Sento opens the secret door and finds that she is now in a sparsely decorated study. The materials of the walls look to be crafted from rough-hewn stone and there is little adornment of the area. An empty female mannequin stands in the corner of the room, likely for armor to rest on. A straw pallet lays in the far corner and a desk with quill, ink and lamp sits on the far side from the secret door. Only one item can be considered decoration: an elaborate golden sun above a small altar under the window. A small cushion sits near the altar.
You see a key in the lock of this room as well.
---
Tysi stands in what she believes to be Room 8, but is surprised not to see anyone else.
--
The group goes through the hidden door and finds Tysi in the hidden room. They seem the unbreakable mirror and pass through it, finding themselves on the tilting tower.
The tower bobs in the air above the Grand Lodge at a height of approximately 300 feet, suspended in a translucent field of iridescent energy. This field suppresses most magical effects that come in contact with it as well as attempts to use teleportation magic to enter the tower, affecting them as dispel magic (CL 15th). Debris also orbits the tower at high speeds, functioning as a blade barrier that has an effective caster level equal to the table’s APL (DC 17 Reflex for half ). Within the field (i.e. inside the tower), magic functions properly. Each tower floor has a 15-foot ceiling.
If a PC attempts to fly to the tower, there are enough Pathfinder agents on the grounds who watch and can cast feather fall to arrest the descent of anyone who plummets from the tower.
Twenty minutes into this part of the adventure, the Overseer GM announces that the floating tower has begun to tilt. This has several consequences. First, the tower tilts approximately 30 degrees to the east, which causes any creature standing on the floor to fall prone unless it succeeds at a DC 12 Reflex save. This also causes any movement to the west difficult terrain unless the PC also succeeds at a DC 10 Acrobatics check.
The southeast corner of this room has broken off along with part of the floor. Rubble, loose bricks, and masonry litter the edges. Beyond the opening, blue sky and the Absalom’s city skyline are plainly visible. A solitary door is closed to the south and a full-length mirror is bolted to northwest wall.
Although the mirror portal is intact, the room it is in suffered considerable damage when the northwest tower tore free from Skyreach. The PCs must find a way to reach the rest of the tower and the stairs that lead up to area G6. A fallen column has blocked the strong wooden door (hardness 5, hp 20) from the hallway outside. A PC can push the door open with a successful DC 26.
The PCs can also fly, levitate, swing, or climb around the broken wall to reach the hallway beyond. This requires a successful DC 15 Acrobatics or Climb check. Failing the Acrobatics check or failing the Climb check by 5 or more causes the PC to fall to what remains of the floor below and take 1d6 damage. Because the stairs to this lower level are broken, the PC must then find her own way up to area G2, such as by a rope and grappling hook or scaling the broken walls (DC 20 Climb).
G2. Siege Floor - This floor is clear except where the walls are rumbled away. The north and west windows feature gargoyles just below them. Both gargoyles have a reservoir built into their backs so oil or other chemicals can be poured and sprayed down on would-be attackers. Numerous arrow slits are built into the walls.
G3. Siege Supplies - This room contains ancient siege supplies stored here when Skyreach was considered a fortress in the traditional sense. Barrels of oil and a decrepit wheelbarrow are here, as well as several crates of serviceable arrows. The PCs can find mundane versions of any weapon or ammunition in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook here.
G4. Guard Station - Old cots and moth-eaten blankets smothered in a thick layer of dust confirm that no one has been posted atop this tower in years. The cots are nevertheless are sturdy and the door is functional.
G5. Stairs - The door to this staircase is unlocked. The stairs wind upward past tight corners until they reach area G6.
G6. Battle Tower - The top floor of the tower is an open, undivided by interior walls but for the small space partitioning the stairwell. Windows large enough to step through line the exterior walls. Immense magical circles are permanently etched into the floor, their lines and curves inscribed and filled with several types of metallic powder. Faint, multi-colored mist roils within the southern circle. Two strange contraptions stand near the northwest
and southwest windows. Each device is a large, red-tinted crystalline lens mounted in a frame so that they may be angled in all directions.
