"A few times yes, I came here with my father when he would come to sell some of his items" says Naila.
"If you wish I can take you to Adril. He is the venture-captain in charge here at the moment or I can have a coach bring you to the temple." responds the young man.
Sounds good.. Let's go..
We've got some problems with magic, and we think we have some leads on the solution... but we need information. Anyone available that knows much about Jubilex and his cults?
His wings fold in around him as he talks to the pathfinder
Yes take us to Adril, he probably has people here investigating, the theft and mystical disturbances.
After being led to Adril Greetings Sir. and then will recount everything that happened, and all things they have learned in Magnimar to Adril.
After our investigations there we decided to head here, having heard of a theft here in Absalom too, and I assumed the lodge would be investigating the theft , and hopefully you have also been investigating the problems with magic.
Adril, a huge bearded man wearing creaking leathers looks at each of you as if appraising a handful of gemstones freshly pulled from the earth. Some of you know him as Adril Hestram, a longtime Pathfinder and rumored to be the unwitting architect of the famed Katapesh slave riot of 4702. Adril’s physique puts most half-orcs to shame.
"Welcome friends. Just about everyone we have is out in the field trying to find information about what is happening out there. The theft at the temple is certainly an odd one. I wouldn't believe it if there weren't so many witnesses. A woman wearing a red jackal mask appears in front of the temple in the middle of the day, walks into the temple, ignores everyone and heads straight towards the vault. The priests and guards try to stop her and simply cant. She cannot be grabbed, attacks have no effects and magic fails. She uses a spell to open the vault doors, something that shouldn't work and grabs a single item before walking out and teleporting away. Nobody was hurt but the church is very embarrassed.
As for the problem with magic all I can tell you is that it's being caused by a Psionic effect that apparently covers the entire planet. Some-kind of shield blocking the cutting off Golarion from the rest of the universe. It makes travel between the planes difficult, the gods are nearly unable to see what is happening here and cannot interfere and as a side effect some other spells are less reliable."
So tell us what did they steal from he temple here? and do we know of any work being done on the lost city of Cynidicea?
"In Magnimar the Talisman of the Sphere was stolen.. Please tell me a Sphere of Annihilation was not stolen.."
"No it certainly wasn't that. From what I heard from witnesses the item stolen was a folded piece of cloth, or whatever was inside it. If there was something in there it would have been very small."
Elara raises an eyebrow. "There was such a gross failure of bookkeeping that there is no record of the name or history of that cloth and its contents?"
"I think what he means is that we need to go ask where it was stolen.. Was it another Church to Abadar?"
"Yes please, direct us to this church so that we may uncover what exactly has been stolen - maybe it will allow us to piece together the reasons behind the thefts"
"Yes the church is being very closed on the details. What I learned was from questioning witnesses. Officially the church is denying that anything was stolen but the truth is that they have launched a full investigation and are attempting to retrieve the object themselves. I will have a carriage bring you to the church if you wish to try and convince them, my talents for diplomacy are somewhat lacking maybe you will do better. Go outside when your ready and I will instruct one of our drivers to be ready to take you were you wish"
"Thank you for your time Adril.. Lets go guys.."
"Let us move out then - we need more information"
Elara raises her hand. "Robbery aside. Do you know, or can we talk to anyone who knows, anything about Jubilex, Zargon or his tomb?"
nods his head politely and heads outside
I'll see what I can do, if you can while we're gone, I know you don't know me or those with me from Adam, but can you please look into jubileex. I'll talk with the church, and I'm hoping a few my more knowledgeable companions can talk with vice captain adril to clear things up and research more before we head off to the wastelands
Before he leaves he talks to AdrilYou know me Sir, I have worked for the pathfinders for a long time. If I could ask you to see what the lodge and other pathfinders knows about Zargon's Tomb, it location or any thing, I will work to see what we can do to set things right. Maybe the master of scrolls will know something.
Whether he agrees or not to others Lets go to the church and see what we can find out there, there might be clue on how to stop this mess.
