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The doru looks on frustrations as he watches the cultist fall one by one easily and decides this fight is over for him. He turns himself invisible and attempts to flee the scene.
Unfortunately, the doru is too cunning and escapes out of sight without the Pathfinders able to track it. However, with the cultists defeated, the ritual ends abruptly. A crescendo of frantic telepathic whispering spews from the gem: “I am awake! I see you—all of you! My strength grows. Do not forget…” before fading away. Upon a closer inspection of the jewel, it appears to be the onyx sage jewel, a minor artefact and one of the foundational relics of the Jeweled Sages organization. Like other such jewels, it likely contains the memories and knowledge of generations of scholars.
There is also a folded, faded, and threadbare banner that bears a charging leopard on a background of tan and black— the crest of one of the Tekritanin League city-states that occupied this region long before Thuvia’s unification.
With the immediate threat of the cultist annihilated, the Pathfinders are able to peruse the rest of the hidden ruins cautiously finding a trove of cultist belongings, from ritual daggers, cultist robes, alchemical components, and ledgers and fragmented notes to suggest something more sinister is at hand.
As you prepare your reports in the Meab lodge, Amenopheus himself makes an appearance. Amenopheus and Diya takes great interest in your interaction with Zurnzal who he confirms openly serves Grandmaster Torch. Diya takes some grim satisfaction in the manner you handle Zurnzal and informs you.
However they take delight in and commend the crew 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, 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 create 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.”
Additionally he adds, "Worry not about the Doru, he is the least of our problems right now, and I have a strong feeling he will not be a problem in the near future." Implying that other Pathfinders are on the matter and have likely taken care of it."
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"Oh. Where'd it go? Quickly now, find it!" He throws an elbow at the shell shocked and totally blanked agents known as: Diplomat, Domrilin, and Morallo.
"Ah blasted, its escaped for sure. I blame those guys... " He gives a nod at the still slack jawed agents.
"You're very welcome! It was a pleasure to come study the ruins here. Please don't mind me if I hang out a bit longer and learn something?"