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Bane charges foreward, first launching a powerful flying kick, but the ex-Pathfinder easily pushes the blow aside. As he lands, he also begins trying to break Kaphiri's weapon, but only a single blow against the blade lands, and despite being a devastating one, seems to have very little effect on the weapon.
Fendahl calls on the powers of the winds to take a form of flight, moving over the market battlefield with ease to the far side of Kaphiri.
From behind Bane, Basalte reaches over trying to grab Kaphiri, but has trouble getting a hold without batting Bane off to the side.
ROUND 2
Noisy (), Bizzle (-21), Bane (), Elenial (), Fendahl (), & Basalte ()
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Kaphiri (-7)
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Elenial moves up as well, but just can't seem to get in a good strike, though it's clear from the show of horror on Kaphiris' face that whatever is forcing him to attack, apparently to the best of his rather high level of ability is utterly against his wishes.
"You have to help me. I can not stop. Get away from me. Get everyone away!"
The two closest guards both rush towards their captain of the guard, trying also to grab him and hold Kaphiri down, but he cuts them down as they approach, again to his utter horror, murdering them with such ease.
The act causes the crowd to panic even more as he begins to swing his sword at them, but so they manage, for the moment to avoid his slashing blows. The other guards, seeing their two friend dispatched with such ease, begin trying to push and usher the other innocents away, fearing that in a few moments, they too will be dead by their friends hand.
ROUND 3
Noisy (), Bizzle (-21), Bane (-43), Elenial (), Fendahl (), & Basalte ()
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Kaphiri (-7)
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Sending a ray of dark energy his way, suddenly Kaphiri's enhances strength is reduced back to normal, exactly what was needed for Bizzle's ramped up magic to take him down to the ground and then Basalte to grab him. Bane tries to curb stomp the weapon, but it seems to have a mind of it's own, sliding out of the way while Bane and he and Fendahl then pummel Kaphiri until he stops resisting.
He drops his weapon while unconscious, and at the same time, it seems the adrenalin stops pumping, revealing the wounds you have inflicted seem to be much worse that they had previously appeared, though not lethally so.
Most of the crowd scatters, leaving this section of the market relatively open, but you can hear more guard patrols running towards the area, and the crowd, still forming a circle around the area continues to yell and talk, unsure of what just happened or the level of safety at the moment.
One of the guards picks up the weapon, while the others put manacles on Kaphiri. Suddenly the guard that holds Kaphiri's kopesh convulses just once, and raises the weapon to attack. He slashes into another of the guards, clearly against his own will, but you manage to restrain him with much more ease, and as soon as the blade leaves his hand, he stops and surrenders.
, with continued study, you fid the culprit, as the kopesh is actually a +2 Cursed Sword of Berserking, forcing anyone that picks it up to attack to the best of their ability anything within a close proximity until they are dead.
More guards arrive, and begin to take accounts of the events. The guards that where there vouch for you, and after getting your statements, allow you to leave, (assuming you confirm what you saw truthfully and do not say anything suspicious). Because Kaphiri is unable to speak on his behalf, and they refuse to allow him to be revived here for safety reasons, they take him in, assuring you that he will be safe and constantly observed, both from the supposed death threats and also fro himself.
They do however, refuse to pick up the blade, and allow you to, assuming you find a safe way to do so, claim it for the Society to study and lock away.
Afterwards, assured that Kaphiri will be safe, and with no real authority to take him, you have little option but to look to your next target.
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"Cursed weapons?" Noisy mutters loudly. "Those Shadow bastards are not playing around. If their grand plan is to unload all those pilfered things on unsuspecting Pathfinders, that poor sod Kaphiri could just be the first who'll be unintentionally dangerous!"
He shakes his head slightly. "We might have to subdue them all, and sort out the curses later."
"The three that died before we got here... How they were found, that could very well have been the effect of cursed items as well! We would do well to treat everything we find as potentially dangerous to touch."
He looks back at the note of unaccounted for pathfinders. "Who next? We can only hope the ones ones they could not find were because they had gotten clear."
He points at the name where a note was only left with the neighbor. "How about this fellow here, Tarik. In the Black Dome. No one seemed to confirm his presence or absence. If he's a scholar, and still at home, he might be able to provide some information for us as well."
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Tarik lives in the most affluent part of Sothis, under the Black Dome—a city within the city built within the hollow carapace of a giant black beetle. Asking around turns out to be pretty easy in this case, as he has a reputation in the influential area as a kind and outgoing man.
One of the neighbors you speak to warns you that Tarik has been out of town for some time, and he wasn't aware that he had returned already, but since you are going there anyway, hands you a small stack of letters he had been holding for his old friend, asking that you deliver them.
Looking through them on the way, you see that one of them is from the Pathfinder Society, apparently the warning of danger and request for all Pathfinder, present and past, to return to the Society for safety. Seems he never got the message.
As you arrive at his rather well-to-do home, you see his name engraved on a small mail depository outside, and the Glyph of the Open Road ornately hidden amongst some of the smaller engravings around the name. The curtains of the two-story townhouse are drawn, but there is no visible movement within. Knocks at the door go unanswered, though the heavy front door is unlocked with a quick turning of the nob.
Looking about, you see no one looking, so you crack the door and call his name a few times. No answer comes, though you see clear signs of recent usage even through the crack of the door. Calling out once more to no avail, you open the door further, and discover why there was no answer. . .
The lifeless body of a middle-aged man in the fetal position lies on the tiled foyer floor just inside the front door amid a scattering of pottery shards and a fine powdering of off-white, metallic dust. At a glance, you do not see any obvious signs of a struggle, violence, or really even a possible cause of death.
