The bandit ducks beneath the flaming sphere, but is nontheless singed. He steps forwards a little and then as one, the four of them hurl the stones they've been holding.
A hideous cacophony echoes through the streets as the stones hit the ground. Each individually would be enough to be painful, but that many in a row and the companions' ears begin to bleed.
Everyone but Cyrus (who was out of the area of effect) are deafened!
As the shock of the thugs' appearance wears off, and the ringing in their ears continues, the Pathfinders note that their assailants all seem to be carrying beautifully crafted shortswords coral hilts - exactly the same motif as Nicola's dagger.
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Gunari slides his rapier through Buster's throat and he falls to the ground, spurting blood from a major artery.
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"Did someone just shout my name?" from somewhere across the street, Lort looks around and sees a scuffle in an alleyway. Oh! Yes!
The half-orc rushes out the door to lend his aid. His sharp eyes pick up that the assailants are surrounding Gunari and his other friends and he looks at the gap between them. His best estimate puts him there in just over twelve seconds. Lort's shoulders slump. "I'll never make it before they've taken all the fun out of the fight."
Sulking, the big warrior shuffles back into the tavern to watch the last few seconds of the scuffle.
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Cyrus, assuming the thugs would be charging in, is surprised when they unleash the thunderstones.
wow... intelligent bandits!
When Ned chucks his stone, Cyrus sees his armpit exposed, and knows that if you angle the blade just right, you can slip between the ribs...
for
"baaahahahahah!" Cyrus lets out a sinister laugh as he pops into visibility, his blade stuck deep in Ned's side. With a wink at the surprised bandits, Cyrus pops out of view again, only to reappear with his blade buried deep into bandit flesh once more.
for
Cyrus then steps back to block any lanes of charging with that same sinister grin on his face.
"BAAAHAHAHAHA! You heard the Elf and Halfling! None can stand against our might! Flee while you still have feet to flee with!"
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With his ears ringing, and the only sound seeming to reach is brain being the thunderous beat of his own heart, the old man tries to snap his weary bones into motion. Unsteady legs carry him a few feet forward and around a small jog in the wall, while his trembling hands manage to unsling his longbow and load an arrow. An odd look is plastered on Ibid's face as he draws back on the string, and releases an arrow toward one of the two thugs.
"!" he shouts louder than intended, though unaware of the volume himself.
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Seeing that Finarin and company have things well in hand on the right side, Miro doesn't chance casting a spell while he can not hear. Instead, he moves to assist Cyrus and Ibid, setting up so he can provide some assistance to the ranger should he be rushed. He pulls his sword out, continuing to inspire as he goes.
"..." says Gill. Gunari apparently hasn't remembered that he is deaf. Gunari believes Gill's face to be sincere, but can only guess as to what the man said.
Finarin smashes into Phil with his electrically charged scimitar, dropping the man to one knee.
Ned cannot withstand Cyrus's onslaught, and makes to obey the young rogue. The man is completely ready to feel. Amaranti and Kaisharga rush up to Larry and put him in a similar condition to Ned. With no further prompting required, both bandits run away.
Phil remains, though, and cannot seem to move.
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Cyrus stalks over to Phil, not entirely registering that everyone is deafened from the stones. He pulls out his wand of healing as he moves, but places the tip of his magical blade at Phil's throat.
"quick breakdown for you. In less than 10 seconds you went from thinking you had us cornered to bleeding to death, and all your buddies are going to hope we didn't actually cut their livers out. Seriously, what were you thinking? Does a monkey ambush a jaguar? No, because the jaguar will eat him. You cannot be stupid enough to have thought this was a good idea, so someone must have made you do it. Who. Spill your guts, or I will do it for you. If you do tell me what you know and I'll use this little happy stick instead so you can limp home and tell your mommy that you have decided not to f&@% with the big leaguers anymore."
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Gunari looks at Cyrus, seeing the Kelishite in a rage, and apparently talking at the last remaining bandit. 'Why can I only hear ringing in my ears? What are they saying? Where's Gilligan? Did I leave him back at the Grand Lodge again? I hope that he is staying out of trouble.'
