***
The door opens to a simple guest room. Signs point to it once having been warmly furnished, but the furniture that remains is layered with dust and in tatters from decades of neglect. The room contains a bed, a closet, a set of drawers, and en empty wooden trunk. The walls once held several paintings, but only the frames remain.
The door opens without a sound, as if the hinges are regularly oiled. Through the small opening, Derek sees a 20-by-20 ft room. Another door is placed on the opposite wall, while a desk dominates the center of the room.
An obese man with a deformed, hammer-like wrist stands in front of the second door, half behind the desk. A warhammer lies on top of the desk next to his normal arm, the hand of which is currently digging for something in his nose. The man's appearance is similar to that of the ogres in Hagwood, yet apart from his obesity he's no larger than an ordinary man.
There are smears of blood both on the desk and on the door.
***
This is an ogrekin, a species born from the union of an ogre and a human. Shunned by both races, ogrekin tend to form unstable clans of their own, often resorting to inbreeding to sustain the community. This inbreeding tends to lead to deformities and lessened mental capacities as each new generation continues on the same path.
The old crone shakes her head.
"You will not hear details of the ritual from these lips. The emotional and physical impact is greater when the changeling is unprepared, yet willing nonetheless."
Her voice gains a semblance of sadness.
"Full covens can easily find eachother through communion, and contact eachother through dreams. Since the death of my sister and my daughter, I am reduced to using simple divinations. I can travel the world, but not without knowing where to go."
Hnnnh, I fear I might find that is Jalkis blood...damn.
Derek whispers quietly in Livias direction.
"I'm going in, if he attacks, shot him in the eyes. If he backs of, stop shooting so we can question him."
Derek opens the door, hands still on punchline and steps in.
"You are not whom I'm here to meet, so, do we have a problem here or...?"
Derek's appearance obviously startles the unaware ogrekin, who immediately attempts to squeeze his considerable bulk from behind the desk while one fat hand grasps the warhammer.
"Huh? Who's you? Who's you meet'n?"
"A midnight rendezvous with a lady, what else? Now kindly tell me who's blood it is that stain yon door?"
Finally able to maneuver his body through the opening between the desk and the wall, the ogrekin at first looks confused at Derek's questions. He briefly turns to look at the bloodstains, as if seeing them for the first time. His eyes suddenly light up, as if realizing something.
"It's the woman's blood!" He grins. "Maybe it's her you's meet'n? Wanna see her? Behind the door, she is."
He moves aside, fat jiggling, making room for Derek to move past.
After a cursory search of the bedrooms, Maddok heads back out into the upstairs landing and then leads the party to the double doors.
The big man nods and then opens the double door.
Derek smiles politely and draws Punchline.
"Thank you for confirming my initial assumption that we were going to have to fight."
Dereks smiles falter and is replaced with a cold sneer.
"Prepare to die..." He says quietly and with his voice filled with ice and steel, promising a fast and painful death.
Maddok locates no items of value in the bedrooms; there's a few old clothing items, but they appear unsalvagable after the long time spent in disuse and without care.
Beyond the double doors is a short hallway, with three more bedrooms to either side. All look exactly like the previous six, apart from one room which contains a birdcage-like structure. Unlike a normal birdcage, there's enough room between each bar that any bird would easily be able to fly in and out.
At the end of the hallway, an open-air balcony runs both left and right, surrounding the bedrooms. If anyone walks along it, they find it's only broken by the section that dropped onto Appario when you last visited.
Directly ahead, there's another door. Based on what you can see from the balconies, this door opens into a 15-by-20 ft room, which again opens onto the walkway running over the inner courtyard towards the second building.
Maddok searches the birdcage rooms briefly.
***
The ogrekin once again looks confused as Derek uses big words, but Derek's last sentence brings a happy smile to his face.
"Kruthe will make you die!"
He moves close to Derek, taking a swing with his hammer-like hand while picking up the real warhammer from the desk with the other hand.
The ogrekin's powerful strike is wildly off target, his arm smashing into the wall beside Derek.
***
Derek hears the soft flutter of Livia's wings as the tiny imp flies into the room. A few seconds afterwards, an arrow flies towards the ogrekin.