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"Beware." Noisy reminds people. "Whatever curse may have killed killed him might still be active."
He glances towards Bizzle, preferring to let the professional have the final word on the subject, though he taps out a small pattern on his hip, and takes a moment to examine the scene himself as well.
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Bizzle takes time to use his wand of Mage Armor, seeing that he ended up in battle before he was ready last time. He then casts Detect Magic as he steps into the room. Well, can someone examine the body? What's the white stuff? And are we sure this is our dead man and not someone else? How long has he been dead? My, my... so many questions! We should also search the rest of the house!
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Detecting magical auras on the scene reveals a lingering aura of conjuration on the dust and a lingering aura of divination magic on the pieces of urn, and
There are no signs of anyone having passed through the thin layer of dust, though
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Looky here, a set of dusty footprints may be made out on the stoop outside the door, as though someone has recently stood on the doorstep making a delivery.
Bizzle then says I'm thinking that a magical spell effect propelled the dust, which was also magical, from a container... and I believe I can identify the dust as Cursed Dust of Sneezing and Choking, which is harmless unless cast up into the air. Ho, nasty joke that would be indeed.
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"Awful way to die." Noisy adds, after Bizzle's assessment of what happened.
He studies the scene a moment longer, trying to see all that the gnome was able to see, but his magical know-how is not quite up to that level of analysis.
"So someone had a pot delivered, which then exploded the cursed dust into his face, and dropped him right here in the foyer?" The dwarf scowls.
"Bastard that sent it could be anywhere." He glances out the door. "Don't suppose the neighbors might have noticed who it was?"
He looks at the dead man, before adding. "What do we do with this poor fellow? Deserves better then laying on the floor here."
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With a pretty cursory investigation, you infer that someone made a delivery just over an hour ago, but never entered the home. The small pot was itself magical, designed to explode, sending the cursed dust inside of it up into the air, activating it's curse. There was no signs of a struggle, and other than being suffocated, the victim seemed to be in good health, and likely unaware that there was even a threat.
The dust that seems to have killed him is harmless now on the ground, but besides your own tracks, indicate that no one else had gone through the house, nor are there any signs of a struggle, vandalism, or robbery. There are also no tracks to find, some minute traces leading from the outside of the door step, but quickly lost after a few steps.
Finding a way to reconstruct the pot might lead to some more information. You could try to ask around to see if anyone noticed anything, but as where asked to deliver his mail from a neighbor, it doesn't seem that they even knew he had gotten back from whatever journey he had taken. General Perception checks are not really revealing anything else out of the ordinary from the entryway.
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"Ha! Now that's handy!" He says, as Fendahl produces just the right wand for the job.
He carefully picks up the pot, careful not to disturb the dust, and examines it closely.
"Ah! See this here." He says, pointing to the strange symbol etched into the bottom. "I think I saw that associated with an embalming house over near the Necropolis." One hand waves absently to one side. "Over on the west bank of the river."
He gives Fendahl a hearty grin. "Perhaps the lead we needed!" He frowns slight, before adding. "Though there are others on the list..."
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As you begin to leave the house, suddenly you see a large group of guards moving down the street towards you. They spot you instantly leaving the house and pick up the pace, shouting demands that you stop. A second squad joins them, and suddenly surround the group in the front yard of the house. There must be 20 of them, each wearing a breastplate armor and helm clearly identifying them as the town guard, identical to the guards you have already encountered this morning, though none of them are from that lot.
Each also has a longspear at the ready, pointed inwards in a circle surrounding the party. "You are under arrest for murder! Drop your weapons!"
This isn't good.
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"Hold a moment there friends!" Noisy says loudly, trying to look friendly to back up his words. He steps forward, his hands slightly raised.
"As my companions have said, we are not responsible for that poor man's fate." He does his best to look appropriately outraged. "In fact, he is a fellow member of our organization, in good standing! Some nefarious individuals have stolen artifacts, from the tombs of your ancestors, and are doing their best to lay the curses for those misdeeds on some of our people."
"No doubt you heard of the incident in the bazaar this morning?" He looks around trying to see if it rings a bell with any of them.
"We were able to reach that poor victim in time, but not before the curse had taken a terrible toll on those nearby." He waves one hand behind him at Tarik's home. "Alas we were too late to help this one, by at least an hour. As your men have no doubt reported, this death was not through grievous wounds or obvious bodily harm." He indicates their rather well armed group (including tiger and wolf!). "This was not something we did."
"I'll let my companion here give you the details of the crime itself." He adds, motioning to Bizzle.
"Certainly if we were responsible, we would not be hanging around for so long afterwards! No, we seek to stop these cowardly bastards before they cause even more harm to innocent lives!"
He looks thoughtful for a moment. "In fact, it seems more likely that whoever reported the crime was involved! Waiting for us to arrive, hoping to lay the blame at our feet. Do you recall who came to report the incident?"
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Bizzle will explain everything that the party has discovered, from the body, the powder, and the pottery as well. We're on the same side! We suspect someone is using cursed items against people! Bizzle also describes the first encounter with the cursed weapon. We're on a mission to stop it! You've gotta believe me!
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The Captain of the Guard listens to your story, occasionally sending one of the other guards in to check out a detail or to check up something. At one point, he also sends a guard off into the city, willing to hear your story and hold off on placing you under arrest, (or fighting?) until something is confirmed, but at this point, you are not too sure he is buying your story.