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"Reminds me a bit of my coming of age party," Razka comments as the group piles into the steamy, noisy, scream filled building.
He is wise enough not to go too far and also wise enough to follow Zarzukets example and takes the total defense action. Especially since he is both easy to hit and squishy.
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Nadric follows the others into the strange building, waving his hand in front of his face as he goes, though that doesn’t seem to do anything to clear away the vapor. Even he can hear the distressing sounds coming from the next room now, so he keeps quiet but thinks to himself, This is no good. I can barely even see my own feet in here. As if I’d be able to fire a clear shot. He takes a few seconds to tuck the bow away.
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By now, you are more than certain the screams are humanoid voices in pain, and perhaps asking for help or mercy. The words are too muffle over the mechanical noises.
As Kazmoro steps out from the mist, he finally realises the place and the situation for what it truly is. The Hall of Wonders is full of odd structures. A brass planetarium rotates in the northeastern corner. Next to the celestial model, a clockwork contraption ticks and tocks as it turns on its axis. Finally, a giant metal crab sits with its claws extended on a southwestern platform. A hatch at one end of the crab provides an entrance into a barrel-like chamber; inside two levers rest near the front of a cockpit.
A woman armed with a flail stands in the top catwalk watching down on the proceedings, she face emotionless and cold. Two half-orcs have seemingly rounded up the habitants of the hall into the corner of the room, beating them helplessly with clubs as they scream for help and for the bullies to stop. They are currently beating on a female gnome.
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Edmund continues moving along with obscured vision, till he finds a ladder.
Kazmoro and Celas waste no time and jump right into the fray, they catch the baddies by surprise! Kazmoro's aim is not far enough to strike the half-orc, but Celas's does. The Orc screams in pain, the baddies are aware of the Pathfinder's presence!
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The Orcs find themselves surprised at the attack, "Grahhh!! Guards!?!" The Orc with the blue garb steps closer and strikes first with his club really hard at Kazmoro while the other one moves around to surround Kazmoro doing the same. The second swing from the later orc does not pack as much a punch as he completely misses.
The woman is disturbed by the sounds of battle, and moves around to attempt to get a better look at the situation, she cast a spell upon her weapon.
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Edit: I think the dice roller hates me.
Edmond continues creeping forward, alert to the combat going on below him. As he steps out of the fog, he sees the guard on the top catwalk. Stopping, he takes aim at the unaware enemy.
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Celas shot is accurate and true as it pierces itself into the Half-Orc's shoulder, nearly severing a critical nerve. Nonetheless, the orc screams in pain as it falls to the floor.
Kazmoro then turns his focus on the remaining thug, flurrying with his kama, as well as taking the opportunity to strike him as he moves into position. Two solid blows from the oread is enough to put the fool into a comatose state.
Edmund steps out of the fog and now is able to realise the situation. Thinking fast, a swift shot is fired into the direction of the evil looking woman. However, he acted to brashly and the arrow misses it's target, alerting the woman of his presences!
Zarzkuet continues to fight the fog.
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What? A spellcaster?
Zarzuket moves 5 feet, climbs the ladder spending 10 more feet and uses his last 5 feet to stand at Edmund's side.
It's risky, but could be worth it
Zarzuket casts color spray and a 15 ft cone of colorful lights flash in front of him towards the woman. She must succeed on a DC 16 will save or be affected based on her HD.
2 HD or less: The creature is unconscious, blinded, and stunned for 2d4 rounds, then blinded and stunned for 1d4 rounds, and then stunned for 1 round. (Only living creatures are knocked unconscious.)
3 or 4 HD: The creature is blinded and stunned for 1d4 rounds, then stunned for 1 round.
5 or more HD: The creature is stunned for 1 round.
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The Bane effects everyone negatively as their weapons are unable to connect with the evil cleric whom Zarzuket recognise as a cleric of Groetus, the deity of the end times.
She perseveres against Zarzuket's attempt to put her out, and in retaliation flies her weapon right into his direction! Her strike true, but her swing weak.
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Edmund has almost no luck within combat as his shots continually finds a target unintended, mostly walls. Nonetheless, Celas and Zarkuzet quickly put an end to the remaining threat with an arrow and fire! The flamethrower catches her off guard and causes her to dehydrate to a point she falls unconscious.
Kazmoro tends to the unconscious to ensure they don't bleed themselves to death.
Upon hearing combat has ended, the wounded gnome quickly springs to her feet. "Please... help us! Them thugs kidnapped more of us earlier! Whatever should we do..." Clearly you recognize her as an engineer, with trinkets in her belt, goggles on her head, and other signs that scream engineer.
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Edmund moves over to cleric, patting her down- looking for anything that might help them later on... notes, maps, things of value, etc.