The ogrekin grunts, as much from his surprise as from the stinging pain.
Livia becomes visible, grinning with childlike glee as she sees her arrow lodged in the ogrekin's skin.
"Did you see that, Derek! I got him! I got him on my first try!"
***
***
Apart from the birdcage-like structure in one of the rooms, Maddok doesn't locate anything else of interest in them.
Confidant that there's nothing in these rooms of value, Maddok presses on to the door leading to the 15-by-20 foot room.
The big man nods to his companions and then opens the door.
The room behind the door contains a 5-ft-diameter crystalline pool ringed with eldritch symbols, located in the center of the floor. The door to the walkway is on the opposite wall.
As Maddok opens the door, part of the water raises up in a vertical appendage, forming into a near-perfect reflection of the Shoanti warrior. When he moves, this watery reflection alters to match.
***
The runes surrounding the pool indicate a permanent magical seal.
This water is in fact a Water Elemental, a creature composed entirely of water. Such elementals exist in a variety of sizes, but they all have several traits in common:
A water elemental can create a whirlpool as long as it's underwater, and it's fighting abilities are greater if both it and its opponent touches water. A water elemental's touch drenches flame, and can dispel magical fire.
Elemental traits are also revealed.
As above, plus: This particular water elemental is Large. In addition to the already mentioned traits, Large water elementals are resistant to weapon-damage and have 10-ft reach.
Maddok motions for his companions to stay behind him and then cocks his head in curiosity at the elemental mirroring his image.
The Shoanti begins speaking the elemental's watery tongue.
Yahirma gasps quietly in awe as the watery creation arises, and she heeds Maddok's silent order. Once he speaks his question, she whispers, "The pool's edge is a seal keeping it locked within. Be wary, for thought these elemental spirits are not duplicitous, they are hard-pressed to hold to any agreements."
While keeping his eyes on his watery doppelganger Maddok whispers back, "Perhaps we should set it free. It has been trapped here for decades. Such isolation must be maddening."
"That's my point," she insists. "It may already be mad. Best to question it until we can tell."
Derek flashes Livia a grin for a second.
"That's my girl!"
He then turns back to the ogrekin and sneers.
"Thy life is a series of misadventures,
And thy worth is of no consequence.
It will be MY blade that puts an end to thy existence,
And it will be an act of mercy for the world."
Xerath looks at his two compatriots with a bit of confusion as they whisper back and forth to each other. "Care to fill me in?" He asks with a tiny bit of annoyance.
"It is nothing", Maddok says to the blue-hooded figure. "Yahirma was just warning me that the elemental there may be beyond our help - possibly driven mad by its years of solitude here."
"I see. Then we should put it out of its misery." Xerath responds.
"If it comes to that, yes. Let's give it a chance to speak first."
"Fair enough."
The watery reflection mimicks the movements of Maddok's lips as he speaks, but the water seems to run a little faster through the appendage, and white froth begins forming around its base.
After a long wait, the elemental responds; its voice is angry, yet the reflection continues mimicking Maddok's every move.
"Pathfinders? I hate Pathfinders! They trapped me! In this tiny pool!"
Derek's rapier draws blood as his first strike darts through the ogrekin's defenses, but his second attempt hits his opponent's armor, skidding off to the side.
The ogrekin roars in response to Derek's continued oration, then attacks with both true hammer and hammer-hand.
"Stop usin' words Kruthe don't know!"
The warhammer crashes into Derek's side, dealing 20 damage to the bard, followed by a vicious grin from the ogrekin despite the next two attacks missing.
"Kruthe told'ya! Stop usin' big words!"
***
Livia's happiness is replaced by grim determination as the ogrekin hits Derek. Hovering in place, she draws and fires another arrow.
She hisses as the arrow ricochets off the ogrekin's armor, frustrated that her second effort wasn't as good as her first.
***
"I may not be able to speak elemental, but I can tell when something is hostile. We should either leave or kill it."
