Hironaki can now understand the leshies and report their chattering to the party:
"What do you think they want?"
"I don't know, they clearly can't understand us."
"Who cares, as long as they leave the garden unharmed, what's it to us?"
"They could be joining the goings-on below."
"Which also doesn't concern us...."
"Maybe we should offer them a ripe gourd. Make peace."
"We've got peace, they haven't stepped on anything yet. Just let them pass, maybe they'll leave us alone."
More of the same continues from the pumpkin-headed creatures as they talk among themselves while watching Atanxi's movements cautiously. Luckily Atanxi hasn't stepped on any plants or gourds yet, which seems to be all the leshies are concerned with.
"No! Imbecile! You've killed one of ours, we'll take it back from you!" The leshies seem quite upset that Zahaz just stomped on a ripe gourd and they begin working magic with the plants of the garden....
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As the Loving Son moves in, he sees his Mother's blade flash and tries to slam his fist into the creature as well. "You know not what you've done..."
Son and mother work together and quickly make pulp of the nearest leshy. The other two cry out in horror as they fling seeds at the two pumpkin-killers.
Mother and son work together thinning the garden, sending pumpkin flesh flying about. The leshies are soon overcome and the garden is yours!
Up the stairs on the other side are two rooms: curtains of ivy crawled their way into the first room, which is a spacious kitchen with a broken window on the east wall. A fireplace dominates the west wall.
In the next room a stone staircase wraps around the eastern wall to an
empty archway on the northern wall. Numerous windows surrounding a doorway on the south wall provide a view of a broken coastline some distance away. Soot-covered stones frame the entrance to the north from which you came.
The Blacks lead the way down past the archway. Below, six round pillars and a large iron gate built into a low archway on the west wall are not the most compelling features of this musty cellar. Drawings rendered from soot and dark brown paint cover the walls. They’re broken up by narrow fissures of dark earth and crumbled plaster. The room is filled with bones, most of which are heaped around a large throne against the south wall.
The drawings on the walls are a bit hard to decipher but the oldest and most obscured of these drawings depict scenes of the Thrune family being savaged and brutalized by humans and devil-kin alike. The newest scrawlings depict civilians burning under a Chelish flag.
The piles of bones are deepest around the throne, upon which sits a skeleton in black chainmail. It’s held together with dried vines and has slumped forward slightly, a crown of dull iron upon its brow.
---
Beyond this a short corridor leads to another chamber: Skeletal corpses thinly wrapped in decaying burial linen rest in niches cut into the stone of a wide hallway, which is intersected by numerous narrow fissures. Many of the niches have collapsed, with bony remains jutting out of the rocks and dark earth. The hallway opens into a larger room, where a stone altar is surrounded by cracked walls decorated with intricate reliefs of religious figures and prominent Davians whose tombs lie beyond. The reliefs depict scenes
of Aroden on Golarion, particularly a lesser miracle performed at Westcrown, in which he transformed and revitalized a garden of roses.
More immediately apparent, though, is that the floor is slippery with spilled blood coming from a troll hanging upside-down above the altar. Heaps of oozing entrails are slowly slithering back into the troll’s gashed abdomen. One of its arms has been chopped off and has not yet regrown; its other arm is tied with rope.
From one of the cracks slides an abhorrent undead creature with blazing red eyes and a long slithering tongue. It wears the tattered remains of what was once the proper attire of a Chelish aristocrat. "Trespassers. . . servants of Cheliax. . . you deserve death!" it hisses.
The undead aristocrat merely backs to the far side of the room on the other side of the troll.
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Passing through the first chamber, Zahaz takes a moment to admire the fiendish drawings on the walls. "I am impressed by the decorator. Reminds me of home."
***
In the next chamber he cocks his head in curiosity at the state of the dangling troll. "Perhaps they are making troll stew. A sod could eat it forever... as long as you don't burn it."
When the tongue creature appears, he bares his blackened teeth. "I am servant to no one, you snake tongued berk."
Samaeon, peering around Zahaz's plated shoulder, frowns. He almost recognizes it, but not quite.
Being cautious, Samaeon casts a shielding spell upon Zahaz, who steps into the room and challenges the creature. "Explain what is happening here."
The troll's movements are limited but it seems more focused on biting out at the undead, which has clearly been feeding on the regenerating troll for some untold amount of time. The undead only hisses at your remarks and leaps forward to bite at Atanxi:
With the undead now closer, the troll tries to bite at it:
And takes a bite from the undead aristocrat!
