punto
dash!
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The halfling bouncing into the room is wearing a leather jacket and khakis with a whip and pistol on his belt. He takes off his fedora and sets it on the desk. "An exciting mission for you all! I've already booked your passage aboard the Chelish merchant vessel Black Water Mistress, bound for the docks of Belde along the Maiestas River. You lot-most of you, at least-were there when the ancient city of Rachikan was discovered. As you may know, I have done a bit of work on ancient Jistka history and speak Jistka myself. Did you know that the Jistka term for dark is actually derived from. . . " Trotter goes on for several minutes before he notes the glazed eyes of the adventures in front of him.
“Well, anyways, your journey will be much shorter than Belde,” Trotter points at a well-worn map of the Chelish coastline. “Here, these splintered rocks wherebthe Maiestas River meets the Arcadian Ocean,” Trotter pauses, “they are the Pillars of Anferita, and inside the central rock formation lies the lost Jistkan city of Rachikan that you narrowly escaped.” Trotter’s eyes stay fixed on the map.
“Here’s the problem: the nation of Cheliax has sealed this region off from non-Chelish exploration.” Trotter’s eyes sparkle for a moment before he continues. [b]“Now that’s not entirely fair, is it?” Without waiting for a response, Trotter winks. “That’s what I thought, so I sent a lone agent to secretly explore Rachikan. Cheliax is far too often averse to archaeological exploration without lots of paperwork and such that would have taken years.” Trotter’s eyes seem to lose their spark, “That agent is Benton Grone, a good friend of mine and the man whose nephew you sought previously.”
Unable to hide his growing concern Trotter sputters, “Benton lost his nephew Eldis and I’ll be darned if the Grone family loses another member to that deadly city.” Trotter continues, “We sponsored Benton to secretly explore Rachikan, and initially, his reports came back to Absalom at regular intervals, but over the last few months they have become sporadic, and then stopped completely.” Trotter pauses, “This, unfortunately, is not our only concern.”
“The Chelish government has sealed Rachikan, so they don’t know we’re missing an agent.” Trotter smiles slyly. “My sources tell me a group of Chelish archeologists from Egorian’s prestigious Athenaeum have also disappeared; while this is, of course, a tragedy, we can use this information to our advantage.” Trotters’s smile widens. “I am sending you with forged documents and the official attire of Hellknights. One of Benton’s last missives mentioned a regiment of Hellknights—the Order of the Rack, I believe—who fortified a defensible position in the upper ruins and now guard a lift into the lower reaches of Rachikan’s shadows. It is there, deep within Rachikan, where both Grone and the Athenaeum’s researchers went missing. I need you to infiltrate Rachikan, bluff your way past the Hellknights, take the lift into the undercity, and discover what happened to Grone. Any questions?”
I'm not sure I'm comfortable with all the deception but lives are in danger. I just hope we are not too late. Kyra says softly. Sounds like a simple search and rescue.
Valeros' grin grows broader and broader as the enthusiastic halfling's explanation grows more elaborate. "Back to Rachikan, to rescue another Grone?" he asks, when the tale winds down at last. "Funny to be given the same mission twice, but it was fun last time, and I'm all for sticking it to the hellknights. Count me in. But do we need to play dress-up?"
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Yet another halfling, this one in a vest of blues, purples and greens, adds in his bit. "I mean, the racial spread here is pretty workable for Cheliax. A few slaves, Halfling and Shoanti, and a young, virile Hellknight-in-training and his beautiful healer in attendance. Heck, just put the best liar up front, grease a few palms, and we should be in."
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As you head for the door, Trotter exclaims, "Oh! Wait! You might want to take this along. It's Benton’s last missive which came just over two
weeks ago via a magical animal messenger. Just for your reference." Trotter hands over a letter to the party.
I have found the genesis of the Jistkan golems and now hold the Jistkan golem manual, But I fear I may have unleashed the zealous fury of the morlocks and am I am unsure whether I shall escape Rachikan alive. I have awakened a terror that lurks behind that fetid waterfall where the morlocks constantly worship—oh, how I’d like to take a closer look, but to do so would spell certain doom. And I am afraid I cannot escape the way I came, for a team of opportunistic Chelish explorers have designs on the very book I carry. I have no other option other than to sneak past those morlocks at the waterfall.
Oh, the horror—what I saw—I cannot repeat for fear of people thinking I have gone mad. No hope remains for me. Please, I ask for you to stay far, far away from the foul city of Rachikan. Do not come for me! Take heed: IT IS BEST TO LEAVE THE CHAOS THAT CRAWLS THE ROCKS AT RACHIKAN ALONE FOREVER!
"Good luck!"
Well, he says not to come for him, yet here we come! I do hope he has managed to evade those looking for him.
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"Come on, now," Weiman playfully adds. "You'd make an EXCELLENT slave! Probably a porter, but possibly a slave for the bed too if you don't keep that temper in check. So basically poor, married soul! Ha!"
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Ready for their mission, the party sets sail on the Black Water Mistress.
