The only magical auras you have detected, your entire time down here, have come from the waraxe that was resting on the table in the final apartment, and the repeating crossbow you dug out of the abandoned armory.
If the Sky Key was ever here, it does not appear to be any longer.
Hao Jin is relatively well known among many Pathfinders due to a powerful artifact, known as the Hao Jin Tapestry, that hangs in the basement of the Grand Lodge in Absalom.
Hao Jin herself was an avid follower of Abadar, and had a reputation as a bit of a collector in her attempts to create a worldly version of that god's First Vault. She was known to collect magic items, treasures, and wealth of all kinds... but her collection did not stop there. She was also known to collect far more massive things, including entire buildings, battlefields, and the ruins of ancient civilizations. She even created her own private demi-plane in which to store all of these larger items, a demi-plane for which the only known access was through the a fore mentioned Tapestry. The Pathfinders managed to acquire it as their prize in the Ruby Phoenix Tournament in Goka, a few years prior, and have since sent many an expedition into it to explore the wonders there.
Based on what the journal says, and the physical damage evident here, it is highly likely that if the Sky Key was here at one point, that it was whisked away with the rest of Naldak's Point, over 1400 years ago, by Hao Jin herself. Perhaps more to save the resident dwarves from the invading armies of Baba Yaga, then for any historical significance, but gone none the less.
Out of your reach for now, anyway.
After searching all the nooks and crannies that remain of Naldak's Point, you find no sign of anything that could be the Sky Key Venture Captain Benarry sent you here to search for. Eventually, you are forced to conclude it is no longer here.... Though after 1400 years, it was probably a long shot at best.
Eventually you make your way back out of the ruins, not wanting to spend too much time, concerned about the winter wolf from earlier coming back with more of its pack.
Unfortunately, it turns out that the winter wolf is not the more immediate concern!
As you come around the bend, into the main icy hallway that leads to the entrance, you find a small group making it's way in through the opening you cleared earlier. Though small is perhaps not quite the correct word.
A large ice troll, dragging an overly large battle axe along the ground as it ducks through the entrance, fills up almost half the hallway. Beside it, a heavily armored man, sitting atop a warhorse clomps in beside the troll, filling up the rest... though the horse seems slightly hesitant about the icy footing as it's rider carefully goads it forward.
Behind them, a tall woman with snow white hair, dressed in an elaborate flowing white dress, her jadwiga heritage obvious, stands and calls for the other two to halt, as you come around the corner, and both groups face off down the hallway.
"You there!" She calls, imperiously. "Halt, and identify yourselves."
The man on the horse turns and says something to her with a nod towards you, as he draws an axe of his own. The woman barely acknowledges him. The troll merely snarls, swinging it's axe menacingly, eager for a fight.
"And your true reason for being in our lands." The woman adds accusingly, frowning.
|
Nella stops and stares warily at the woman and her two companions. If they were friends with the winter wolf they'd encountered earlier, they didn't act like it.
"We're explorers, scholars, and diplomats all rolled into one," she responds. "We came here to Naldak's Point seeking a piece of history, one that's been lost for well over a thousand years. Unfortunately, we didn't find it and so we were on our way back out."
"If it's not too bold to ask, who are you? We received permission from Baroness Nadya of Dalun to travel this far and no further, a stipulation that we've honored. Have we trespassed in some other manner?"
_______
"The Baroness sent me here." She replies coldly. "And she apparently has doubts about your intentions... as does the captain here..." She indicates the armored man ahead of her before eying you dubiously. "And now that I have seen you, as do I."
She stands resolute, arms crossed. "I must say, I find your story very improbable. I have instructions to drag you all back to Dalun to sort things out."
At this point, Uliyara pushes her way forward. "Kiryena, is that really necessary?" She says, a hint of exasperation in her voice. "These people are my friends, and have proven themselves many times over."
The woman, Kiryena, seems somewhat taken aback, and a little relieved to see Uliyara, though doesn't immediately drop her guard. "It is good to see you cousin." She says finally, her tone unusually formal. "Though I find your current company... questionable. Your mother was not at all put at ease by your games this afternoon."
"That's no reason to come tromping out here threatening my friends." Uliyara responds petulantly.
"We have word that spies from Saarbotten are in the area, possibly targeting you." Kiryena explains, still not entirely convinced. "In fact, we heard warning calls from one of Urgalaena's scouts, only a short while ago. Your mother's concerns were warranted."
She eyes you all suspiciously, "You say these are not more of Auntie's forces?" She asks. "You are not being coerced?"
"Of course not! That's what I've been telling you." Uliyara replies with an indignant sigh. "In fact, they saved my life, not a few minutes ago, inside there."
There is a little more back and forth, the older woman clinging hard to her preconceived suspicions, but eventually she relaxes and tells the troll and the Captain to stand down as well... though the troll does not seem pleased.