Zahaz swings and misses as Samaeon watches the severed limb of the troll slowly regrowing itself. Chrysalis and son likewise miss the undead.
Atanxi's energy blade cuts into the undead and the troll again flings its head to bite at it!
The troll again takes a huge bite out of the undead, which ignores the troll and again goes for Atanxi, backing itself into the corner where the troll can't reach it.
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"Uh... Ma-ma-Master?" Samaeon stammers as he watches the troll arm twitch and regenerate.
"Not now, fool!" Zahaz growls, clearly frustrated by how dodgy the undead aristocrat is proving itself to be. Raising his glaive again he slashes down with another powerful attack.
Samaeon wrings his hands for a moment before deciding to act with a spell that splashes acid at the troll arm.
Atanxi falls from the attacks of the ghoul but Zahaz is quick to finish it off!
The troll goes back to hanging limply, moaning in its pain. It doesn't seem willing to fight you.
Among the ruined clothing and gore is a grimy [i]handy haversack[i/].
Having defeated the last of the threats, you can take your time collecting items you feel are significant and load them in crates for study later.
The Pathfinder Society’s missions in Cheliax are far from over though. Zefiro Balinger is working to provide a better picture of what you can expect to find at the next sanctioned site of archaeological interest—across the straight to Garund and the province of Kharijite. The Chelish holiday of Loyalty Day draws nearer, and already officials are declaring that Queen Abrogail II, in her wisdom, directed state-sanctioned scholars to unearth the lowly and treasonous Davian legacy. News of Arenzo’s fate in the Emberhold Catacombs serves to fuel the starving imaginations of the nation as its people prepare for the celebration.
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"Well that was about as fun as flappin bone boxes with modrons." Zahaz mutters, wiping his glaive on the twice dead aristocrat. "This berk was barmy as a spite god. Attacking with bare hands like that.. " Zahaz sneers, clearly not comprehending that the aristocrat was a dangerous undead monster.
Samaeon looks at his feet, unwilling to correct his master.
"Is this one dead too?" He nudges Atanxi with the pole of his glaive. "Samaeon, see to him."
Samaeon rushes forward with potions in hand...
***
Cleaning out the tomb is something Zahaz leaves to his "minions", preferring to study the troll, and occasionally poke at it. When it is time to depart he suggests setting it aflame on the premise of "protecting" others in the area, but he seems a bit too enthusiastic about it...
A courier sent by Ianareth Alazario—the new Chelish liaison to the Grand Lodge—informs you that a package provided by Athenaeum
archaeologists awaits you at the museum and that you are to contact Zefiro Balinger once again for more information. The courier also mentions that a new agent has been sent along and is to meet you at the Museum.
You head back to Corentyn’s Museum of History. The former courthouse rises above many of the other buildings within the High Quarter. The museum has endured the touch of time well, and it houses those artifacts from Corentyn’s illustrious history that the Thrune regime has approved.
Motes of dust float in the air as the midday sun shines through the skylights of the museum roof. Several scholars and students move about the bookshelves and display cases on the main floor and the balconies above, while some are hunched over tables piled with heavy tomes. Zefiro is in discussion with a colleague when he notices the visitors.
“Ah, you have returned. Welcome.” He shakes hands with everyone. “Right, we have that package for you.” Zefiro beckons to a student at a nearby table. “Run up and fetch the Athenaeum materials from my office.” He turns back from the student, though he occasionally glances nervously at the people going about their work around him.
“The ruin you’re about to investigate is certainly a major discovery, and it’s sure to earn great prestige for my colleagues at Egorian’s Athenaeum. A lost colony of ancient Taldor right within the Kharijite province would certainly give our beloved empire a strong claim to the region.” Zefiro steps a little closer and lowers his voice. “I would be very interested to discuss your findings when you return, with a bit more privacy. Come see me here in the evening and we can have a talk in my office.”
Zefiro takes a step back as the student returns with the package. He hands it over to you, “If there’s nothing else, I must get back to my duties.”
The Athenaeum package contains several items: an official document that authorizes its bearer to inspect the archaeological site, a map of the Kharijite province that has a route to Ibhir marked on it, and an archaeological report that details the discoveries made at the site.
This is a report of the notable archaeological items discovered in the lost colony of Taldor—estimated to have been established shortly after the founding of Corentyn in 1520 ar—uncovered by the Athenaeum in Kharijite.
Item 1: Ancient broken Taldan clay pots.
Item 2: A ruined building manufactured in ancient Taldan style.
Item 3: Four Taldan statues depicting the founders of the colony.
Item 4: Two golden lion statues.