Wave 1
Several Aspis Consortium agents carried the Sky Key here in preparation for another part of the assault on the Grand Lodge, but they became trapped here when the tower broke free from Skyreach. Unless the PCs have made a large amount of noise elsewhere in the tower, the Aspis agents are unaware that anyone else is here. Given proper warning, they cast any defensive and mobility-enhancing spells such as spider climb. The agents have identified how to operate the skylances and use them during the encounter.
Initiative:
Initiative:
1st: Sento; Tysi
2nd: Other
3rd: Sue; Geatan; Fizz;
4th: Deadly Spies
5th: Thorgan
"Pathfinders! barks the sorceress as the two men scowl wickedly, holding their rapiers, but they aren't as quick as her. "Defend me while I slow them down!" she bellows.
She weaves her hands as inky, black tentacles burst from the ground trying to capture Sento, Thorgan, Fizzbeard, Beaky and Sue.
The group is largely contained with only Thorgan able to avoid the writhing appendages as the Champions of Irori are squeezed as well as the mounted gnome and his pet bird.
Initiative:
1st: Sento; Tysi
2nd: Leader
3rd: Sue; Geatan; Fizz;
4th: Deadly Spies
5th: Thorgan
Status:
Sento-Grappled @ 80/89 HP
Fizzbeard-Grappled @ 93/103 HP
Beaky-Grappled @ 52/58 HP
Sue-Grappled @ 84/89 HP
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Most of the spells Thorgan uses in these cases last 110 minutes.
Tysi seems to snap out of her daze as she moves up into the Black Tentacles. As soon as she steps in, the tentacles reach up to grab her.
The little gnome is gripped by the tentacles as Fizzbeard and Beaky disappear from sight, only to be heard charging up on the platform.
He cleaves into the roguish man with his sword, but can't seem to deliver the resounding strike he was hoping for. The man scowls as him and lashes out with his rapier at the gnome as his compatriot moves to protect the woman. "We are at your side, Raid Leader!" he announces once they have moved into position.
Sento and Geatan each down potions to avoid or overcome the tentacles that have grappled most of the group.
Initiative:
1st: Sento;
2nd: Leader
3rd: Sue; Geatan; Fizz; Tysi
4th: Deadly Spies (Red @ 21; Blue)
5th: Thorgan
Status:
Sento-Grappled @ 80/89 HP
Fizzbeard @ 93/103 HP
Beaky @ 52/58 HP
Sue-Gaseous Form @ 84/89 HP
Tysi-Grappled @ 92/101 HP
|
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Thorgan groans at the sight of the inky black appendages.
"Ah hate these inky tentee-clees! Always th' Decemvirate 'as me facin' em! Nae a month goes by ah don't see 'em!"
Narrowing his eyes, Thorgan continues to grumble while working the divine anti-caster powers imbued in him by Angradd.
Thorgan Status:
HP: 124/124
AC Normally: 21 (T 12 | FF 19)
AC Now: 24 (T15 FF22), CMD also +3 higher
Spells Remaining Today
4th - 1/2
3rd - 2/5
2nd - 4/5
1st - 5/6
Spells/Effects Active:
Heroism, Keen Edge, Perceive Cues
Stoneskin (110hp remain)
Abilities:
Judgement Left: 2/5
Bane Left: 9/11
Thorgan dispels the Black Tentacles after Sento breaks free. The woman draws down power from the sky as her hands become enveloped in sheaths of lightning. She places her hands together, forming a triangle between the thumbs and forefingers. She aims it at Fizz and grins. "Time to fry you tiny bastard!" She yells as the lightning erupts from her hands and blasts at Fizz, leaping to Beaky, Sento, and Thorgan.