After searching the woman, he retreats back down the ladder and into the main room below. Immediately he notices Kazmoro, and the blood running down his side. As poorly as that went for me, he got it worse.
"Can I offer you some relief from your wounds?"
Edmund turns to the engineer, and the other captives.
"Where were they taking you, and where did they take the others?"
He pauses to collect his thoughts. No point being hasty - when he notices Kazmoro's quick thinking stabilizing the orcs.
"We need as much information as you can remember about your captors. Anything you remember, no matter how small, may be useful to us as we look for your fellow engineers."
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"Can I offer you some relief from your wounds?"
Kazmoro feels light headed as the battle ends, and only now realizes how much blood he has lost from the wounds received. As Edmund climbs down and offers aid, Kazmoro nods and smiles with gratitude, ”Yes please. Thank you Edmund, I had not realized how deep these wounds were.”
After receiving the aid, he will walk up to the gnome engineer, ”Are you injured? We will help, we are Pathfinders here on a mission to put a stop to the disappearances plaguing Cassomir. What is your name? How many of your colleagues have been taken? How long ago were they abducted and do you have any leads as to where they were taken?”
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The fallen have no significant gear on them, (mundane weapon and armor) but each of them have a wooden holy symbol, one that is distinctly belonging to Groetus.
The few indicate that they bear no serious injuries to the body, only on their pride hurt. The gnome boldly speaks up "My name is Queck...hmm...If I recall correctly they took six of our men! It was not long ago, maybe an hour? They demanded we hand over any blueprints that detailed the Crypt of Fools. They said something about keeping the location of hidden tunnels a secret. I overheard their leader telling the cultist who led the kidnapped engineers away that she was staying behind to find out if we knew anything else about the Crypt of Fools and the tunnels. She then said, ‘Tell Dalirio he can have these.’ What did she mean by that?”
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"Well met, Queck, I wish it were under better circumstances, though I do always like a chance to rescue a lovely lady," Razka says, flashing her his slyest smile and laying a friendly hand on her shoulder.
"Do you happen to have another copy of the blueprints? We think that there must be secret tunnels that lead to this Crypt of Fools. We need help in finding them, though. Any you can provide would be greatly appreciated and would help us rescue your fellow engineers. Given the group we are dealing with, time is of the essence as I suspect Dalirio, whoever he is, has less than benign plans for those that were taken."
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Nadric finally wanders out of the steam cloud that had, in combination with the chaotic sounds of battle, turned him completely around in this unknown space. Casting a glance over the equipment that comes into view, he thinks, This would be quite interesting to examine, if we weren't engaged in such an urgent task. Maybe there will be time once this is all wrapped up...
He tries to hide his embarrassed blush when he sees the enemies struck down and the others calmly speaking with the engineers, while he'd been doing nothing more useful than stubbing his toes and banging his shins on the doorway and walls. He steps forward to agree with Razka about the time pressure, saying, "If they were taken only an hour ago, we may be able to catch up in time to protect them from whatever fate this cult has planned for them." He thinks quickly over what they've just been told. "Wait... wasn't Dalirio the leader of the Groteus cult? But Venture Captain Hestia said that he was dead. If he's still giving orders... well, that has to be a very bad sign."
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Queck nods, as if to understand your concerns. In a calm and composed manner, she continues the conversation "While, I don't have the blueprints on me, I do not some information on it as I've worked here quite long.
“The crypt is a secret graveyard, long fallen from use, where traitorous families were buried, or in some cases re-buried, to scrub their stain from Taldan history. It most definitely exist!”
“The entrance lies under an ancient fountain hidden somewhere below Old Cassomir, though the knowledge of its exact location was lost some time ago and finding it presents a bit of a problem. A legend among engineers tells of a series of hidden clues within three Cassomir monuments. These clues yield three locations which, when triangulated, give the location of the surface entrance to the Crypt of Fools; they also show the combination required to unlock the entrance. Look for old buildings built by the Ismacco family, whom we’ve long suspected used the Crypt of Fools as the base of their heinous operations after it fell from use.”
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"Queck, which buildings were built by the Ismacco family? Do you know if the golden statue that guards the entrance to Swift Prison is one of these three monuments you mention?"
Kazmoro speculates remembering the strange "I" he saw on the gilded statue.
That "I" may be related to the Ismacco family?
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“Why yes; in fact, the construction of the entire Swift Prison was headed by Ismacco engineers and I’ve been asking the city to destroy that Groetus-festooned statue for years.” She responds curiously to Kazmoro's comments.
"I really know little bout the history of the Ismacco, and much of these clues. They are really just fables to me, I never thought anything much of it. As far as I know, they built the Imperial Hall of Records, the Admiralty Citadel, and the Harbor Watch; laid the stone that makes up the square around Pharasma’s Pulpit; built retaining walls to shore up some of the ruins at Quickfall Abbey.” She nods.