Item 5: A large statue of the god Abadar.
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The Mother awaits with her son for the second meeting and leaps to 'her' feet when he enters. "What was that bullshit mission?" she says, ready to berate the man. "You sent us to lop off the head of some nobody in a basement? Surely there is a better use for someone of my talents." she says with a scowl.
"Not to mention that this new mission is a waste of time." she says directly.
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"What ho, new friends!", speaks a chipper man with walking cane and a wide-brimmed hat. "The Dandy Hobo is at your service.", knowing well enough to leave his cause of freedom of the road quiet in a country like Cheliax.
"Mr. Farabellus gave me the rough draft on your previous assignment; given Lady Alazario's missive, we are to return to a previous contact you dealt with at the Museum, correct?"
The Mother awaits with her son for the second meeting and leaps to 'her' feet when he enters. "What was that b&@##%!~ mission?" she says, ready to berate the man. "You sent us to lop off the head of some nobody in a basement? Surely there is a better use for someone of my talents." she says with a scowl.
"Not to mention that this new mission is a waste of time." she says directly.
Zefiro twiddles with his ridiculous mustache and mumbles, "Well, yes... that last mission may not have lived up to expectations. But I hope that this next one will exceed them!"
Atanxi looks over the package. If someone has already gone over the ruins why are we being sent back to investigate it? Or is it another undead infested pumpkin garden like last time?
"No, not another pumpkin patch, I assure you. I think this site will have a much richer history. You see, the lost colony lies under a ruined Rahadoumi village called Ibhir, which is located a couple of days’ ride southwest from the city of Khari. A collapse uncovered the site as a fierce battle was fought in Ibhir during the Everwar."
"Centuries later, a forgotten war diary led the Athenaeum archaeologists to rediscover the colony and mount an expedition to exhume it. According to the Athenaeum archaeologists, Taldan colonists established the settlement as part of the Third Army of Exploration, sometime after Corentyn was founded in 1520 ar. I have only met Ianareth in passing, but she is the shining embodiment of Cheliax’s values" He accompanies this statement with a grimace meant to convey that he doesn’t necessarily intend this as a compliment. "So yes, some of it has been explored before but not all! This is a rich site with far too much for just the Athenaeum archaeologists to handle, which is why the Society has been given access. You'll have to speak with the Magistrate when you get to Khari. They've had to tighten restrictions to move into and out of the city due to some problems with smuggling."
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"Hmmm." Zahaz agrees with Chrysalis.
"Hmmm." Zahaz agrees with Atanxi.
"Hmmm." Zahaz replies to the Dandy Hobo's friendly greeting with a cold stare.
***
After Zefiro's reassuring speech, Zahaz offers a few double-edged words.
"Our last task saw us counting layers of the Abyss. Perhaps this new boring task will be tief in disguise."
A er departing the museum, the PCs make their way to the docks where Ianareth has arranged passage to Khari aboard one of the ships that the Chelish navy uses to patrol the Hespereth Strait.
The sail to Khari is quite uneventful, and the crewmembers—none too pleased about having to transport civilians aboard a military vessel—keep to themselves.
The Chelish frigate cuts through the waves by the Arch of Aroden as sunrise paints the harbor of Khari red. Vessels from all around the Inner Sea are moored at the docks, waiting for their cargo to be unloaded or for new goods to be brought aboard. The city spreads around the bay, with sandstone buildings and twisting minarets marking its Rahadoumi origin now emblazoned with red-and-white banners of Cheliax.
Most of the inhabitants dress in a Garundi fashion of colorful robes and billowing blouses, but occasionally a regiment of Chelish soldiers or a Hellknight parts the crowd. Several open- air markets ll the city with clamor as merchants and patrons haggle loudly under many-colored stalls.
At one of the stalls, an exasperated man with an Osirian accent complains loudly, “It would be bad enough if it was just the damned dockworkers who take their time unloading my goods, but now I have to wait for those infernal bureaucrats to grant me a travel permit to even leave the city. I swear I’m about to lose my mind with the incompetence of these people!”
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On the voyage Atanxi speaks a bit with Dandy. So what brings... Mr Hobo was it? What brings you out this way? Did Farabellus also tell you about the wild goose chase he sent us on throughout the city? Seems He was the only one that knew we were coming. We were questioned every block by every guard in the damned city!
********************************************************
Atanxi wipes his forehead as he looks at the sandstone buildings.
Bureaucrats and making simple things difficult. Seems like Cheliax alright....Time to find the Magistrate.