-Posted with Wayfinder
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Gaétan flies to his follow agents and shot a arrow at the spellcaster. His rage seems gone. The effect of the potion ...probably.
"namina, namina"
-Posted with Wayfinder
The sky crackles overhead as you see Kreighton Shaine and Osprey rise up to the top of the tower. The former seems to be floating on a angry, black nimbus as stormclouds pour from his outstretched hands; the latter appeared as a hawk, but morphs into the familiar face upon his landing on the platform.
"No doubt, we are late, Pathfinders, however this is the last bit of Aspis in the area. Figured we could lend a hand." scowls Shaine as his electricity-flecked gaze turns to the Aspis and bolts of lightning strike down near the two men, forming a Lightning Forcecage around the bodyguards.
The woman begins to cast a spell, teleportation it would appear to those versed in magic, but Osprey quickly draws a small dart and flings it, sticking into her neck. She grimaces, but completes the spell. The runes surge around her, but suddenly the spell fizzles. "Phase Locking Dart... Never leave home without one!" the wildman grins as he forms the very platform of the Sky Citadel around the woman, trapping her by covering her mouth, feet and hands.
"Well, you lot should return to the Lodge. I imagine there will be quite the party after this overwhelming success." remarks Shaine as you find yourselves teleported back to the grounds.
Down hundreds of feet below, for the first time in living memory, the Grand Lodge’s gates are closed beneath the arch that bears the Glyph of the Open Road. Just outside the gates stands a crowd of hundreds pressed up together to look up and watch the spectacle. Behind them, a force of district guards pushes toward the front, calling for someone to open the gates. From the wall, Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin stares down and barks a firm “No.”
“Not your problem,” notes a deep voice. Marcos Farabellus and a half dozen other Pathfinders approach while sheathing their weapons. The Master of Swords gives a reassuring smile and remarks, “Just be thankful for once you’re not in charge down there.” His smile fades as he surveys the damaged tower and picks up the Sky Key in both hands. “It’s clear that the tower isn’t stable, and I don’t think tinkering with the Sky Key up here is going to make it conveniently set back down where it was. It’s past time we get out of here—before whatever magic is keeping us afloat decides to stop working.”
One-by-one, Pathfinders emerge from Arliss Hall, with Marcos Farabellus emerging last. A trio of Pathfinders is waiting for him with a thick chest, and he lightly places the Sky Key within, closes the lid, and motions for the agents to carry the strange Numerian device back to Skyreach, where several dozen armed operatives quickly surround them to ensure no more ill befalls the Society’s prize. The Master of Swords strides toward the pedestal where the towering statue of Durvin Gest once stood but now lies shattered.
Within minutes, hundreds of Pathfinders and their venture-captains solemnly gather in a wide circle around the monument, and the blood-spattered Master of Swords addresses alumni of this year’s Grand Convocation.
“We were tested today, my friends,” he confidently states as he hefts a sheathed sword in one hand, “But we were not found wanting!” Following a ragged cheer, his expression sobers. “We also lost people today: good agents and one of
the great men who taught them—the Master of Spells Aram Zey. But I tell you we saved something far greater. Not some ancient relics from a bygone era! No! We kept our wits! We kept our courage! We kept our faith in one another, and we stood, shoulder-to-shoulder, UNITED!”
Another cheer rises up and after it subsides, the Master of Swords quietly observes, “And the damned snakes in the Aspis Consortium still don’t have an answer for that.” He clambers down the fallen stones and waves, “Tend to your wounds. Get yourself a good meal and some rest. We have a lot of work to do this year. Dismissed!” With that, he walks side-by-side with other venture-captains towards Skyreach.
Unable to achieve more than a handful of minor objectives, the Aspis Consortium and their dupes have turned tail and fled. Renovation of Skyreach’s towers has already begun, and the venture-captains already have sound theories on how to rescue Aram Zey. All signs point to this escapade having completely backfired for the Aspis Consortium thanks to the Pathfinders’ overwhelming victory!