"Well, none of this changes your mother's concern, or the presence of Saarbotten forces in the area. So you will be coming with us back to Dalun immediately." She gives you all a speculative look, before adding. "If your ... friends ... wish to come along, they may."
Uliyara rolls her eyes as she turns back to you, and you are again reminded just how young she actually is.
"I was lost in the Linnorm Kingdoms for weeks, wishing I was home. Then I reach home, and already I wish I was lost again." She says, with an ironic chuckle.
"Still, it was an adventure. I'm sure mother will have fits when I tell her." She grins mischievously.
"Perhaps I could become a Pathfinder as well some day?" She asks, thoughtfully, eliciting a gasp and an alarmed look from her cousin, though Kiryena says nothing else.
They prepare to leave, with your erstwhile guide in tow.
Though it is somewhat obvious that both the troll and the captain would have been more pleased if they'd gotten to use their axes.
|
Masym lowers his newfound axe slowly as Nella is able to defuse the situation.
Thanks the Gods she was able to talk them down. I do not think we could have escaped them...
He does keep a close eye on the human and the troll as the group prepared to depart, though Uliyara's words do elicit a chuckle. "Be careful what you wish for Uliyara."
|
|
Nella flinches when Uliyara utters the 'P' word in front of her mother's forces then sighs and smiles ruefully. "If you ever do, can we get it in writing that none of us coerced or talked you into it?" she asks. "I'd rather not have your mother or aunt's friends show up on my doorstep one day...no offense," she adds, glancing at the one named Kiryena.
"At any rate, thank you for being understanding. If it's okay we might stop in Dalun long enough to resupply before heading home...it's a long journey for most of us and I think we're all pretty eager to get started on it, right?" she smiles at her fellow companions. "Not to mention I'd rather not take any chances of running into the winter wolf or any of his friends on the way back."
|
Malusha holds his breath when Nella starts to talk to the imposing figures in front of them. She is convincing. Beautiful, of course, but also convincing. He's sure her melodious voice adds to her speech and contributes to softening the hearts of her hearers.
He releases his breath when the jadwiga responds so favorably. Malusha whispers to Nella, "That was amazing! You have such a sway over people." He smiles at her. His body is starting to relax after the tension of the fight with the revenent and then the almost certain conflict with this new group.
"I think I'm going to have to write a poem about you again," he adds. Blushing only slightly this time.
Uliyara laughs at Nella's comment. "Oh Mother's not as bad as all that, she just puts on a stiff face." She says.
"At least she tries for peaceful contact with other countries." She sighs slightly. "Unfortunately, between my Aunt, and those bastards in Redtooth sabotaging every effort, she fails more often then she succeeds. She has a hard time with that sometimes."
"Still, I'm sure she will be secretly glad we've made this connection, with your people!"
"Probably shouldn't stick around town for too long though, once the spies report in, you folks might end up on the next list of Mother's projects they feel a need to cut off at the knees."
__________________________________
Kiryena is true to her promise, and within a few minutes they head out back towards Dalun. The trip is uneventful, though by the time you get back to the town, the sun has already set.
Uliyara's cousin eyes you with cold indifference. "Your vessel is still at the dock. The... ulfen vessel has long since been encouraged to depart."
"It would probably be wise for you to follow suit first thing in the morning."
"Really, Kiryena?" Uliyara interjects, rolling her eyes in exasperation yet again. "Still?"
Kiryena does not bother to respond, merely motioning the girl to keep moving. "Your mother awaits."
Uliyara sighs, bids you all farewell, and lets her cousin lead her off to whatever unpleasant conversation awaits her.
The guard Captain stays behind, still frowning... but then you've not seen him do anything else. He points you to accommodations, with a warning to behave and be gone in the morning. Then he too rides off.
_____________________________________
It isn't until the next morning, after you've resupplied for the trip, and are standing on the dock by your boat, that you realize Uliyara was the only one that knew how to navigate it. Still, a number of guards, suspiciously on duty at the docks that early in the morning, make sure you head out regardless. Before long, you are on the river once more, trying to remember how to steer.
Luckily, it proves to be easier going downriver, then going up. Even when you do occasionally get the tiller turned sideways, or the ropes on the mast tangled up, the river's current still carries you along in the direction you wanted to go anyway.
You are a little nervous as you pass Whiterook, though you don't encounter any of the locals blocking traffic on the return trip. The tension goes up even more as you pass near Saarbotten... but if any of the locals have any idea who you are, or any of the wolves have your scent, they don't seem to do anything about it.
It took you almost a week to sail upriver to Dalun. The trip back, even with your lack of boat handling skills, takes only 3 days.
After much conversation, and debate, you realize that, even though you've kind of gotten the hang of keeping the nose of the boat pointed downriver enough to get you that far... that once you hit the fork where the Thundering River flows into the Rimeflow, none of you feel comfortable enough to sail it upriver the final day to Trollheim.
