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After another blissfully uneventful journey, this one back to the barracks, it seems a good time to take a well-deserved nap, so long as there are no silly training exercises planned for you. Instead, you enter your room to find Dell standing there, as if in wait. He hands you a note and bids you to follow, not explaining further. Outside of Captain Othis's study, he stops. "I'll give testimony if you wish, just call," he says simply, and opens the door.
Inside is the reliably unwelcome sight of Captain Marlene Othis, but more surprising is that of General Faiza bint Hanif now clad in Ungrounded gear instead of civilian attire. They are seated on opposite sides of the desk. The former looks about to speak, but the shaitan woman cuts her off.
"Recruits. It is good that we meet again, despite the circumstances. However, the Captain, in addition to bringing up certain incidents regarding your company, has not spoken very well of you. However-" her voice suddenly harshens as Othis looks to interject with a reflexive insult towards you, "-you have not incurred a single demerit on sensible grounds. It also seems you have all done well in your training and assignments. As such, I think it would be prudent for you to explain your side of the story." She produces several items from a pocket, causing Othis to sputter, and slides them across the table to the party. "Perhaps these will allow you to understand. I am not quite sure what they mean in relation to you."
- Several vials of poison, the same stuff Dell used and already linked Othis to
- A crudely-penned letter from someone named Slagcrusher
- A hollowed-out book on tactics, containing a bronze Aspis badge and a note from someone named Cauchemar
- Aspis Badge/Cauchemar's Note: +4 bonus
- Dell's Testimony: +6
- Poison Samples: +3
- 'Sketch' of Inysha" +3
- Slagcrusher's Note: +3
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Well if nobody is going to give this a try, here goes nothing, thinks Kondor and responds.
”General, since our arrival at the Ungrounded Compound and the start of our training, Captain Othis has treated us with disrespect and even hatred. At first I thought this was her way of teaching discipline and building character, through harsh treatment of new recruits, so I did not question her methods. But then as our training progressed it started to feel like she was trying to sabotage us and ensure we failed in our missions. Despite this, we succeeded on every single one. Take the mission to detain the cheating gambler Inysha. Captain Othis gave us this sketch”, he points at the piece of evidence, ”and said it was Inysha. It is unlikely that a Captain of the Ungrounded would not recognize a General, and think something was wrong with the sketch. The only explanation that makes sense is that she was purposefully trying to sabotage our mission. She wanted us to focus on you, potentially embarrass you at the casino, and allow Inysha to get away with cheating.”
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Drukpa stammers a bit, as the last time he had to stand up to give a presentation it was in his 4th grade class for show and tell, and everyone, including the teacher, had laughed uproariously when he tried to explain how the dodo eggs he had found were likely actual dragon eggs. It had not been a good experience, and Drukpa senses that he may be about to repeat himself.
Well, Granpappy tole me bein a Batfinder ain't easy. I thought he meant I might have to fight some skeletons or suchlike, but now I see he weren't lying. I'd rather fight the dern Turduckenasque all by meself, then have to speechify, but I guess it's time to show these folks that I'm as much a Batfinder as any is...
"Well, General, Sir, ma'am, which is to say, beggin' yer pardon, ma'amsir, I'm jes Drukpa Marpo and truth be that I surely don't got heaps o' nollidge 'bout too many things, but one thing that I does know, that everybody knows, is that when ya fight in the ring, ya gots to fight fair. An' that's why it seemed mighty strange when Cap'n Offal tole us that our training fight with Dell and his gang was jes for funsies with blunt weapons an' everything and then she goes and puts poison on their weapons. Now how ya gonna 'splain that? Even ole Drukpa - n' I'll be the first to admit I ain't no wizard nor sage - but even ole Drukpa knows that poison on practice weapons is as rong as a dragon that breathes peppermint tea, if'n y' know what I mean."
Drukpa gestures to the vials of poison.
"Well, I surely said more jes now than I ever done before, an I hope it made some sense, but at the end of it all is jes this: Cap'n Awful got some 'splainin' to do, if ye ask me - which mostly people don't - 'n I reckon that it's gonna make a purty inneresting story. Wish I had me some popcorn."
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Malvic quiet until this point is seen becoming more frustrated as the incident with the poison is retold. He waits for Drukpa to finish before stepping up to add his portion.
"I would like to bring corroborating evidence forward in the fashion of a witness. The leader of a fellow squad Dell."
He awaits the arrival of Dell and gives him a quick nod before beginning.
"The poison was a poor trick by the incompetent captain but what is more disgraceful is how she used our fellow trainees to do it. She is supposed to be a leader to all of the Ungrounded coming through these tests. However, not only did she order Dell's squad to use the poison they were also ordered to rig a trap during our obstacle course. His squad was against the idea because even trainees have more honor and competency than out captain. Yet after you refused to partake in these shameful activities she ran you harder and harder till you complied, didn't she Dell? You had to look out for your squad so you unfortunately had to give in to her demands?" he says quickly and methodically using extra spiteful tones when addressing the parts about Captain Othis.