"I will see what I can discover" replies Adril
You head out and take the carriage to the church.
At the church nothing seems out of the ordinary. It seems the church is taking the path of pretending nothing happened.
Elara ignores everything else and walks up to the man wearing the most flamboyant and richly decorated robes. In a reasonably loud voice, she speaks "Greetings. My name is Elara, and we have come here from the Pathfinder Society Lodge of Absalom. I have been told that not long ago a red-masked woman casually strolled through your temple and into your vault and stole an item, and you all were utterly powerless to stop her. Is this true?"
looks towards Elara then towards the first priest that greeted them
Do you have somewhere we can talk in private and also is the highest ranking priest available to talk with. We need information, and we're here to help.
He smiles at the young cleric and does his best to smooth any fears he may have
Elara tilts her head back to look at Wyatt and raises an eyebrow before looking again at the priest. "What the fellow said." Then she smiles charmingly.
The man pales when you mention what happened and motions for you to quiet down.
"Ah this again...follow me" The cleric at the entrance takes you to the back and up a tower. He announces your presence and you are allowed to enter the chambers of the high priest at the top of the tower.
The circular room has a large couch, a desk and large windows in each direction that overlook the entire city. It's also an impressive display of wealth with gold statues, miniature ships, and tapestries. The high priest himself is wrapped in jewelry over his customary priest robes.
"So yet again the pathfinders make an attempt to interfere with what is none of their business. I will admit the lackeys they send this time are more impressive than the last but I have not changed my mind on the matter. We are capable of dealing with the robbery ourselves." he says in a formal and somewhat arrogant tone.
bows slightly
We're not actually with the pathfinders, we're probably worse adventurers. I am Wyatt Myved, these others are recent acquaintances, I'm sure you've heard of the slime attacks and the oddities of magic lately. We're trying to find the solution to this, and one of the leads points to a cult that has been acquiring components to control a sphere of annihilation. He pauses to gauge his reaction The Grand Temple of Abadar in Magnimar had a he pauses searching for the word then finding it having escaped his train of thought proceeds an item that controls such a sphere annihilation. As near as we heard from a person dressed very similar as your thief, there is either some cult or group that is trying to free Jubiliex from his confinement and disrupt the pantheon... With all this said, we are trying to get information out to all that are able to do something about this, and to get all the information we can so we can prevent this.
Actually... Correcting Wyatt...WE think Jubilex is trying to awake Zargon So thre is a war in the hells again. The presence of raining slimes in Magnimar point ot him, and a war in the hells I'm sure is something he like to see. So we think he took something from here that will help him wake Zargon.
Also you must be aware of the trouble contacting Gods and the the other planes, we are fairly sure this is also Jubilex's doing. Now if you could help us in ANY WAY as we try to stop Zargon's release, and but an end to the planar disruption, we would be most grateful.
looks grateful to Galgar for correcting his errors
He barely reacts to the mention of someone trying to control a sphere of annihilation. The news of another robbery in Magnimar seems to surprise him. Seems he hadn't heard the news yet.
"It seems you want let me rest till you know....As much as I want to help you the item in question doesn't seem related to this in any way...It was an oddity left to us for safe keeping by a wizard who was planning to study it later. A defective portable hole that makes anything you place inside vanish."
"Disappear as in destroyed?"
Most are connected to pocket dimensions, did anyone every scry or send divinations into ti?
Hmmmm Defective portable holes are a very rare thing. So they have taken two objects now that can destroy things. Hedging their bets, tho what they want destroyed must be able to be lifted and put in a portable hole. So its not a gate, or a tomb door as i first thought when they too the thing that lets them control spheres of annihilation. Some object that is being used as a mystical seal perhaps...Hmmm....
"Well what happens to the objects is most likely what the wizard intended to study. We had no interaction with the object other than placing it in the vault. Whether the object is destroyed transported or just cease to exist is unknown."
"Well guys shall we move on to the desert? Perhaps we could find some pictures of the place so Galgar can teleport us easier.." Looking to the Cleric.. "Do you have and images of Rahadoum, or possibly Cynidicea?" If he doesn't then we'll ask around town and at the lodge..