Eventually you bring the ship ashore, and decide to walk the last bit. Safer for all involved!
When you finally reach Trollheim again, you see no sign of Venture Captain Benarry's ship... though you will eventually find the woman herself, in the same room you original met her many days before.
"Now I was relatively certain we sent you off in a boat." She says, with a bemused look. "I certainly did not expect you to walk back into town... and still on schedule. Did Haltani not return with you?"
"Did the mission go that poorly?" She adds, frowning.
|
"Well, it went FAIRLY smoothly, and while we did find some interesting information and items, we didn't find the artifact you wanted. And we had just a little face-time with a jadwiga or two... but we have a couple of very accomplished and talented diplomats in our midst," he nods to Phoebee and Nella, "So we avoided the worst outcomes there."
"No boat. No guide. No Sky Key." Benarry lists. "That does not seem like it went 'smoothly'."
"Did you at least manage to find someone willing to trade with us? Or did that go smoothly as well?"
|
|
Jones speaks (most likely without thinking again), "I'm not sure what Society you're a part of, but this mission went about as smoothly as any other mission the Pathfinder Society has sent me on. Went to the location you sent us to, found more information about where the Sky Key might be located; made a trading contact as asked, and Haltani. . . well she had her mother to deal with. Oh yeah, the boat is up river. It's in one piece. So yeah, the mission went pretty smooth."
Benarry gives Jones a rather pointed look, then suddenly grins. "The winds do like to blow sideways sometimes, that is for certain!" She says. "It would seem a more thorough debriefing is in order!"
Eventually, you guys will pull out the journal you recovered off of the (un)dead dwarf, and tell her about Haltari being Uliyara, and the encounters with the ulfen of Whiterook, and the merchant and Baroness, and Saarbotten's involvement, and everything else.
It takes a while...
_______________
At news of the ruins, and after reading through the journal, Benarry’s face breaks into a wide smirk, and she laughs heartily. "To think, Naldak’s piece of the Sky Key has been in the Hao Jin tapestry all along!"
"In the basement of the Grand Lodge!"
"Well, easy enough." She adds, thoughtfully. "I’ll just have to have a chat with the Master of Spells about sending a group of agents in to pick it up."
She seems pleased, despite not finding the artifact. "The tapestry is vast, and we never would have known where to look if not for this information!"
"To top that off, if we can get the right folks back in there... scholarly types that is... plumbing the depths a that section of Naldak’s Point that Hao Jin’s magic narrowly missed ripping out of Golarion could teach us more about the tapestry itself. At least how she managed to transport all her trophies into it. There's been no opportunity to study the aftereffects from this side before."
"Well done, Pathfinders! Smooth indeed!"
_______________
Uliyara's duplicity seems to throw her for a moment. "You mean she was the daughter of the Baroness of Dalun the entire time? Well I'll be...."
"Guess even a drowning man'll clutch at a straw... and I'm sure we looked a mighty big straw to her! Does explain some things I suppose... though she must have some serious skills to have avoid anyone noticing. We checked her closely."
She shakes her head slightly. "Still, she and her mother will make great new allies in an unforgiving country usually devoid of such things."
"All the politics notwithstanding..." She adds. "There will be many who will want to learn of those machinations."
Its obvious by the look in her eye she's not one of them.
"Luckily, we have a bit of a journey ahead of us. Will give you plenty of time to write this all up!"
_______________
"I'm sure you will be just as happy to be away from this frozen place as I!" She says, as you finally finish up.
She issues a few quick commands to some nearby crewmen.
"At least I came here on purpose." She adds with laugh.
"I've sent someone to get the boat. Don't want to leave any bad blood behind us when we leave. I suspect the society will want to put a more serious presence here in Trollheim after all this. Once they return, we will head to Kalsgard, to the Pixie, then we're off to warmer climes! So we're casting off day after tomorrow, if you have any unfinished business you want to attend to."
"Gods, but I can't wait to get out of this town and off of solid ground. The world doesn't feel right if its not moving."
|
|
"Heh, my mama always told me that I had a way with words, even as a child," Nella chuckles in response to Malusha. "And I guess it's still true...and I'm still using it to help get myself and my friends out of trouble!"
"Um...and you can write about me if you like," she adds shyly. "But I'd like to make something for you, too. I'm not actually much of a woodworker in the general sense but I'll see if I can come up with something just the same."
__________
Once the party finally returns to Trollheim and finishes giving their report, Nella sighs happily at the news that they'll be on their way south in just a few more days. "It's about time...I'm so ready to get back to Absalom and hopefully have a little downtime before they send me out again! Maybe next time I get them to send me somewhere warmer like Qadira or Osirion."