Yahirma senses the anger even if she does not understand the words themselves. She tilts her head towards Xerath and lightly chides, "Words spoken in anger are not always directed at one's conversation partner, Xerath. This one may simply be enraged for being trapped. While I cannot deny that it might attack us upon being set free, I cannot deny it a chance at freedom." As her eyes trace the circumference of the summoning circle, she adds, "I am concerned that it may truly exist upon this plane, unlike your spiritual allies, Maddok. When the eagle spirits are slain, they return to their home, rewarded for faithful service and any obligations fulfilled. Were we to slay this elemental, it would actually die."
She takes a step to the side and considers the situation. "I do not know that I have the power to send it back unaided, but I would be willing to acquire the means," she murmurs thoughtfully. "Were you to come across a caged leopard that over years had grown weak and despondent for not having the space to stretch its full length, climb a tree, or know the thrill of the hunt, would you kill it as an act of mercy or release it into a wilderness whose secrets it buried long ago?" she asks of neither companion in particular. Circling the circle and keeping a few paces between herself and the edge, she pulls out the crystalline wand from Cutlass Cove. The whole time her eyes scarcely stray from the aquatic simulacrum.
"For every person there is a different answer, a different reason, and a different means, but it is difficult to say that any one is more right than another," she confides, and then her eyes meet Maddok's. "As you may recall, my friend, that is one the blessings shared by humanity." Her gaze holds for a moment before she frowns to herself and looks to the floor.
Shared by most, at least...
Flicking the wand with her wrist and stepping closer to the elemental, she states matter-of-factly, "As my people say, 'my mind is set on picking fruit, but I know not yet how to climb the tree.'" Upon hearing out her companions' own thoughts, she begins casting divination from the wand. As it is completed, she murmurs "How might this elemental know freedom and release?"
Some day I'll remember to buff BEFORE engaging in combat, oh well, let's focus on making sure there IS another time.
Derek begins by tumbling away from the opponent, casting a quick spell and continue his barrage of words to frustrate the big lug.
"Thy sense is pathethic,
Thy purpose failing.
Thy life ends tonight,
despite thy wailing!"
"I would end its misery as opposed to prolonging it by sending it into a no longer familiar wilderness. It would probably die from starvation having forgotten how to hunt. If this creature exists in this plane, what would happen if we freed it? Would it wander about until it was killed by some random adventurer? It would be prolonging the inevitable, which would be a greater cruelty." Xerath answers. "Maybe she has a point." He then sighs after a moment. "However, we will try it your way this time." He then leans over to Maddok while Yahirma casts her spell. "Is she always like this?" He whispers to the shoanti.
Appario sleeps soundly back in the hideout, happy to return from the forests and back into his nature environs: the City.
Upon waking and realizing that others are off doing their thing, Appario sleeps in, pondering his day and his obligations to the City at large.
Surely I must sell the gear we recovered from the forest. It was a strange time...so much more uncertainty added to the equation.
Appario dozes in and out of sleep, recovering and thinking.
Is Lady Chammady apart of all this? Can I trust the word of a Hag in all this? Evil is evil. Naaah...
Appario's mind flitters between dream and wakefulness.
But Stiglor seemed to confirm what the Hag said...at least in some part. Of course, he could have been lying. *That* would have been a tremendous feat though...
When Appario finally rises for the day and dresses appropriately (Indemnity looking like fine clothing, nothing more...and Extortion and Shield on his back), Appario will head to the markets and the Church.
* * *
In the markets, Appario will begin to make discreet queries amongst the Gardener merchants and trusted contacts to see if he can confirm the existence of a second Drovenge sibling and any additional information he can get about them.
Diplomacy to gather information
Know (local) to assist in knowing where to find leads on the above.
Appario will make several checks (much like the above) while selling the gear from the forest.
* * *
As Appario is making his way through the markets, he will stop at the Head Bank of Abadar to confer with his superiors there. (Upon entering, he will return Indemnity to it's usual splendorous form...shining with wealth and ostentation as fitting a Merchant-Prince-to-Be.)
He will give a full briefing of what happened in the forest and rumors from the Hag about the Council of Thieves and the Drovenges.
"Your High Holy Merchants, have you heard the same or have any information regarding either of these issues?"