Does anyone familiar with the bag able to scry it's location?
"Rahadoum?...Cynidicea?!? How could I have a picture of a place that nobody has seen in a thousand years? It may not even exist! Also I would certainly would not keep a picture of a place like Rahadoum. Why do you intend to go there?"
Elara closes her eyes as a pained expression crosses her face. Opening them, calm restored, she tilts her head down to whisper to Naila. "Discretion in all things is best, I find... as this proves. Watch with me." She crosses her arms and observes the conversation.
"We have business there.. Nuff said.. But thanks anyways.."
As she walks away she speaks to the group.. "Sorry i thought it was worth a shot.. Should we ask around the locals for information on the place? Obviously we can ask the lodge as well.."
The headcleric watches you go with a pensive look but he doesn't say anything as you leave.
Hmm I hope Adril came up with something, these temple people are worthless
I think we are done here. Maybe we should get some food, give Adril a lil' time to see if they can find anything else before we try and teleport to Rahadoum.
You have no difficulty finding a store that sells maps and books. You find pictures of the grand courtyards of Azir the capital city and pictures of the Occularium the wizard academy in Manaket a port city on the nothern coast.
Don't worry, we're going for similar reasons as we just told you earlier. Prevent the world being destroyed as we know it, etc... you sure you don't have any information you can give us? Nothing at all about where your thief went, where the item may have ended up? We're here to help I assure you!
As Wyatt stays behind to make one last plea the head cleric is pensive considering the request for a moment he seems reluctant to do so but finally he says "The thief was located. She is in the royal palace in Azir and is staying there as a guest. One of my agents a paladin named Samuel Pureblade is on site to retrieve the object already. If you wish to render aid you may but please do not do anything foolish to expose him."
"It seems we have found our destination then..."
So not only is this Tomb in Rahadoum, so is this thief. I'm sure they are totally unrelated says Galgar sarcastically
Elara swiftly turns to Galgar and shoots an imperious glare at him. "No. You are not allowed to be sarcastic; you have not shown the levels of insight and intelligence needed to justifiably use such humor or irony. Now." She turns more towards the group. "We have dallied long enough in this city; it is time we moved to thwarting our enemy. Investigating the city or following their catspaw blindly should be equally dangerous and planned for." She frowns for a moment and turns to the girl. "Naila. Can you use your powers to tell us anything more about this thief? We presumably have a description... but time is of the essence."
"Where can we find this Samuel? If we're to lend him aid then we must know how to get ahold of him.. Perhaps a sending spell?"
As the whole group returns into his quarters the high priest nods.
"I will send him a message telling him of your coming, he is currently renting a room at an Inn called the Golden Lion. You can find him there."[b]
Naila shakes her head. [b]"I would require something of hers or at least a good look at her before I can try anything"
"Well Galgar, are you ready for some teleportation?" Looking to Wyatt.. "Remember that where we're going divine casters are put to death.. With your weapons it shouldn't be hard to pass yourself off as a fighter of some sort.. Perhaps a Dragoon to explain your Roc companion.."
Looking to the group.. "Perhaps before we leave we should cast some long term buffs.. Wyatt do you have any that come to mind? Then again it might be a bad idea to show up with divine buffs going.. This place seems backwards.."
Thank you soo much for your information, I am sure this will help immensely
Who is this woman? I wonder if some time as a frog would improve her disposition?
Annoyed,Looking at Elara You are who? AND you contributed what to this mission so far? You will address me with respect my-lady or you will be walking to Rahadoum...And we will save the world WITHOUT your help. His orc blood boiling some.
To the others I have some images of Rahadoum now and should be able to teleport us there, as long as it doesn't get blocked. When you are all prepared I will attempt the teleport.
Trihedron shakes his head at the exchange of words, hints a smile, but says nothing about it.
Addressing Galgar, he comments - "Excellent Galgar, from my part I am prepared. I believe we should leave as soon as possible"