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As the Grinning Pixie lurches and sways in the storm, Venture- Captain Calisro Benarry of the Arcadian Mariner’s Lodge grins widely as she slides a clay jug of strong Sargavan rum across her table. Though broad-shouldered and half a head taller than most humans, the intimidating half-orc speaks with an almost childlike excitement in her husky voice. “My apologies for all the secrecy,” she says. “I had to make sure some pirate rascal didn’t catch wind of our mission. Now that Drenchport’s a week behind us and we’re hugging the Eye of Abendego, it’s time to give you lubbers the full run-down.”
Benarry waits for the jug to make its way back to her, then takes a long swig, when suddenly the cabin door creeks open, and the drunkard Venture-Captain steps in, looking over the assembled new agents as he takes a very long drink from his own flask. "hum, 'at's an interstin' choice for this mission." the savior of the Society says, "and any of you lads or ladies tha' make it back, . . . I'll buys you a drink. Or you'll buy me a drink. Whic'ever. Jus' ask for Venture-Captain Roos at tha afterparty. Carry on, and, um, good luck." as the VC walks back out, leaving you unclear just what that whole scene was all about, but, at the same time, very oddly, as if by magic that seems to defy logic, you also seem very confident and inspired to greatness.
As he leaves, everyone's gaze returns back to Venture-Captain Calisro Benarry, who simply shrugs and then holds a finger up to her lips, as if to say "just don't ask", before continuing with her briefing. “I mentioned in Drenchport that the Society wants you to explore a recently discovered ruin somewhere north of the Shackles. Well, that was partly true, but it wasn’t exactly the whole story.” Benarry’s eyes narrow and her grin becomes unsettlingly sharklike. “We’re actually sending you to the Gloomspires, to Old Sevenfingers’s tomb.” Chuckling softly, she slides the jug back across the table. “Here, have another nip. Looks like you need it.”
As you listen to the VC speak, you might recall back to some of your earlier studies, and perhaps remember some important details pertaining to the mission at hand. . .
“I’ve been researching the Gloomspires for a very long time. Before I sailed to Absalom and joined the Society, I was a Free Captain here in the Shackles. Back then I learned about the Gloomspires, Old Sevenfingers, and all the treasure and secrets the old devil took with him when he sealed himself in his tomb.”
A long, rumbling growl of thunder makes Benarry pause, and she takes the opportunity to wet her lips with another swig of rum before she continues. “Since joining the Society, I’ve been able to learn even more about the Gloomspires. Most importantly, I’ve discovered that they’re tied to certain alignments of the stars, and that twice each year—beginning on the nights of the summer and winter solstices—the columns cease moving for exactly three days."
“So, tomorrow’s the summer solstice. Now that you know the ‘where’ and the ‘when’ of this little caper, you need to know why the Society’s sending you.” Benarry pauses before continuing in a more conspiratorial voice. “I recently came into the possession of a logbook once owned by the pirate captain, Mazzer Thrennt. Before Thrennt ended up as lusca-bait seven years back, he was a moderately successful pirate who shared my obsession with the Gloomspires. It turns out his log contains an inventory of the plunder he liberated over the years, including the loot he found in Sevenfingers’s tomb. One item on Thrennt’s list immediately got my attention: His log described with perfect accuracy a relic from lost Lirgen called the Orb of Stars. I’m certain that this device can manipulate the alignments of the stars—or at least how we perceive them, and historical accounts suggest we could also use it to trick the Gloomspires into thinking that the solstice lasts more than just a day. The Society and I both want that orb, and it’s going to look really good to the folks back home if you’re able to secure it. Here,” she says, passing a sheet of parchment across the table, “I’ve written down some of the particulars.”
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As the ship sways in the storm, a tiny gnome sits in a chair, in turns looking delighted and queasy at the turning of the ship. He seems to find it somewhat difficult to listen to the two captains, distracted as he is by the storms. When he hears Captain Benarry mention the Gloomspires, though, it catches his attention.
