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"Whoa!" The Keleshite inadvertently lets out a surprised breath. "Ah, so that's what Dreng was up to. Let's go exploring!"
Muzhaa'f heads back across the boards carefully to get his stuff back, fishes out an ioun torch, and steps back to the tunnel. He checks it for traps then continues onward!
16th Abadius, 4715 AR
Stationed at Grande Lodge in Absalom, in the company of five Pathfinders: Sindre Oddrson, an Ulfen mage; Mylitta Ianna, a dancer with elven blood; Hironaki, a decidedly strange character of pale-blue complexion; Alarin Tempestborn, an air-touched genie-kin; and Eponine Lokrien Savet, a gnomish chemist. Received orders to deliver mundane package (libations) for Venture-Captain Drandle Dreng. Suspected chicanery, but traveled to the Wounded Wisp bar--the very same of Pathfinder fame--on Dreng's business. Met Aram bin Kaleel, fellow Pathfinder and devotee of Sarenrae, for pleasant conversation.
Followed Heryn Gale, proprietor, to cellar to retrieve Dreng's package--a vintage more than 400 years in age. Discovered that the bottle is, in fact, a disguised lever, which revealed a secret passage leading deeper beneath the establishment into some abandoned ancient room.
<sketch of bottle, door, and lever mechanic>
Heryn shakes her head. "I didn't know that was there. I don't think anyone knew that was there."
A sturdy silver chain jutting from the ceiling ends in a glowing orb that radiates yellow light across the rectangular room. A simple desk of polished wood, stacked with documents and scattered notes, shelters a pair of wooden chests against the south wall. A series of cracks along the eastern and western walls form makeshift entrances into exposed caverns.
As you step into the room to examine it further, a pair of hideously malformed, hairless, pustule-covered corpses move and snarl into the light, moving more like an undead hound than an undead man!
(+2 with mut)
[ooc]As undead they are immune to mind-affecting effects and effects that require Fort saves. They can enter into a four-footed run to increase their speed and can trip when they charge. When they take damage from piercing or slashing weapons, their boils rupture and squirt puslike fluids on the attacker, potentially causing disease.[ooc]
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Mylitta thinks hard upon seeing the creatures, desperately attempting to remember anything useful about fighting these enemies.
Her memory does not fail her, and she successfully remembers several key strengths and weaknesses of the undead. Encouraged, and willing to share this with her friends she relays this info as best as she can, before launching into an Inspiring Song, hoping the rousing melody would drive the corpses back.
Muzhaa'f burns one of the four-legged undead. Sindre and Alarin prepare for the advance and Eponine starts to mix a few reagents. Mylitta's song gives everyone hope that it will all turn out well!
The first festrog rushes at Alarin but is quickly taken down by the magus! Unfortunately, as he cuts into it some of the pustules on its body burst!
The second one moves in and dodges Alarin only to be hit by Eponine's bomb, bits of undead exploding throughout the chamber!
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"Hmph," mutters Muzhaa'f to the destroyed festrogs with a satisfied frown. He immediately turns his attentions to the desk and papers. What have we here?
16th Abadius, 4715 AR
Stationed at Grande Lodge in Absalom, in the company of five Pathfinders: Sindre Oddrson, an Ulfen mage; Mylitta Ianna, a dancer with elven blood; Hironaki, a decidedly strange character of pale-blue complexion; Alarin Tempestborn, an air-touched genie-kin; and Eponine Lokrien Savet, a gnomish chemist. Received orders to deliver mundane package (libations) for Venture-Captain Drandle Dreng. Suspected chicanery, but traveled to the Wounded Wisp bar--the very same of Pathfinder fame--on Dreng's business. Met Aram bin Kaleel, fellow Pathfinder and devotee of Sarenrae, for pleasant conversation.
Followed Heryn Gale, proprietor, to cellar to retrieve Dreng's package--a vintage more than 400 years in age. Discovered that the bottle is, in fact, a disguised lever, which revealed a secret passage leading deeper beneath the establishment into some abandoned ancient room.
<sketch of bottle, door, and lever mechanic>
Discovered a desk covered in aging papers in the room beyond. Attacked by a pair of festrogs, whose origin is yet unknown. Destroyed them with fire and steel.
<map of area, measurements taken with measuring cord>
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Alarin quickly wipes off the undead slime, making a mental note to get a check up at the temple later.
"If I've caught something I probably won't know it for a few days. Nothing to be done right now though." He says to Sindre with a grim smile. Looking to Muzhaa'f, he asks, "Anything of note there?"
The papers chronicle the personal exploits of Selmius Foster. Most of Foster’s more infamous adventures appear here in varying amounts of detail, but it is evident there is another investigation he had been pursuing before he died: the lost records of a Society agent named Eylysia.
Two notes are of particular interest:
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"So this is why Dreng kept the true purpose secret--there have been false Pathfinders since its founding," says Sindre. "It seems we should go to the mausoleum of Arkath, or to the Arcanamirium. Where should we go first? And eventually to the Hall of Names, with a chisel," he says, his usual mild manner replaced with a dangerous cold tone.
