helped him in the past, and he wants us to find her, before he loses his job, or worse. Now Nigel’s an old friend, and a former Pathfinder, but this kind of missing person case isn’t really our bailiwick. Normally I’d tell him to find the district guard and leave the Society out of it.
But then he made me an offer that was too good to pass up. Not only will he allow the Society access to the Blakros Museum’s extensive and very private library, but apparently this same missing daughter just returned to Absalom with a pack full of ancient relics collected throughout Osirion and northern Garund."
(Pauses to see if you're paying attention)
"And Nigel promised the Society first pick of any of those pieces that catch our fancy. I don’t need to tell you what those kinds of things might be worth, so it looks like you’re heading to the Blakros Museum tonight."
"The missing daughter is named Imrizade Blakros —half Osirian herself and a pretty successful adventurer and fortunehunter by all accounts. She just arrived in Absalom out of the blue a few days ago, after a couple of years’ worth of tomb-raiding in the Osirian deserts, and carrying an odd metal cylinder covered in hieroglyphs, like nothing Nigel has ever seen before.
Nigel says she went straight to the basement of the museum to do some research in the family’s library, muttering something about ‘whispers in the dark’ and ‘old tapestries,’ or something. He didn’t hear from her for a couple of days, which isn’t unusual when someone is deep into their research in the archives, but he got worried when strange noises started coming from the basement. He sent a watchman down there to investigate, and when he didn’t return, Nigel sent a few more. That was last night, and they haven’t come back up either."
He locks gaze with you.
"Go to the museum and find out what happened to Imrizade Blakros and the watchmen. Nigel would prefer them alive, of course, especially the Blakros woman, but the Society is more interested in what she brought back with her. I’ve got a hunch it wasn’t just grave goods and pretty jewelry. Whatever she found, the Society wants it, or at the very least some information about it."
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The imposing Shoanti man known as Darren Lars stood near the door of the meeting room with his arms crossed and a look of rapt attention on his face as he listened to Venture Captain Adril Hestram speak. Every so often he'd pat down his pristine chain shirt, fiddle with the massive earth breaker he carried, or with the iron klar hanging from his back.
"I'm starting to believe the Blackros family is cursed," Darren stated succinctly. "Did Nigel happen to tell you what secrets guarded the Blakros library? Or perhaps what strange, dangerous things they've manage to store in their basement at this time?" Darren asked.
The VC shakes his head.
"He did not. He tends to be somewhat vague, or in the least he may not think their items worth mentioning. Or, he genuinely hasn't got the faintest clue."
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A fair question! Brady thinks, sending a concerned glance over to Monty and Faliana. Didn't the Society read the Chronicles they'd submitted? How is it that the two people who'd been most traumatized by their last excursion into the Blakros were selected to go in again?!?
"I agree with Darren." Brady is a strong, stout man "Nigel has already shown himself to be reckless in the past. He should be giving us some idea of what we're going to face inside that museum."
In the early days of Absalom, the Blakros Museum was originally the stronghold of an eccentric wizard. Abandoned for centuries, it was later bought by the Blakros family, who turned it into a museum for their impressive collection of curiosities from across Golarion.
The mad astrologer Ralzeros the Overwatched built what is now the Blakros Museum thousands of years ago, as an observatory to study distant worlds (and some say, to be studied by them). He later disappeared following a mage-duel with another of Absalom’s early wizards.
Ralzeros carved his stronghold from a single block of volcanic stone with the help of fell powers granted to him by otherworldly patrons, supposedly to hide some powerful artifact secreted in the catacombs beneath the keep.
However, neither the secret tunnels nor Ralzeros’s hidden treasure have ever been discovered. In addition, some stories claim that Ralzeros’s disappearance was actually an abduction at the hands of the alien monsters from the worlds he had studied so obsessively.
The wealthy and prominent Blakros family is a large, extended clan of eccentrics with trade contacts rivaling those of the Aspis Consortium who make most of their money selling valuable antiquities across the TaldorQadira border.
Their daughters are known far and wide for their beauty, and marrying a Blakros woman is a sure path to power and riches.
Rumored to be originally Taldan by blood, the Blakros have since intermingled with bloodlines from all over Golarion, by marrying daughters to a succession of Qadiran trade princes, Vudran rajahs, and even the occasional Tian noble and Mwangi chief.
Gifts from these foreign potentates (and the sale of illicitly gained secrets) provide the foundation for the Blakros fortune and their famous collections.
In reality, it is the many daughters who bear the Blakros name that are responsible for the family’s wealth. Although beautiful and amazingly fertile, wedding a Blakros daughter has significant conditions—the daughters always keep their maiden name, all children must be raised as Blakroses, and the husband’s family must offer a considerable dowry for the privilege of marriage.