Maddok listens carefully to Yahirma's words and suggestion and watches quietly while she and the hooded Xerath continue their disagreement.
"Enough wrongs have happened in this place's halls already. If there is any chance that this creature be set free and not harm others, we should do what we can", Maddok declares.
When Bluehood whispers to him the big man considers the question a moment before whispering back, "Yahirma's insight has never lead us astray. Let her try."
As Yahirma works her magic Maddok continues to occupy the elemental.
"Alright, she seems to be capable enough. You all are a curious bunch."
As Yahirma circles the pool, some times coming nearer to it than Maddok, the reflection changes from that of Maddok's to that of Yahirma's and back again, all the while attempting to duplicate the form of whoever stands closest to the pool.
"First the circle must be broken, and the elemental fury contained. Many paths from there can be travelled. A portal lies deep within the eye of eternal storms, and another among the streets of ancient Azlant. Would the noble lady lend access to her well of worlds?"
***
The watery reflection shakes in response to Maddok's question, as if the water laughs within.
Bitterness seeps into the elemental's voice as it responds.
"To be a mirror!"
With his knowledge of the marketplace, Appario is easily able to locate individuals who trade in the rumors and secrets of the noble class. Eager to garner the trust of one of the rising stars of the city, one among them confirms the existence of a second Drovenge sibling.
"Although the boy is almost never spoken of, especially not among the nobles themselves, and never seen in public. One would think there's something about him the old man was embarassed about!"
***
Appario's closest supervisor listens intently from behind his luxurious desk, asking a few clarifying questions now and then as Appario recounts his meeting with the Mother of Flies.
"This is most interesting. Historical accounts say this so-called Council of Thieves was eradicated by Queen Koradinnia in 4469. If it has functioned in secret, with government knowledge, since then.." The man pauses for a moment. "This knowledge, if confirmed, can be very useful for the Church in dealings with House Thrune. Find out as much as you can of this, Master Lind."
He thinks a while longer.
"And this hag wanted no gold or political influence in return for the wealth of knowledge she gave you? Absurd."
The Abadaran shakes his head in disbelief.
Maddok shakes his head in disgust, "To enslave another... for vanity."
"Can your magic undo this Yahirma?"
Derek leaves no openings in his defense as he tumbles out of his foe's reach, leaving the ogrekin frustrated by having to chase the bard.
"Come back! Kruthe will crush you like a bug!"
The ogrekin squeezes his bulk through the door's frame, panting with the effort as it slips through. The warhammer comes crashing down on Derek.
The hammer connects once again, this time dealing 17 damage.
***
Livia flutters into a better position, then lets another arrow fly towards the ogrekin.
Her arrow thuds into the wood beside the door, nowhere near its intended target. A stream of infernal curses follow in its wake.
***
Derek reels from the impact of the blow, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
His mind racing through the possibilities rapidly, for the first time he can remember, true concern touches him, but he dashes it down ruthlessly.
Think, think, you cannot stand up to much more of this punishment.
Derek tumbles back out of the reach of the massive opponent, thinking on his feet.
Despite the danger, he feels a rush of excitement; this is what a battle is all about.
Reach around and digging into his pack he retrieves the one item he thinks can help him now, and as his hand closes around him, a surge of renewed confidence courses all through his body.
A small part of his mind is worried at this almost artificial feeling, but at the moment he still welcomes it as he draws forth the Morrowfall.
"Allow me to illuminate your world!
And, since you had such trouble understanding what I said, allow me to use small words, and to talk slowly so you will be sure to understand...
Kruthe...Dies...tonight."
Meeting the eyes of her watery double, Yahirma contemplates her readings and tries to piece points together. The elemental image blinks away into a shivering Shoanti warrior as Maddok leans in to ask his question. Yahirma tries to get a sense of his conversation with the aquan spirit.
"Remember, Maddok, that we cannot make sense of the wave-tongue. Someone sealed it here to prove his or her power?"
She fishes out paper, ink, and an inkpen, all of which she places deliberately on the ground so that they do not scamper away. There she scribbles down what she learned so as to better remember it.
"First the circle must be broken, and the elemental fury contained." That is easy enough, she thinks as she once again glances at the protective circle.