He turns to Phil, bangs on his helmet once or twice... even takes it off.
[ooc]I'd love to aid to intimidate, but I think Gunari is going to be lucky to just not confuse matters more... but, here's a roll just in case.
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Cyrus says to gill, lid enough for Phil to hear, "see his weapons? Same as your apprentice. Something bigger is going on here. I just un-retired you. We are going to clean up your mess, and you aren't going to do anything without talking to Valsin first. And you are going to love him." Cyrus smirks, then winks at Ibid, who is sticking his fingers in his ears and rubbing vigorously, a slightly confused look on his face.
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The thug looks nervously around, knowing he doesn't have it in him to fight or even run away, "Our boss, the Sea Witch... someone you don't want to mess with, half octopus, half man... he sent us here to retrieve that book of yours. He's got the one of them, and now he wants both to complete his ritual. Please, just let me go. I'll never go back there, I'll give up on this business and leave Absalom. Anything, just don't kill me."
Whatever you do to him in the end, he also coughs up directions to the tunnels where you can find this 'Na-Kraka'. Unfortunately, he has never been allowed into the inner sanctum and can't give you more than the entrance's location under Gilltown.
Stripping the man and his dead comrade of their gear, the companions discover a dagger also bearing a coral motif. Ibid note that the coral is not native to the Inner Sea region. The coral-hilted shortswords are magical (+1) and both bandits also carry a potion of cure moderate wounds, a tanglefoot bag and an extra thunderstone.
"see his weapons? Same as your apprentice. Something bigger is going on here. I just un-retired you. We are going to clean up your mess, and you aren't going to do anything without talking to Valsin first. And you are going to love him."
"Well, I, er...." Yargos stammers, "Well, yes. I guess that is the best course. After all, I should work to make amends for what I have done. So... erm... yes, assuming we survive, I will work for your Society and this Ambrus Valsin."
The rogue cannot help but get the feeling that someone is talking to him from inside his backpack. No-one else seems to notice, but Yargos does look increasingly worried and picks up the pace.
WE WILL DEVOUR YOUR SOUL, FRAIL THING!
WE ARE ESCAPING EVEN AS YOU TRY TO LOCK OUR CELL.
NOTHING CAN STOP US! YOUR CITY IS DOOMED TO FALL UNDER THE SWAY OF THE LEGIONS OF HELL.
... are some of the choice phrases he hears.
Led in silence by Yargos Gill and Cyrus, the group continues along their way, but through the crowded main streets this time. It takes just over an hour and the ringing in the companions' ears has subsided enough to allow in the cacophony of the Gilltown markets
An assemblage of dilapidated wooden shacks, baked-clay huts, and random tents denotes the neighborhood of Gilltown. The smell of stale water mixed with a hint of long- decayed seafood permeates the air here. Only a handful of people wander the area, the majority of them gillmen, though a smattering of other humanoid races mingle here as well. Most seem to be perusing the small stalls and impromptu markets, haggling with their gillman owners.
After a brief survey of the markets, the Pathfinders spy the holy Lady Ollystra Zadrian, venture captain of the Silver Crusade, haggling with a local gillman over what is later revealed to be a phylactery of negative channeling. While Yargos and the companions insist upon the urgency of their task, she is unhurried and will not be interrupted while she completes these 'important holy negotiations'.
"Now," she says once the item is in her possession, "Why don't you slow down and tell me what brings you here in such a hurry. I would like a full report. Then tell me exactly how it is that you expect me to help you." She is not unkind, but neither does the tone of her demands harbor any room for negotiation.
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"Glad you guys can hear again. Not sure if you can hear the voices in my bag... or maybe they are the voices in my head. Either way, I am pretty sure we won't have much time before we have more visitors from this book." Cyrus looks up at the elegant paladin as if he has just noticed her for the first time.