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"Indeed," Muzhaa'f replies matter-of-factly. He hastily scribbles down both notes in their entirety. Closing his journal at last, he considers for a moment. "We should take these papers back to Skyreach for safekeeping and study. That would be an opportunity to visit the Wall of Names and see what we can learn of the three impostors in the libraries."
He carefully stuffs every paper he can into a water-proof scroll box, eventually re-shouldering his pack. "I do want to just see where these go, however..."
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Alarin leans on his glaive and cocks his head at Sindre. "Selmius Foster's suspicions reach back quite far into the history of the Society and according to these papers his concern was only for activities of Eylysia." He reaches out and places a finger on the notes. "I am not sure there is evidence here of a conspiracy among the Pathfinders, though perhaps it is wise to tread lightly in our investigation in the case that she was giving this information to another interested party. What do you propose?"
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"I don't know, but as I see it, if there is anyone watching, there's a greater chance they are at Skyreach. However, I don't know. Perhaps every place is equally dangerous. As Muzhaa'f says, how would they know what we are doing? Unless we make a rubbing of the names and speak them out loud in big voices," he says, grinning.
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"You know, we gnomes are a truthful and honest bunch. I doubt there will be much to find. In the event there is something to find, keep in mind that our lives are several generations of human life. Depending on the age of Eylysia at the time these notes were written . . . She could well have living acolytes, best to keep this between ourselves for now."
Created in 4330 ar, the Wall of Names resides on the grounds of the Grand Lodge in Absalom. The monument is a curving wall of black glass that stands atop a small hill at the western edge of the lodge’s grounds. Trees surround the hill, providing ample shade and privacy for those visiting the wall to remember fallen comrades. Carved into the wall are the name and date of death of every Pathfinder killed in the course of duty since the wall’s construction, and most entries also include a sentence or two summarizing either the agent’s greatest accomplishments or how she died.
Of note you eventually find the following three inscriptions:
Doulgonlir Caskmail
Deceased 4332 ar
Wrote in solitude for 101 days. Lived a long life of silence
and serenity.
Hollis “Evil Grin” Thorne
Deceased 4331 ar
Fought up all but one step of the Storval Stairs. Blade shattered at an inopportune moment.
Karina Clamp
Deceased 4330 ar
Survived the horrors of Nemret Noktoria. Returned to rot from the inside.
Silence and Serenity (The Muted God)
Blades (Silmor)
Rot (Mellag)
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Muzhaa'f seeks out the office of Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin and requests to store the two chests full of papers there. If anyone can be trusted, it's him.
_______________________
"Smart thinking, Hironaki! I think that's a great next stop." Turning to Sindre, "Hmm, perhaps. But the foolhardy try the Test of the Starstone all the time. Every fortnight there's a new crowd cheering on some patsy with a greataxe, a potion of fly, and mistaken dreams of apotheosis. But that might be a good lead if the Shrine is a dead end."
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"Failed aspirants. That is quite a strange turn in this investigation."
Though he has an interest in history, Alarin's education in such things, particularly concerning places outside Qadira, is sorely lacking. Listening to the others work out the mystery of the wall, he is grateful that the Society draws those with previous academic experience.
"Muzhaa'f has a point. There is a long list of failed aspirants and Sir Reinhart of Kenabres may just be the next name waiting to be inscribed upon the shrine. However, I suspect our discovery is more than happenstance so we should not dismiss coincidence. I think we should examine the shrine first."
You happen to visit the Shrine at the exact moment Sir Reinhart, a Mendevian crusader intent on becoming a god, attempts the Test of the Starstone. As the valiant—and utterly doomed—knight prepares to charge his steed across the chasm outside Starstone Cathedral, you have unrestricted access to the Shrine of the Failed. The city guard and what few caretakers the shrine has have left to watch Sir Reinhart’s ill-fated attempt.
Erected centuries ago by an unknown organization, the Shrine of the Failed is a dour complex that pays homage to those who failed in their attempts to overcome the Test of the Starstone. The building houses numerous altars, each dedicated to a specific failed aspirant. Black-robed acolytes protect, clean, and maintain the halls as well as the few trinkets left behind by the aspirants.
As you enter, you walk through a monumental chamber which stretches eighty feet from end to end, with a ceiling suspended thirty feet from the floor by great pillars. Seven arched passages lead to humble rooms, each of which contains a polished stone altar dedicated to one of the failed aspirants who attempted the Test of the Starstone.
Each of the chambers to the side contains a small stone altar to one of the failed aspirants. Each altar stands upon a raised dais and bears a small brass nameplate identifying the aspirant and the would-be-god’s areas of interest.
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Eponine nods, and prepares for the worst. "I am going to suggest we not split up to check the altars? We probably really only care about 3 of the 7, so not much time will be lost working as a group?"
Eponine peers about for any placards that might indicate which altar is which. "How vain does one have to be to attempt to become a god? I mean, seriously? Is that the height or narcissism, or something else entirely?"
You look around at each of the rooms and indeed discover the three names you found on the Wall.