Once married, the Blakros daughters join an unparalleled spy network that keeps the family well supplied in secrets and priceless artifacts.
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Monty shares a glance with Fali.
Where the society points, we go...
He mutters darkly. Perking up a bit with his usual grin, he scratches behind an ear.
Oh it's probably some terrible dark curse that will destroy us all. Only real thing to do is go to the museum and see what bites, probably literally! So, just to be sure I understand, said missing girl was lost, then found, now lost again, and the last place she was lost was at the museum which Nigel can't seem to find her in? is that correct?
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A tall-ish half-elf woman decidedly in her mid-forties, plasters a fairly, well, plaster smile on her face. She nervously plays with her long hair that is tied back with a purple scarf that sometimes glints in the light. Oh, bloody gods not that damanable place! My hair was just starting to look good and I haven't had a nightmare for weeks, and yet they are sending me... She takes a look at the Vanara man next to her, US, back in there. I so wish we could have stayed in Nantambu, the demons there were more... laughable.
She grabs his hand and gives it a squeeze as she responds to the Venture-Captain's introduction with a fairly forced sounding laugh. The Blackros Museum, you don't say? I'm all for rescuing someone, but you did read our chronicles from the last time something happened there, right? And are you sure we want to be rescuing a Blackros daughter? I mean they are..."
Shje then readjusts her bright, multi-hued varisian clothes over what appears a breastplate and sits up a bit straighter. "Alright, If we don't know what we are likely to find, then I don't know who to bring. Brady, Monty, any ideas? Maybe Mariel?" She says as she glances at the man next to her, before she realizes that there are people here she hasn't met yet.
She gives a smile, a genuine one this time, "Ah right I should probably introduce my self and explain what I meant there. I'm Faliana Galina and I am an honest to Ashava medium. As in I channel spirits. I don't know if it was a talent or a gift, but I try to use my powers in service to Ashava and help lost spirits leave this plane and travel to the boneyard. I'll try to properly introduce you to whoever comes along with us."
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"My name is Armik, formerly a pit-fighter, from the River Kingdoms arenas. I would be honored to fight with you all, and to tend your wounds should they occur."
Armik is a lean but muscular tiefling, dressed in a pleasing red silk shirt over a chain mesh shirt underneath. His black leather pants are tailored to suit not only his prehensile tail, but also the lacquered steel boots that rise to his knees. His stark white hair frames his typically solemn face, as do the twin horns that hang down and spread from his gaunt cheekbones and reinforce his demonic heritage.
"I agree with you all, it seems such a simple mission, but I am afraid that this Aldain person is hiding something. Would it be possible to speak with him ourselves?"
After the VC has you briefed, he opens the door for you to exit and head out to the Blakros museum.
Once there, you knock on the door.
"On my way, just a minute."
The door opens, and a flustered Nigel looks at you. He recognizes three of you.
"Oh?! Come in everyone, quickly."
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"Nigel, I don't feel good about this. What are you getting us into now?" Brady snaps this out. The last time he'd been here hadn't gone well, and it was due to the museum's carelessness. He tries hard not to keep sneaking glances at Monty and Fali--making sure they're okay--but he can't control it entirely.
"Did you really just bring some strange device here and start playing around with it?"
With the group's general pressure on him, the elf grows even more flustered, on top of his already nervous state of mind.
"Yes, yes of course. I don't know how much Hestram has told you, but people have gone missing. Imrizade Blakros had taken an item back from her travels and went to study it in private in the basement. While it's nothing new for one of their kin to seclude themselves for a few days, supplies provided, she's gone longer than is normal."
(pauses briefly, looking at each of you)
"I sent some of the watchmen to look for her, but they have not returned. Given the ill fated events during my service as curator, you can understand my concern, right?"
He walks you to a room, where a miniature ziggurat with the depiction of an elegantly dressed woman is partially revealing a sloped pathway downwards.
It's pitchblack down there.
"In the basement are archives, scrolls, and storage rooms, holding private pieces not put on display in the main museum. But not even i know the exact inventory they have down there. Often when it goes to the basement, the descriptions on the cases or crates can range from -symbolism piece I-, to -armorpiece A-3-."
"I have honestly no idea what has transpired down there, only that the society is the only organization capable of solving the situation."
A 50-foot-long stone ramp concealed beneath the miniature ziggurat in the museum’s North Exhibit Hall descends 25 feet to the basement.
The ramp ends at two sets of double doors, facing each other to the east and west. Wooden placards on the doors are marked [Storeroom 1] and [Storeroom 2].
