| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Veshtahz snarls angrily at the horns when presented with them, furious once again at the recollection of his master’s foul treatment of him, and at the lingering essence of his memories present in the horns. He settles down somewhat when Teehax contrives to re-attach the horns with a bit of pitch and, though the horns are slightly askew and make the div appear to be taking a sharp left turn with the way they project to one side, he does seem pleased to have them back. With the horn repairs complete, the party heads back to the Twisting Garden Lodge to meet Venture-Captain Diya.
Amenopheus is present as well when the Pathfinders arrive at the lodge, perhaps because the fiendish presence that previously sought him is now a tame pet in the service of Kerevan. The Sapphire Sage and the Venture-Captain commend the party for recovering the jewel, explaining this discovery is beyond what they had hoped. When Amenopheus attempts to communicate with his ancient colleague’s memories within the sage jewel, however, it flares angrily, and he casts it across the room instinctively.
Amenopheus catches his breath before walking over to wrap the thrown jewel in a thick cloth. “Unfortunately, this confirms my earlier theory: the sages’ memories are not alone within these gems. The records you recovered and observations you made suggest that the first Jeweled Sages might not have created the sage jewels on their own, but rather modeled them off someone else’s design. Now it seems that prototype was the soul receptacle for an utterly depraved servant of the Pharaoh of Forgotten Plagues who inflicted countless atrocities upon northern Garund. If she is awakening, the whole order is at risk unless we can use your findings to deduce some way to purge this evil.” He massages his forehead for a moment before noting, “Whatever lies ahead will be difficult, and the future of the Jeweled Sages relies on what we can do about this threat. Once we have a plan, you shall be the first to know.”
On learning of the deal made with the div, Amenopheus is fairly unimpressed by Veshtahz, but his ears perk up at the mention of Zurnzal, and he inquires further, ”Tell me more about this fellow, who openly serves Grandmaster Torch. Did you come to an arrangement with him?”
When the party explains that they rejected Zurnzal’s offer, Diya laughs in grim satisfaction, while Amenopheus is a bit more restrained. ”I have my concerns about Torch’s past actions, but Torch is a capable individual, whose aid might come to play a key role in cleansing the darkness from the sage jewels.”