Some days into their voyage, a cut-off cry echoes in the distance as some unseen predator finds its first meal of the day. As if in warning, a strong wind howls through the ruins that provided last night’s shelter. Worse than the hard rock floor or the overgrown ancient thoroughfares is the incessant banging of primitive drums that pound from deeper within the city.
The ruins of Rachikan sprawl within Anferita’s hollow central pillar. The only known access into the pillar is through the old Aspis Consortium excavation site that the party cleared some time ago. Recently, however, a cadre of Hellknights entered Rachikan through the Aspis’s ingress and established a fort. This fort acts as a launching point for a group of Chelish archeologists to explore Rachikan’s lower levels.
The ruins sit stacked and folded atop each other, each layer separated from the next by tons of stone, creating upper and lower ruins. The Hellknight fort rests within upper Rachikan atop the only known natural chute that delves into the lower levels. Needing access into Rachikan’s depths, the Hellknights constructed a winch and pulley elevator to ferry the members of the Athenaeum expedition down into the unspoiled reaches of the lost city.
There appear to be no Hellknights on the surface currently.
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"I can make people invisible for a time, if that's our plan. I kinda zoned out during the discussion, if there was one."
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"The little Flaxseed gave us some forged documents to help sneak our way into this place," mentions Valeros as they reach the shore. "And you know he didn't give 'em to me, I'd just use 'em to light a cigar. Who's got them? What do they say? If we're going to bluff our way in, it would be good to know who we're pretending to be, don't you think?"
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Right then. Weiman has invisibility, and I a scroll of alter self. This will take some smooth talking, which is not exactly my strong suit, but may in fact be Weiman's. Assuming someone can keep him on task, of course. This last is said with some annoyance as Bruxo observes the archaeologist attempting to emulate the face of a nearby lizard crawling on the cliff face.
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Weiman continues with his Lizard Face. "See, I'm better at helping other people do stuff, as opposed to actually doing them. I'm not horrible at it, though." Weiman shrugs, chasing after the lizard up the cliff face. "It's kind of a halfling thing. Heck, I remember back when everyone had secret little missions from Jacquo or Morilla or whoever it was. Everyone wanted favors, which is a great thing to accrue. Good for business." Weiman continues to try to catch the aforementioned lizard.
Our best bet may be to simply pose as someone bringing aid to those that are already here. We do not have to be any more specific than that, I'd imagine.
The party descends once more into the ruins of Rachikan. Booming drums reverberate off the jagged walls of Rachikan’s ruins. Ahead, the shrieks and cries of inhuman voices cut through the ordered commands of an unseen baritone speaker inspiring his troops. The sounds of battle rage ahead, where a wooden fort highlights the otherwise monotonous rocky ruins of ancient Rachikan. Its palisades strain to hold back what seems to be a singular wave of twisted, shambling flesh, but on closer inspection, the mass consists of hundreds of writhing morlocks, hungrily hoping for blood.
"Same plan as before, Raph?" asks Valeros, loosening his blades. "You pound on the big guy, I'll chop up the little ones."
Kyra will cast Bless for this first encounter.
Bruxo protects himself. The morlocks continue to swarm and beat on the structure near them.
Raphael moves out onto the battlefield and attracts the attention of the golem and the morlocks. The golem moves towards the Swordlord. Kyra moves out behind Raphael
Valeros darts after Raphael, heading for the morlocks, his blades in hand and eager to bite again.
No, I used Bless as my standard, unless we are on to a new round now.
Valeros also moves out from the building. Kyra casts Bless on the party. Enrik follows suit and moves out onto the battlefield. Weiman hastes his party and recognizes the same (well not the same) morlocks, which are immune to disease and poison and have light blindness. Everyone remembers from before that they have crazy leaping and climbing abilities but that doesn't seem to matter on this flat ground. Weiman also identifies this as another stone golem, which has DR/adamantine, a special slow attack, and is immune to magic (except transmute rock to mud and stone to flesh).
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Bruxo moves forward, then readies a Misfortune hex for the stone golem when it moves within 30 feet of Bruxo's position.
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After the Morlocks move, I will ready an action. I will wait for the golem to move within 10' of me and take a 5' step towards it and hit it with PA while fighting defensively (since this is a readied action, my initiative order won't change since I am currently going right before the golem).
P.S. If the morlocks move in such a way to make this action unlikely, I will change my action.
Bruxo readies his hex against the golem. The morlocks swarm towards the party.
Morlocks 1 and 2 double move (into the same square). Morlocks 3 and 4 move up into the same square and swing at Valeros.
Morlocks 5 and 6 double move forward and swarm near Valeros.
Raphael readies himself as the golem steps forward.
The golem then lets out a burst of energy.
Valeros feels the peculiar sensation of competing spells, one giving him lightning-fast speed and the other slowing his actions as if he's moving through molasses. Fortunately, the two forces balance each other out and he feels somewhat normal, though it has been a strange experience. He shakes his head a moment to clear it, then lashes out at the morlocks near him, his whirling blades flashing in the sunlight.