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bint Hanif listens to Kondor intently, likely pondering her own recollections of the casino that night. Othis takes the silent moment to cut in, "Well, of course it was fake! Soldiers must be wary of false information spread by traitorous efreet! That sketch was but a simple test that only the most laughable of recruits could think to fail." The General glares at the Captain vehemently, but the latter presses on. "Yet another tip-off there was that few, if any, know what Inysha truly looks like. What good is a sketch when they must be on guard around anyone? For anyone could have been the cheater."
Faiza appears even more intent over Drukpa's story, and Othis, hopefully doomed figure in power that she is, cannot help but chip in once more, to her detriment. "That can hardly be considered poison. As harmless as salt to superior beings with a connection to elemental earth. I used it to motivate them against being struck." At this, the General leers, her obviously tactical mind at work. "I would ask you to cease your prattle, Othis, if it did not further incriminate you so. If that had been the case, why did you not warn them of it beforehand?"
With little response to that, Othis can barely sputter through Malvic's testimony, and comes ever closer to incoherence as he brings Dell into the mix. "I needed to challenge-" she begins as the jumpy oread finishes, but General Faiza bint Hanif cuts in a final time with a deep roar. Othis! You will waste no more of our time." At the clap of the shaitan's hands, two more of her kind in Ungrounded regalia enter the room and drag the erstwhile Captain out. "I thank you, recruits, for your honesty. A formal investigation will soon be established to look further into Othis's activities. Have you any other evidence to present?"
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Valon clears his throat and steps forward. He bows slightly to the general before he begins. "A lot of Othis' justifications for what she did don't make a whole lot of sense, as you've already pointed out, General. That leaves the question of exactly why she would try so hard to sabotage us, though." He picks up the Aspis badge, flipping it in his hand a few times before displaying it. "If I'm not mistaken, this is a symbol of the Aspis Consortium. This badge, as well as the letter addressed to one of its agents in the Ungrounded," he says, gesturing toward the letter, "show why the captain would try to trip us up at every step of the way. It's no crime to be an Aspis agent, but it's hardly a secret that they and the Pathfinder Society often end up in competition with each other. It makes perfect sense that they wouldn't want Pathfinders to get established here, and that they'd get one of their own to try to make the first Pathfinder recruits in the Ungrounded look like incompetent fools. This was all about getting one over on Pathfinders, not about getting the most out of new recruits." Valon places the badge back on the table, then bows once more and steps back.
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Xukong has been keenly examining the hollowed-out book and its contents. It now looks up at General bint Hanif, holding up the badge and message.
"Theeesssse..." It hisses in a voice like a death-rattle escaping an open grave, "...complete the equation. This is the miserably-wrought badge of the Asspiss Conssortium. Surely you know that we are aligned with what is known in our home-plane as the Pathfinder Society. We seek power, knowledge, and the unknown. The Consortium are also from our realm, where they and the Society continually clash like polarized lodestones. Obviously, they made their way to you before we could - but you should trust usss, not them: The Consortium attracts those who are petty and greedy, and it wishes only to grow for growth's sake, like a fleshy cancer."
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"I did know Othis was a member of this Aspis Consortium," Faiza muses. "But it seemed benign, and she was generally a good officer. I had no idea her organization conflicted so with you Pathfinder Society, these Material Plane things are unknown to me. But it now seems I must take a side with one of the two, and I know which I would rather work with going forward!"
The General repeats her promise that an investigation will be launched, likely stripping Othis of her rank and imprisoning her for some time. She presents each recruit with a ceremonial cloak, the clasp of which is the Ungrounded's crossed scimitar and spear, and three fine actual scimitars. "Should you wish to personally part ways with us, you will receive an honorable discharge and our blessing if you ever want to return. If you'd like to stay and train further, you may, but I'm sure your Society has much work to do! I'm sure your contact wouldn't mind giving you a ride here now and again. Regardless, we would like to work more with your organization in the future."
Dell Darkblade stands a short trial for his part in Othis's crimes, but receives a significantly reduced sentence due to the pressures that had been on him. Not long after any goodbyes, Reyshal arrives and escorts you to his estate, where you remain in the lap of luxury for the day and then return to the Material Plane. Sorrina Westyr sits waiting for you, on the same rock and in the same lounging manner. "Report!"
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Before they leave the Plane of Earth, Drukpa wishes to make a donation to charity. Ideally, an old age home for elderly dragons, but if he is not able to find one he goes to the casino to ask the crystal dragon for his advice about a suitably draconic charity. If he's not able to meet the dragon directly, he gives his donation (100 gp) to the staff with clear instructions that these funds are only to be used for the welfare of elderly dragons.