Nella's attempts to craft something nice for Malusha during the trip back to Trollheim and the couple of days spent there before leaving...
|
|
Malusha sighs with relief when he sees the venture captain relax. That will make the homeward journey much easier.
When Nella mentions Osirion his heart aches. He truly misses his home. He misses the warm radiance of the sun on his skin. He misses the feel of soft sand under his sandals, even when the tiny grains get stuck between his toes. Yet, he knows when he goes home, he's also going to miss his friends, not the least of whom will be Nella. A small lump begins to form in his throat at that thought.
"Nella, you know you could come with me back to Osirion. There are many things I could show you. Have you ever ridden a camel?"
It is only a couple of days before you head out of Trollheim for what you hope is the last time.
Venture-Captain Benarry's ship, which she calls Old Flotsam, is comfortable enough, and Benarry herself seems to enjoy sailing her the few short day's trip to the capital of the Linnorm Kingdoms, Kalsgard. Most of you are kept relatively busy, writing up reports on your activities over the past few months since you arrived here, though Malusha seems particularly engrossed in his writings.
There is little, climate-wise, to distinguish Kalsgard from Trollheim, but just knowing you're that much closer to the ocean and all points south, makes it feel like a completely different place once you arrive. The city is far larger then Trollheim, and the people a little less insular... mostly indifferent to travelers instead of unfriendly! You see a number of larger sea-going vessels at the rather extensive docks outside the city, though the ocean itself is still a little ways further west, as the Rimeflow widens quickly as it lets out into the sea beyond.
As you disembark from Old Flotsam, you are surprised to see Benarry utter a few words, and the ship suddenly fold in on itself and collapse until it is a tiny little wooden box only a foot on a side, and half that deep. The fact you've been traveling for the last few days on the frigid waters of the Rimeflow river, on something that was so easily reduced to the size of a briefcase, is a little unsettling.
Benarry assures you, with a grin, that the Grinning Pixie can not perform the same trick, and soon you find yourself boarding that very vessel, the Arcadian Mariner's Lodge itself. You are quickly given quarters and a place to stow your gear and told you will be casting off the next morning, at dawn... giving you only the remainder of the day to check out Kalsgard.
|
|
Tchak will search the shops in Kalsgard.
He's looking for something appropriate to gift to each of his traveling companions... not overly expensive... just a token of what their companionship has meant to him.
For Malusha, a journal to record his poems in
For Phoebee, a small book of local songs
for Nella, a necklace with her deity's symbol engraved and inlaid. (meant to be pretty, not a replacement for her holy symbol, but I suppose could be)
For Jones, a single adamantium arrow
for Masym, a pair of dragonskin gloves
He will keep these items a secret until they are aboard ship and sailing south.
Everything but the gloves you'll be able to find without difficulty, in the time you have.
|
|
|
|
Once the group had had a proper chance to drop their gear off at their lodgings in Kalsgard, Nella pulls Malusha to the side.
"Um...I made something for you, like I said I would," she says, suddenly feeling shy. "It's not much, but..."
The priestess holds out her hand, upon which sits a somewhat-crudely carved wooden symbol of Sarenrae. However, on the angel's shoulder sits the songbird of Shelyn, tailed plumage wrapped around one of the arms.
"I hope you like it," she smiles.
|
|
Malusha looks at the carved figurine. It is the most amazing thing he has ever seen. His eyes grow wide as he takes it gently from her hand. "Like it? It is amazing!" He holds it up closer to his face and slowly turns it so that he can take in every line. "It is Sarenrae's symbol. And the songbird! Such a wonderful idea." Malusha looks up at Nella's face, his eyes watering. "I can't believe you made this for me. It is perfect."
He clasps the figurine in both hands and pulls it close to his chest.
He opens his mouth to speak but the words stick. "Nella, I just wanted to say. Well. I guess. Well, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever met." A blush rises in his cheeks. Clearly there is more he wants to say but he can't find the words.
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Perform
Seeing that everyone else is giving gifts she tells Masym, I told you that I was writing a song for you. Here it is
Come into these arms again
And lay your body down
The rhythm of this trembling heart
Is beating like a drum
It beats for you, it bleeds for you
It know not how it sound
For it is the drum of drums
It is the song of songs
Once I had rarest rose
That ever deigned to bloom.
Cruel winter chilled the bud
And stole my flower too soon.
Oh loneliness, oh hopelessness
To search the ends of time
For there is in all the world
No greater love than mine.
Love, oh love, oh love
Still falls the rain (still falls the rain)
Love, oh love, oh, love
Still falls the night
Love, oh love, oh love
Be mine forever (be mine forever)
Love, oh love, oh love
Let me be the only one
To keep you from the cold
Now the floor of heaven's lain
With stars of brightest gold
They shine for you, they shine for you
They burn for all to see
Come into these arms again
And set this spirit free