...all is silent on the other side.
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Before the group moves to the museum, Faliana takes some time to set up a séance. She pulls some chalk and candles from her back and draws a big circle on the ground and then adds a design to the center of it. Where the design touches the out circle she adds a candle lighting it as she goes. With all of the basic prep work finished she pulls out four long red strings, explaining, "If you want to you can take part in my séance. It doesn't require much, just that you stay in the circle and don't let go of the string."
She pulls out a very old and delicate looking jade kukri. "I'm going to channel Moke, he's very straight forward and doesn't like demons. However, he is also extremely good at fighting, and by holding the sting, some of his skill for making hits count more will pass on to you. However a word of warning, he's skittish about arcane effects, they are too close to the magics demons use for him to be comfortable."
She gives an end of a sting to whoever joins her circle. before quieting down and focusing one the kukri for a moment. After a second she starts to move in slow, deliberate belly dance moves, each move, smooth calm and precise. After completing a full dance, about fifteen minutes, she slowly starts to increase the tempo, but as she does her movements change slightly. Each foot step seems a little more forceful, each gesture a little more harsh. As she completes the same dance a second time, she starts a third. This time it is clear that her dance is definitely different, being a much more forceful and intimidating. this continues until a the very end the belly dance form before is completely replaced with a different dance
At the last she stops, jade kukri in the air, her face inexplicably more lined, a determined jut to her jaw. Screaming something in polygot, Moke takes control. Taking a heavy breath or two, he sits down to rest. After a moment, he stands back up and runs Fali's body through a couple of warm-up exercises. When he finishes, He gives everyone a broad smile, before the face goes blank and Faliana's calmer tension returns to it.
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Later, in front of the museum, Faliana gives Monty's tail a squeeze back, before commenting on Nigel's organization skills. You know, since the last time you had actual demons trapped in stone masks just out on display, I would have hoped you'd taken a full inventory of everything you had and seen if any of it was dangerous, but I guess not."
She gives a slight snort, before turning her attentions to the dark entry way. She screws her eyes shut and starts to mentally imagine things getting brighter and brighter, slowly releasing the tension from her face. After a second she opens her eyes to three balls of light floating around her head she sends them spiraling off into the dark and follows down the stairs.
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"I'lltake part, though I'm a bit suspicious of something that needs a ritual. We'll see how it goes, I suppose." Darren says before entering the seance are.
After sitting through the whole ritual, Darren checks himself over before nodding an approval. "I'm not sure what a Moke is, but I feel it already. As for a light source," he began rinsing through his pack for something. A bright light started pouring forth from the container, and he pulled out a fist-sized gem that shined like the sun. "I got it after one of my first missions. I was told that it shines like a Daylight spell that's been heightened, so it easily dispelsmost darkness effects. I've got my hands full with my hammer and shield, but if anyone else wants to carry it I can lend it out.
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Brady happily accepts the piece of string from Faliana, and stays respectfully quiet as she performs the seance that draws Moke. He almost immediately recognizes the spirit's mannerisms when he takes control of Faliana's body.
Brady will inspect the door for traps; if none are found, he'll attempt to open it.
You know, since the last time you had actual demons trapped in stone masks just out on display, I would have hoped you'd taken a full inventory of everything you had and seen if any of it was dangerous, but I guess not."
"I understand your sentiment. But please understand, i do what i can up here, as down below is the Blakros' private department, and i rarely get more details than what is on the label."
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Indeed, the door is not trapped, and he opens it.
The doors open onto a vast hall draped in shadowy cobwebs and filled with haphazardly placed statues. The air is heavy with dust.
Any noise echoes hollowly among the figures, some swathed in thick coverings like misshapen beasts, others bare and uncovered, all coated in a thick layer of dust. Leering visages loom out of the darkness, fearsome wooden and stone faces carved in grimaces and scowls.
As the team cautiously enters the room, everyone carefully watches around, the lights' casting shadows on the posing statues.
Nothing seems amiss, until the team gets near the center of the room.
Two statues of armed warriors, holding their swords in an upward saluting pose, turn their heads towards the newcomers, then bring down their swords.
Darren's reflexes have him narrowly evade the stone, yet sharp sword, but the sword slashes true on Brady's shoulder.
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These statues are known as Caryatid columns. Constructs able to pose silently as inanimate statues, thereby catching the unwary by surprise.
Cyan raises its sword again.
This time, though, Brady has better a moment to prepare himself, and he steps aside, dodging the attack.
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Armik & Brady
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Orange
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Darren, Faliana & Monty
Brady receives some welcome medical attention, while Darren swings his earthbreaker at orange. It's hard vs hard, and the column's sturdy design lessens the harm slightly.