"Fascinating, I've never been to the Gloomspires before, though I've heard of them. They contain all sorts of strange, reality-warping effects, and I've always wondered exactly how they work. Illusion? Transmutation? Enchantment? or something else entirely?"
Pausing for another lurch of the boat, he then adds "I hope none of you are teleporters, that sort of magic tends to not work so well there."
He shuts up and lets the captain continue, and tries to remember what all he can about Sevenfingers.
but promptly gets distracted by a particularly large wave, and completely loses his train of thought. (I'm not so sure I like this boat after all...)
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Jarek shifts uncomfortably under his scalemail, and grimaces.
Pirate treasure? By Asmodeus, why was I sent on this mission?
He glares disdainfully at the alcohol being passed around, but doesn't say anything, briskly declining if offered any himself.
If this is what my superiors ask of me, then so it shall be done. My commander would be beside himself, though, if he knew I was working alongside one of the sworn enemies of my nation.
He gives the Venture Captain a wry grin and chuckles.
There are those of my order who would look down on a person for not believing as the Hellknights do. I am not one of them. Every man has the right to choose his own path, and fight to make it so. That is the law of the world itself, and no matter how those who inhabit it try to change it, that will always be the one constant. I shall fight for my beliefs, just as you fight for yours. It seems this day, though, that we fight on the same side.
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Narayan is not a knowledgeable man.
Narayan knows nothing about the Gloomspires.
Narayan knows nothing about Sempet Sevenfingers.
But once this conversation is over, Narayan will be knowing some of these things.
Ignorance passes.
Peace and enlightenment are not of the mind, but of moments.
So Narayan listens to his learned friends and smiles beatifically.
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The Chelaxian woman, dressed in white, arrives at the meeting. Looking around at her compatriots, almost in disdain, until she notices the symbol of Asmodeus. With a short nod of the head and the smile she will ask the warpriest if she can have a seat by him.
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Ptolomeo is a tall and brute oread. He has a long beard with crystalline props. His entire body seems more crystalline than usual for his kind, and he always keeps a serious expression, with distant thoughts.
Despite knows nothing about the Gloomspires or the Sempet Sevenfinger, the oread listens Venture-Captain Calisro Benarry with all of his attention.
When she offered the rum, he rejected it without say a word. His voice was listened for the first time when Emma and Kallena starts to talk about someone, maybe a god, Ptolomeo doesn't know it right.
"Focus there", he told the ladies, pointing at the Venture-Captain, then he becomes silent again.
"Do you have a painting of this Orb of Stars?", Ptolomeo asked the Venture-Captain.
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Jarek replies to the woman with a nod, and pulls the chair out for her, his massive hand nearly dwarfing the thing.
The warrior listens to the views of Kaleena, politely letting her finish while absorbing her speech.
It is not debasing oneself to follow a being who holds true the same ideals as you. Imagine what the world would be like without order. Unmitigated chaos, where only the lucky few would have a chance at survival. Asmodeus preaches order, and law, so that everyone has the same chance at survival and success. There are those who use his teachings to further personal agendas, and to quell the weak beneath thier boots. I am not one of them.
To Henrikuaxian, he gives a curt nod.
You and I have an associate in common, a Halfling named Hennet. He is a wild one, but he and I manage to get along. I've heard of you from him. Well met.
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Narayan continues smiling.
The deeds of the past do not concern him.
He has not met Chelaxians before; they seem tyrannical, but that is a thought of their past, and there are other moments for judgment. Sometimes a ruler must make hard choices.
Order is natural to the heavens and to the world.
If they act in cruelty and wickedness he will oppose them with word and deed.
There iss truth in all thingss. The Heavenss do not require our undersstanding. Now though, we hunt a pirate treasure. We should sstrive to live in the now.
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Pirate treasure? By Asmodeus, why was I sent on this mission?
The Venture-Captain looks on the back and forth between the assembled agents with a hint of humor, but eventually decides it's time to get things back on track, just in case things escalate and also because the mission is, to a degree, time sensitive.