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The Mother and Son glance at each other as the man explains a bit more. "You need to find a way to hide my scythe so we cannot be bothered by imbeciles at customs!" she says, berating the sullen man.
The Son merely nods. "Either way, let's get going. I have a hair appointment tomorrow in Khari. They use the finest Chelaxian slaves to perm my hair." she says as they quickly exeunt.
---
In Cheliax, fresh from 'her' appointment, the Mother stands by Atanxi with tightly curled locks, glistening in the sun.
"I care not for this Magistrate, but if he can make this painless, then perhaps it is needed." she remarks as her Son stands by quietly.
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Upon arrival Zahaz sends Sameon forth to gather information.
The servant returns with his head bowed, having learned only one thing.
"This place may be a province of Cheliax, but it was taken from Rahadoum during the Everwar and the rights to it are a contested."
To Chrysalis, "If you truly value your hair, you may want to wait until we return to more friendly lands. I mean, tou wouldn't want to come out looking like a... Man..."
Following the recent exposure of an extensive smuggling ring, Khari’s government has tightened security on who can or cannot leave the city. Even your official authorization to explore Ibhir is insufficient to get you past the gate guards. In order to leave, you must secure travel permits from the office of Magistrate Mavius Giovenci.
Scores of applicants hoping to procure official travel permits fill the bulky sandstone building, and clerks steadily work their way up and down the lines to identify each applicant and inquire about their business. Once a clerk confirms your authorization from the Athenaeum, she fetches a letter, lowers her voice, and tells you, “Magistrate Mavius Giovenci wants to handle this matter in person. This is an invitation to attend an evening function at his estate.” She forces a smile and then turns her attention to the next group in line. As promised, the letter requests that you join the magistrate at sundown for a fancy meal.
The magistrate’s mansion is of modest size but well-maintained. Upon receiving the invitation, a halfling servant guides everyone through an iron gate with flowery designs onto a terrace overlooking the bay near the Arch of Aroden. A ring of sitting pillows and several water pipes furnish the terrace. At the end of the hall sits a handsome, dark-haired man with an easy smile, though years of indulgent living seem to have taken their toll on his physique. The air is humid as thundering clouds gather far from the shore.
Mavius beckons everyone to sit down, “My dear guests, please relax and enjoy yourselves. There are plenty of local delicacies, and the wine is quite exquisite. I’m sure you’re eager to get down to business, yet there’ll be time for that later.”
As advertised, Mavius has provided a sumptuous feast, and he greedily partakes of the many delicacies. Once the bulk of the meal is done though, Mavius cheerfully seeks other amusement. The magistrate orders a servant to bring out an ornate board with several dozen ivory pieces, “Would anyone care for a friendly game of Siege—unless one of you can entertain us with some Chelish opera? Hah!”
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Someof the locals say that Mavius is a cousin of the lord-mayor of Khari. The magistrate takes advantage of his station to enjoy all the pleasures the city has to offer, therefore his palanquin is a regular sight on the street as Mavius travels between the mansion and several high-end establishments and the opera.
Atanxi whispers to the others as they walk through the exquisite garden.
Listening intently Atanxi has little time for such games though he attempts to be pleasant. I am afraid I am unfamiliar with the rules. He waves his hand at the board.
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Again, Zahaz sends forth his minion to dig up information on the magistrate.
On route to the magistrate's mansion, Sameon adds to Atanxi's information.
"It is rumored that the Lordmayor isn't too fond of Mavius. He secured the post of magistrate for Mavius as a favor to Mavius’s father, but some say his cousin doesn’t live up to the city’s standards and that the lordmayor is concerned that Mavius might make him regret the favor by becoming entangled in some scandal."
At the mansion...
Zahaz seems eager to sit down and destroy Mavius at his game, but Sameon steps forward and speaks carefully.
"My lord is a great strategist, but he has been known to rip the arms off his opponents when he loses." He looks to the others with desperation.
"Perhaps a song...? Anyone?"
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On the way to the mansion: "Khari used to belong to Rahadoum until Cheliax annexed it during the Everwar, giving them complete control over the Arch of Ardoden. Interestingly, there are ancient Jistka ruins in northern Garund."
At the mansion.
Given the Magistrate's request, Dandy clears his throat. "I am not too familiar with Chelish music styles, but I can attempt to throw my voice in the mix."
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The Mother looks onward as the others speak to the dandy in the judge's robes. "Hmpfh... the hobo here is probably best suited to aid you, judge. Perhaps you can take him for the night in exchange for your aid." 'she' remarks crassly.
She cautiously waits with her son, thinking that this is still beneath her.