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Orange (-14)
It retaliates on Darren.
Darren simply lowers his head, and the blade goes wide.
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Darren, Faliana & Monty
Also...
Darren notices the collision between his weapon and the column has caused some serious wear on his earthbreaker.
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Monty swears as he side steps and enters into his snake style stance, bobbing first up, flicking his hand in one direction...
before hooking out his dexterous foot in the other, attempting to sweep the stone creature's heavy body out from him.
He winces as he probably fails.
Heavy ain't you? Should lay off the scones!
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"Is there any reason why he couldn't tell us about this"
"Yeah, it's their private apartments... can't you see? They're just living it up down here!" Brady dodges the swing of the sword. "Thanks Armik!" he says when the tiefling heals him.
"Dale, what are these things?" he calls out instinctively, then grits and hisses through his teeth briefly. "Does anybody know what these things are?"
"Watch your weapons, they can easily break against these creatures!"
Brady looks up at Darren sharply, then back at the... statue he's fighting. My weapons are my hands... he thinks, worriedly. Nevertheless, he focuses himself and strikes with both a swift kick and a punch, bringing his shield up when done.
Brady slams his fists against the column. At least the 2nd one, anyway, dealing 6 dmg.
He does feel a strain on his knuckles, but nothing serious.
Monty tries a quick leg swipe, but his attempt is simply stopped by the solid leg.
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Faliana
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Faliana steps into flanking with Brady, keeping her weapons strapped to her bag, not wanting to risk them unnecessarily. "Brady, is punching this thing going to hurt? I'd rather not find out first hand if I can avoid it..."
She takes a second and decides to move in close and bodily slam her shoulder into the thing hoping it won't be too painful.
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Faliana throws her shoulder into the orange statue. While normally such an action would result in an unscathed statue, Moke's blessing provides the attack to harm the column.
Her shoulder is sore, but no bone fractures or dislocation.
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Cyan makes an overhead swing, and its blade hews across Brady's chest, causing a serious wound.
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Brady & Armik
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Orange (-20)
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Darren, Faliana & Monty
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That last punch didn't break his hand, but it clearly also didn't do as much damage as it should have. Not the way my hand hurts, at least; that thing should be hurting a lot more!
He recalls some instruction he had at the Grand Lodge about focusing your strikes in one area to do more harm when a foe is unusually protected from physical harm. The effort to recall this prevents Brady from making multiple strikes immediately, but he knows he'll be able to make use of this strategy soon.
Whenever you use a full-attack action or flurry of blows to make multiple attacks against a single opponent with unarmed strikes, total the damage from all hits before applying damage reduction. This ability works only with unarmed strikes, no matter what other abilities you might possess.
A brawler can take a move action to gain the benefit of a combat feat she doesn't possess. This effect lasts for 1 minute. The brawler must meet all the feat's prerequisites. She may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + 1/2 her brawler level (minimum 4 times per day).
Encouraging Brady to fight on, Armik taps him again with the healing wand, removing some of his wounds.
Brady then makes a right hook aimed at the statue's face. Dust from the top of the statue comes down, and his eyes close just long enough against it, that it causes him to miss.
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Orange (-20) makes a diagonal cut vs Darren.
The wound isn't major, but it is a nasty cut nonetheless.
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Darren, Faliana & Monty
Darren doesn't strike back at the statue, but both Faliana and Monty do, dealing 7 dmg between them. A few dents, mayhaps from a distant past, seem to have widened, revealing some cracks developing.
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Cyan mindlessly continues the onslaught against Brady.
Brady feels a sharp pain in his right shoulder. But the man still holds his ground.
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Brady & Armik
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Orange (-27)
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Darren, Faliana & Monty
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I can't take much more of this. What are these things; how are they so tough? Brady doesn't show his private doubts as he redoubles his effort at disposing of this statue, targeting the thing with two of his powerful strikes.
He does, however, step away afterward, needing to create some space to hopefully save himself.
Brady swings his fists in return. His first is a fair miss, but his second hits the statue where the windpipe would normally be.
It could be his imagination, but did that punch just cause a crack to start?
Armik
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Orange (-27)
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Darren, Faliana & Monty
Armik the medic to the rescue, as Brady gets more healing administered.
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Orange (-27)
Darren not fighting back, the statue's head turns towards the ones who -are- the immediate threat.
(sound of stone sliding across stone)
With a backhand swing, the warrior slices open a wound on Faliana.
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Darren, Faliana & Monty
The statue seems nimble as a monkey, or just so smooth of surface, that Monty's 2nd strike glances off its exterior.
Darren & Faliana