"Many paths from there can be traveled. A portal lies deep within the eye of eternal storms..." she ponders with a furrowed brow can only mean the perpetual storm in the western ocean. That is far from here - very far.
As she thinks, she draws out charcoal and doodles a few images related to the divination's words, taking no particular care to hide her writing from the others.
"...and another among the streets of ancient Azlant."
Come, Yahirma, truly think
Yahirma's sketches begin to form more of a map - crude by any professional's reckoning - of the Inner Sea, and the stick of charcoal she uses draws slow circles around the Isle of Kortos before migrating to the straights shared by Cheliax and Rahadoum. Azlant sank beneath the waves, but Aroden supposedly lifted the great rock from the depths to make an island. Glancing at the page, she murmurs, "Both of these are also far away."
"Would the noble lady lend access to her well of worlds?" Do I have a well of worlds? Looking to the Xerath and Maddok, she asks, "Do we have a well of worlds?"
Once more Derek's acrobatics bring him safely out of the ogrekin's immediate reach. The Morrowfall feels natural in Derek's hands, as if that's where it has always belonged. The alley and the walls of the nearby buildings are bathed in the artifact's light.
Kruthe shakes his head in denial as he labors towards Derek. "No! You lie!"
Perhaps a little rattled by Derek's words or the shining object in his hands, the ogrekin's hammer only barely hits. Yet it's effect is not lessened, as it deals another 20 damage.
Livia is nowhere to be seen.
***
Maddok shakes his head, "Apologies. It says it was bound here to act as a mirror for the Pathfinders. That is why it copies our appearances", the big man explains. "I understand its rage."
"In that case," says Yahirma as she scoops up her writing equipment, "Perhaps we should give it some space. Forcing it to take our forms likely does little to endear us to it." She then steps out into the hall.
"I suspect I will be able to help it, but I do not suspect that it will be immediately." She passes around the divination's results for others to inspect.
Maddok follows Yahirma back out into the hall and watches to make sure Xerath does the same.
"What is to be done in the meantime? Should we let it know our intentions or would the glimmer of hope just enrage it further at this point?"
The big man shakes his head, "We don't have access to a well of any sort that I know of."
Damn, I need a moment’s respite! The brute will follow, of that I am confident...so if I can lure him with me...
Yes! That is it, if I can outrun him long enough to cast a haste spell I'll be able to keep out of his range AND blast him with the Morrow fall...and heal too.
Derek withdraws from the Ogrekin, seeking to create enough distance from him and it to create a few moments of respite.
"Follow Livia, but stay invisible!"
Wish I had thought about that before, we can be tactical right in earshot like this...
"Come on you big ugly brute, let's play catch the dashingly good looking swashbuckler!"
While retreating Derek will scan the buildings, looking for one he can climb, if the ogrekin cannot reach him, then he can blast it to ash from a safe distance.
"And this hag wanted no gold or political influence in return for the wealth of knowledge she gave you? Absurd."
Appario laughs.
"Oh, she wanted something: she wanted gruesome murder, but I would have no part in that. I know to neither deal nor trust in those like her...webs of lies beyond lies. I walked away from that discussion. I heard her words and now seek to confirm them."
Appario recants the information about Drovenge's brother to the Head Banker
"So...he does exist and the hag did not lie about him, but there are probably other deceptions involved."
Appario sits and thinks.
"I will keep pursing this and feel free to call upon me as needed."
Appario turns away, but then turns back as if remembering something.
"Did the Lady Chammady end up borrowing money from the Church? If so, how much?"
As Derek begins withdrawing, easily staying out of reach as the ogrekin follows, Kruthe quickly becomes frustrated.
Nearly out of breath, he gasps "This.. Not. Fair. Stop. Runnin'!"
***
In response to Kruthe's whining, Derek continues moving and calls back, "Nothing to it, what do you think I am, stupid?"
Sensing an opening, Derek stops long enough to cast haste.
As the added speed fills his battered and bruised body, he throws a bloody grin at the Ogrekin.
Brute force vs speed and cunning, you almost had me, but now the table has turned.
"Maybe even your slow brain can understand THIS!"