Honestly, I know very little about the Orb of Stars. Only that the Saoc Brethren of Lirgen made the orb, and it seems like it can lock the Gloomspires in place long enough for us to study the site properly. That, and this little bit I discovered in Mezzer's logs."
As she begins leafing through a small journal, she continues, . . . “Mazzer Thrennt was a pirate active in the Shackles until seven years ago, when a pair of luscas tore his ship, the Unspeakable, into pieces near Firegrass Island. Thrennt was a Pathfinder in his younger years, but he left the Society to take up piracy. He never lost his love for exploration, and I didn’t realize he had visited Sevenfingers’s tomb until I came across his personal log a few months ago.”
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Climb aboard the wreck, and you’ll see a set of narrow stone steps that wind their way to the top of the column. Once up top, find a way inside the tomb and then find the Orb of Stars.
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Thrennt’s log claims he hid the Orb in a side chamber connected to what he called the ‘hall of the flesh eaters’ and then collapsed the entrance to keep it safe. So, I’m giving you some picks and shovels since you might need to do some digging. I’m certain there are multiple levels to this tomb, so keep good notes, and document anything you find that might help future expeditions.
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Check around the top level, but don’t go any deeper than you have to to find the Orb. Remember, you only have three days to do this before the columns start moving again. The Orb of Stars is a solid sphere made of a dull copper-colored metal inlaid with dozens of star-shaped moonstones, rubies, and blue sapphires that mimic the stars of the Cosmic Caravan.
Once everyone has had a chance to read it, she continues, "As for Sevenfingers, he was a powerful wizard and pirate active in the Shackles three centuries ago. After a very long and successful career full of killing, looting, and assorted depravity, he entombed himself alive in one of the Gloomspires. His legendary tomb has lured pirates, explorers, and treasure-hunters to their doom ever since.”
"Any further questions? If not, I'd suggest trying to avail yourselves of what supplies I might have aboard, and then make ready for a few days at sea."
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Jarek nods imperceptibly at Emma, as though they've reached a silent understanding, and sighs outwardly.
What do we know of the interior of this place? I would not wish to suddenly find myself swimming in my armor.
He gestures to the others as he speaks his next sentence.
No matter what our personal beliefs may be, our superior officers have given us a mission. Part of the mission directives is that we work together. I shall not let one of you suffer in battle without my aid if you require it, no matter what our differences are. So have I been ordered, and so it shall be. I am a pathfinder, the same as you. That makes us brothers in arms this day.
The large man shifts under his armor again, this time confidently, as though there was a strap or plate out of order, and his movement put it back where it went, in its proper place.
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Jarek nods imperceptibly at Emma, as though they've reached a silent understanding, and sighs outwardly.
What do we know of the interior of this place? I would not wish to suddenly find myself swimming in my armor.
“They are a cluster of columns that rise out of the sea, about a hundred miles west of the Eye of Abendego. The columns are evenly spaced, rise about 500 feet high, and are virtually identical on the outside. On the inside, they’re hollow and riddled with chambers and passages, which are said to be home to monsters, traps, and worse. Some say there are twenty columns, others have counted fifty. The fog in the region never blows away, so it’s surprisingly difficult to count them properly.”
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The trip from the western edge of the Eye of Abendego takes about 2 days, though luckily you experience minimal difficulty navigating the waters and reaching the base of Sevenfingers’s Tomb.
It took nearly two hours to climb the narrow, winding steps to the summit of the great stone column containing Sevenfingers’s tomb. Although the swirling chaos of the Eye of Abendego lies only a hundred miles away to the east, the violent storms it constantly hurls across the seas seem to have forgotten this eerily quiet place. Surrounding the monolith are dozens of nearly identical columns, their ominous outlines stretching down into the mist. And here, atop Sevenfingers’s tomb, is a small clearing surrounded by a thick and utterly silent veil of tropical trees, hanging vines, and thick undergrowth, all shrouded in fog.
Some of you think that you hear a voice, someone almost familiar calling for you to press on, or to find them. Others swear they see shapes in the fog, all just out of the corner of the fog.