"Oh, yes, Lady Ollystra. Here is the report. We are trying to stop the devil's version of the worldwound from happening right here in Absalom. This book here in my pack, the infernal text, has had the seal removed by this man here. My able companions and I have already dispatched an ernie... ah.. fallen angel. More devils are on their way. We need to re-seal this book, and I strongly believe the way to do that is with the companion to this book, the celestial text. We need you to help us understand how to make it happen. We also just finished dispatching a group of thugs, sent by Na-Kraka, a sea witch, who is intent on retrieving the book I now hold, and already has the celestial version."
Cyrus pauses, and realizes that she is waiting for more details.
"Apparently our faction from Andoran has financed the study of the texts, believing this infernal text lead to the secret of binding the forces of hell. The books were brought here from Tian Xia, and it is clear they were wrong about the secrets it held."
Cyrus pauses again, and the lady once again, patiently waits for more information. The ninja looks to the others with an exasperated look on his face.
sure... go invisible, get out of the range of the thunderstones. Be the only one who could hear anything when the incompetent thugs were interrogated.
"Bad book, good book. Bad book letting devils out. Need the good book to close it. We go get the good book, you enact the ritual that seals the bad book. Its all our own society's fault, so we are going to clean up the mess. In the process we get to kill a sea-witch, and hopefully don't get cursed along the way. Good chance another devil pops out of this thing on the way."
Cyrus smiles, clearly done with his version of the story. He hopes he got everything in, but at this point the withering, yet somehow still gentle stare of the exquisite faction leader is not enough to get anything else out of the keleshite ninja.
I sure hope if I did miss anything, the rest of the guys fill in the details...
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"My lady," Ibid starts, following Cyrus' explanation of the goings-on and perils eminently facing the city. The old man to proceeds to continue to tell the tale, largely repeating what the youth has already said. At the end of his recap, Ibid continues along a slightly different path than Cyrus, however.
"As Cyrus has said, we would humbly request your help to seal this evil tome," Ibid continues, sincere in his deference toward Lady Ollystra Zadrian. "We are members of the pathfinder society, like you. And we will do whatever we can to help in aid in the task you are currently undertaking."
"Even if your current mission would not allow your assistance on ours, please let us know if there is anything we could do to aid you."
"Our tasks may even be related..."
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Still unaccustomed to hearing his companions, and himself for that matter, Finarin has trouble regulating his voice to an appropriate level. "My lady, Lord Finarin Moonstep." The Elf lithely bows.
""As my compatriots have mentioned, we are prepared to ... right this wrong. However, should we both track down these evil creatures that are .... roaming Absalom for all we know, or should be capture this ... sea witch? We are not well suited to battling a creature in his home aquatic environment, so any .... aid you could give us would be appreciated. You know it is not everyday that .... Cyrus can steal a boat nor scale it sides." The elf ends with a mischievous grin.
"Oh and my lady, do you think there is a connection between your morning errand ... and this sea witch?" Finarin glances at the phylactery.
"Thank you for your report," Lady Ollysta says, her face neutral, "It was competently delivered and the conclusions you have drawn are reasonable. There may indeed be some link between this Sea Witch and my endeavors here. If he is trading in illicit items, like the Infernal Incantation, that would explain the unexpected influx in Gilltown."
The Venture-Captain pauses in thought before continuing, "Grix here, the merchant I just acquired the phylactery from, is also a purveyor of maps. He may have one of the tunnels beneath Gilltown."
"Indeed I do," burbles the merchant - sounding, as most gillmen do, like he is gargling water - he grins broadly, "For a price, of course. Worry not, my fees are reasonable. This map here is only five gold and should allow you to locate the place that this Sea Witch has holed himself up in." Grix indicates a strange, octopus-shaped cavern on the map, "This is an ancient lair of our people. It has been abandoned for many generations. I would look there first."
Neither Lady Ollysta nor Grix has any additional information to provide.
"Travel beneath Gilltown and find this Sea Witch," the Lady says at last, "Retrieve the Celestial Song at all costs and if you cannot reseal the Infernal Incantation yourselves, bring them to me and we will se what may be done. I will look after Yargos aboveground in the meantime, to ensure he remains safe. Foolish though he may be, he still has the best information available for re-sealing that accursed tome."
With that, Ollysta Zadrian returns to her business, and the team makes their way to the tunnels, guided by Grix's map.
On the way to the subterranean hideout, the companions all here strange mutterings from within Cyrus's backpack.
OUR BINDINGS WILL SOON BE SHATTERED!
YOUR PATHETIC HUMAN CITY WILL FALL.
YOU SHALL FEEL THE WRATH OF HELL!
Picking up the pace, the Pathfinders plunge forwards into the moist tunnels.
The tunnels open to a vast chamber of crudely cut stone that extends upward sixty feet to a large, cavernous ceiling littered with moss-covered pipes. Eight tunnels exit the chamber, four on each side of the room. With the exception of the two southernmost exits, slabs of solid granite block the tunnels several feet down the halls. In the center of each of these six granite slabs is a crude, rusted chain extending into a hole. A set of great stairs begins at the halfway point of the room, ascending upward to a sealed metal door. Inexplicably, the stairs begin at a height of thirty feet off the ground, their base made of the cut stone that fills the room.
Ibid recognizes Low Azlanti numbers carved on each of the tunnels . Tunnels 1-3 and 6-8 are all blocked with solid granite barriers. Each of these barriers has a length of chain hanging from a small hole. Cyrus (and others) notice that there are holes in the walls 30 feet up, with a second set of holes higher up.
Scratched onto the granite doors next to the chains are numbers in Taldan:
1 :- 5
2 :- 20
3 :- 12
6 :- 4
7 :- 6
8 :- 3
Cyrus reckons the holes above the holes at the 30ft line would trigger a trap, though he is not sure how.
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"Ahhh... Hrm." Cyrus purses his lips and taps a finger on them as he thinks, blissfully oblivious to the filthy water he has been wading in, and is no doubt all over his hands as he touches his face.
"These voices in my head are getting louder. Or in my bag anyways... To bad I can't just dunk the book in water and have it fill the prison they are in and drown them all. Wouldn't that be easy..." He muses out loud, only half paying attention to himself as he stares at the numbers, chains and holes in the wall above them.
"So the upper row of holes, somehow those are tied to triggering a trap. That I know for sure. Here is my best guess how. Pulling these chains will flood this area with water. That is how we will get to the platform behind us. I feel relatively certain that if we flood the room to much, and the water flows into the holes above, we will be... well... that is what will trigger the trap. I think. Pretty sure. Mostly sure. Hope you can swim either way." Cyrus rambles for a few moments.
"Miro, pull that chain in front of you. Lets see what happens, then I will pull mine."
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"So, door number two has a '20' inscribed on it," the old man says aloud, turning to look over the other doors. "Does that mean pulling this lever will raise the water level twenty feet?"
"If so, then also pulling the lever for door number six, which has a '4' inscribed on it ... While also pulling the level for door number seven, which has a '6' inscribed on it... Will cause their total summation to equal thirty."
"Thirty is the level of the first, non-trapped holes," he adds, continuing to turn and examine the doors and levers. His voice is none too sure. "Of course this is all purely conjecture."
At Cyrus's suggestion, Amaranti takes over from Miro and pulls the first chain. A grating of stone against stone can be heard and water rushes in. The level rises to exactly five feet, the number inscribed in Taldan on the door. After a little experimentation, without going over 30 total, the group discovers that pulling chains 2, 6 and 7 is the most efficient way to get through (but 1, 3, 6, 7 & 8 also work). Water rises just up to the first set of holes, but not beyond. As the liquid rushes in, a metallic clicking and clunking is heard and the metal door at the top of the set of stairs opens. The group climbs up the stairs and peers into the room beyond.