A lush canopy of tropical trees, flowering vines, and thick undergrowth forms a dark green wall around this small clearing. A broad trail cuts through the foliage and vanishes into the mists to the northwest. To the south and east is the edge of the column, and a sheer five hundred-foot drop. The ground here is a soggy carpet of thick green moss and black soil.
The winding stairs lead to this small clearing near the southeastern edge of the column. At first glance, the clearing appears empty; however . . .
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Narayan is really enjoying himself. The mist is cool on his scales and leaves them glittering with little beads of moisture. The long hike too allows him to exert himself, but not to exhaustion.
The emptiness of the clearing does not deceive him.
Nothing in this world is truly empty.
The stomachs of those who were fed and bedded here are no longer empty.
The plants seem empty of edibles, but that is merely an illusion of the moment, and does not see the potential that lies within these healthy plants.
The heart of those who would feast on their fellows or foes seems empty, but is filled with avarice and hate, an overweening love of self.
The path seems empty, but it still bears the memory of its travelers.
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As you start looking around more, following some of the trails that the tracks lead, you come upon a clearing is shrouded in shadows thanks to the thick jungle canopy overhead. The canopy has begun to become so think, and it seems this strange fog seems to especially cling to the overhanging bushes and vines, visibility begins to decline even more.
A dozen makeshift beds of leaves and palm fronds surround a sickly campfire that barely manages to keep smoldering in the humid air. Hundreds of years ago, the proliferation of piracy in the Shackles gradually pushed the native population farther and farther west, eventually forcing them to inhabit islands long avoided due to ancient
taboos. What you see before you must be their descendants, if not remnants.
A small group of savagely tattooed and scarred warriors stands instantly from their makeshift camp just as you approach, grabbing crude clubs and rising to fight. On closer inspection, you also spot that each of them seems to also have sharpened teeth, and you can see small scraps of flesh stuck in some of their teeth, the color of blood on their teeth. All in all, there are five warriors, but you also see a sixth, much like the others, but he does not rise, nor grab a weapon. In fact, he doesn't seem to react at all, simply laying on what seems to be a makeshift liter.
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ROUND 1
Narayan ()
Ptolomeo ()
Henrikuaxian ()
Kitajo ()
Barbarian 1 <green> ()
Barbarian 2 <pink> ()
Barbarian 3 <blue> ()
Kaleena ()
Emma ()
Jarek ()
Barbarian 4 <yellow> ()
Barbarian 5 <purple> ()
Crippled Barbarian <red> ()
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Narayan's grin widens as combat begins. With a stamp he widens and lowers his stance, hooking his fingers into talons as he steps forward into the trees.
Hear me!
I am Narayan Singh.
My egg was firsst laid in Nagajor; my esssence was honed in the dojoss of Quain.
My fisst shatters boness; my sscaless turn bladess.
Go in peacce.
If you presss me, it will not be me that fallss!
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Unhindered by the jungle's density, Narayan moves in closer, shouting words that the Barbarian's do not seem to understand, and while it seems to cause one of them to shrink back for a moment, it seems to have the reverse effect on the rest, almost as if reinforcing the idea that their backs are truly to the wall.
ROUND 1
Narayan ()
Ptolomeo ()
Henrikuaxian ()
Kitajo ()
Barbarian 1 <green> (Shaken-> R3)
Barbarian 2 <pink> ()
Barbarian 3 <blue> ()
Kaleena ()
Emma ()
Jarek ()
Barbarian 4 <yellow> ()
Barbarian 5 <purple> ()
Crippled Barbarian <red> ()
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Hearing the commotion, Henrik moves forward to try to see what's going on. Once he catches sight of the three barbarians grouped together, he can't resist trying out his new trick. He pulls a tiny shovel out of his spell component pouch, chants a few words, and jabs the shovel toward the three barbarians.
As he does this, a large pit opens up beneath their feet, 10 feet to a side, and appearing to be about 10 feet deep.
As he does this, he calls out to his friends "Watch the edges of the pit, they're sloped and you can easily fall in!"