Crudely carved stonework expands into a dank circular chamber. Twin torches on both the eastern and western ends of the cavern illuminate a large stone slab that resides in the northern portion of the chamber. Littering the area around the slab are all manner of strange offerings, ranging from chipped skulls, ancient coins, strange pearls, crude tools, and broken pieces of art. Among all the treasures on the makeshift altar, the largest item appears to be an open tome of the most immaculate bone-white shade. From the tome comes an ear- shattering hymn—a chorus which sings the most beautiful of melodies.
A rather strange creature with the torso of a man, but the body of an octopus (which Ibid recognizes as a cecaelia) turns from the altar to glare at the intruders.
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The warpriest doesn't hear a thing that the octoman is saying. Concerned that they'll have to fight, he casts Calm Emotions , centering it on the back wall. He also uses fervor to cast Shield of Faith, to improve his defenses.
"We mean you no harm. We are here to collect the book, and bring it to a safe place. We need it to prevent its opposite from releasing a swarm of devils upon Absalom. Please help us... do not make us use force!"
He then moves up,intending to close the book and take it (weapon is not drawn).
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Cyrus stares hard at the book, knowing that this somehow is tied to what his illustrious leader is looking for. He doesn't want to miss a thing I'd they are going to read his mind to get the information, and therefore doors not even notice that the sea witch is yelling at them he moves closer, his hand near his side so add to be able to draw his blade if necessary.
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Miro smiles at the Octoman, holding out his empty hands. "Look, friend, we just need to use the book for a bit to tie up some loose ends. No need for this to get messy, ok? Can we do that, hmmm? Settle this without bloodshed? I don't know you, but I'm sure you're a rather fine...person. And I abhor my friends getting hurt. Be a pal and just let us have the book, ok?"
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"WHAAAT?! NO CAN HEAR! JUST GIVE BOOK, WE GO AWAY!" Amaranti booms. This day has made the Garundi wonder if there is something permanently wrong in his hearing. Miro seems to be talking a lot, and the halfling is pretty persuasive. Maybe he can talk them out of this. Or maybe he can't... Still, Amaranti restrains himself of taking any offensive action yet.
The Sea Witch strains to hear what the Pathfinders have to say. A look of extreme annoyance at being interrupted is perpetually on his face. Still, he does hear the group out, albeit impatiently. Finally, he turns his nose up at the proposals and shakes his head.
Gunari reaches over and boldly closes the Celestial Song. Immediately, the signing stops and it seems like the room is left in silence by comparison. That is, until Na-Kraka screams mightily at his ritual being interrupted, "Fool priest! You will pay dearly for your insolence!" No-one is under any illusions as to who Na-Kraka will attack first.
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Cyrus blinks away the confusion that the oppressive noise wrought, and doesn't hesitate as he sees the inevitable attack coming to Gunari.
"Lort may pick fights better than you, but you have an amazing ability to make these fools want to attack you!" Cyrus exclaims as he runs in.
The Ninja ducks in to the corner, leaning back to prevent leaving an opening for the witch.
Once in place, he lashes out at the obstinate witch. for
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Kaisharga had heard all the interactions just fine, but the eidolon decided to stand silent and let the events roll out. It could have transmitted all the spoken words to its master, but talking to the simple-minded Garundi is usually rather frustrating deal. Silence is golden, as they say.
By its master's will, Kaisharga flies forwards before the enemy is able to act out its threat. Once adjacent, the eidolon studies the enemy, preparing to strike should the enemy start casting spells.
Cyrus just barely manages to hit the Sea Witch. He must count himself fortunate that the creature was still flat on its feet. Still, the attack seems to do less damage than the ninja would have expected. An eerie ghostly mist escapes from the Sea Witch as his blade sinks in. Finarin recognizes this as the remnants of a false life spell, as well as the tell-tale shimmer of a mage armor spell. Clearly, Na-Kraka had some time to prepare for the companions' arrival.
Na-Kraka laughs at the pitiful attempts to attack him and decides to enfold Gunari within his tentacles.
Gunari tries to poke his Church Key into Na-Kraka, but cannot land a blow as the Sea Witch's tentacles surround him.
"Silly priest, you shall die a watery death!" cries Na-Kraka.