Karn and Brelar work together to take down another clockwork leviathan!
Argust will drop his greatsword, draw his dagger and start stabbing the creature that has hold of him!
for
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Bert shoots the last one three times, cartridge brass falling to the ground around him. []"Bet I can get you to let go of him this way!"[/b]
Although Arugst's knife is not as strong nor as hard as his sword, he still manages to knock a few gears loose. Bert's bullets then shoot through some vital components to drop the monster and cease its movements!
The halfling grins, blowing the smoke from the barrel of his new gun before reloading it. "Argust, you all right?"
"Should we try and follow those beasts back from where they came?"
Shouldn't we make sure everyone here is safe first? Argust actually hopes that everyone is already safe since he'd rather go kill more creatures.
Bert shakes his head. "We'll make sure other people have them taken care of, and then go after the source. This is bad--maybe there are more coming." Bert hops down into the water to look at the remains of the constructs, trying to figure out how old they might be and whether they've been underwater for any length of time.
With the disaster seemingly over, the process of rebuilding can slowly begin. It will be some time before the city recovers physically and mentally from the disaster. In the short term, though, you are contacted by Sheila Heidmarch, who wants you to retun to her manor to discuss the situation and what can be done.
When you arrive, you find the other members of the Sihedron Council there as well, each wounded, worried, and worn out. As you enter they give you a round of applause for your efforts in saving as many citizens as you could.
Sheila informs you, "The Pathfinder Society had already planned on rewarding you with a prize to signify your great accomplishment, but in light of your actions during this unforeseen disaster, the reward seems almost quaint." She presents each of you with a wayfinder of endless doorways inscribed with your names.
Slot none; Price 45,000 gp; Weight —
This bronze wayfinder is decorated with garnets and emeralds, and even without its magical properties would be worth a small fortune. A wayfinder of infinite doorways has 10 charges; these charges automatically replenish at a rate of 1 charge every 24 hours. The wayfinder has one ioun stone slot—as a standard action, the user can drain the power of an ioun stone inserted in the wayfinder to restore a number of charges equal to the ioun stone’s cost divided by 2,000 (thus, draining an ioun stone worth 8,000 points would instantly restore 4 charges). The item can be used to activate any of the following powers as a standard action that expends a variable number of charges.
- The wayfinder of infinite doorways can be used cast detect secret doors. Using the item this way costs no charges, but can only be done if at least 1 charge remains in the wayfinder.
- It can be used to cast knock at the cost of 1 charge.
- It can be used to cast dimension door at the cost of 2 charges.
- The wayfinder of infinite doorways can be used to transform any regular door within 10 feet into a portal that functions as a word of recall, causing any creatures that step through the targeted doorway to step out of another doorway that has been preselected. If no target doorway has been selected, this use of the wayfinder fails. Using the wayfinder in this way costs 4 charges. Attuning the wayfinder to a destination doorway requires a full-round action and 1 charge, and the user must be standing within the doorway when she does so.
Sheila turns the floor over to Toth Bhreacher, who’s studied Thassilonian constructs more than anyone else in Magnimar. Still weary from using his magical power to help reforge the Sihedron, he keeps his warning short.
“All of the runelords had varying degrees of mastery over the crafting of constructs, but as far as I’ve been able to deduce from writings recently recovered from the Therassic Library below Jorgenfist, it was their original leader, First King Xin, who was the most talented of them at this art. His entire city of Xin was supposedly protected by an army of golems and constructs, all commanded by one man—Xin himself. As he grew old, Xin apparently sought a way to achieve immortality by transferring his soul to a sort of clockwork reliquary, but before he managed to complete this task, the treacherous runelords sent a rune giant assassin to end his life. That was when the seven shards of the Sihedron were scattered, each claimed by one of the seven runelords. And there, information about Xin grows sparse—the empire left the city to fall into ruin, and rumors that Xin’s ghost haunted the site persisted until the end. Now, the thing that worries me is this—those destroyed constructs that washed ashore with the tsunami, along with the clockwork monsters that yet lived, all bore the unmistakable flourish of Xin’s touch. Because of this fact, combined with the ominous storm clouds on the horizon, I fear that the activation of the Sihedron may have activated much more than a single artifact. I fear that the island city of Xin itself has awakened!”
Bert nods, serious for once. "Where is this city? It must have survived Earthfall, so its defenses are likely to be quite strong...or at least they were."
"Where is it? Well, once upon a time it was in the sea outside Magnimar itself. Is it still there? Has it risen? I hesitantly answer that that is indeed what has happened, but it remains to be seen by those who would seek it out and confirm this speculation." Toth pointedly directs these last words at your group of companions.
Who would want to do that? Argust look at Bert, assuming that he would know the answer.
"It's like this, Argust. Xin--the guy who started the Thassilonian Empire, thousands of years ago--made this island fortress with lots of clockwork monsters. It disappeared after the Runelords took over from Xin, but it looks as though rebuilding the Sihedron woke it up. We don't know whether there's a mind behind the clockwork monsters, or if this was some kind of automatic thing. And that--" The halfling grins at Venture-Captain Heidmarch and the other leading lights of the Pathfinder Society. "--is what they want us to go find out. Right?"
Oh. I knew that. Argust clears his throat. So, do we get to use them shard things again when we go out there?
Brelar thanks the Venture-Captain as he studies his new wayfinder, clearly impressed. "This is quite a useful tool!"
"I would like to spend some time Toth learning what you can share of Xin's handywork with respect to the constructs so that we may be beter equipped to deal with these threats." Brelar says. "Golembane scarabs and adamantine weapons are probably the order of the day."
You mean a scarab like this one? Argust shows his liege a Golembane Scarab. I ain't usin' it anymore.
Toth answers, "There should be golembane scarabs and adamantine available, yes. As for what else to expect? I don't think any of us-even me-really knows. It is said that Xin was a masterful clockwork maker so I would caution to expect things beyond even the normal constructs you have doubtless encountered-such as those leviathan. And who knows what else has been dragged up from the deep?"
"If you have magical means to cross the water-I estimate it is probably some 100 miles off the coast of Magnimar-I would suggest that. Boats are available, I am sure, but it would be a slow journey."
Sheila takes back over. "We all wish the best of luck. You are truly the best example of what it means to be a Pathfinder. Magnimar needs you now. Golarion needs you, in fact, if the threat is as dire as Toth here cautions that it might be. Prepare yourselves and then make haste."
Boats? I don't like boats, Brelar. Don't you have magic to get us there?
"I think we're going to fly, Argust. Or teleport, but I think flying will work better."
After about one hundred miles of open water you see the islands before you: a cluster of small landmasses that have risen above the surface as a ruined wasteland of long-collapsed buildings, crumbling tower tops, and disintegrating archways. Strange sites abound on the islands, and everywhere looms the distinctive interplay of spherical and linear designs that is the hallmark of the Azlanti architecture of that period.
Dead and dying sea life litters the islands, and crabs scuttle in all directions to feast on the bounty. Starfish cling futilely to long-toppled columns, and spiny barnacles and dying but razor-sharp coral encrust collapsed walls and old, broken spires, making even casual investigation of ruins onerous. The stench of decay is overbearing.
Beyond the ruins, very little ornamentation or evidence of ancient habitation remains. Centuries on the sea floor, looting by aquatic denizens, the island's recent rise, and ages of erosion have wiped away most of the treasures that once rested in the depths. But even time can't wash everything away, and discerning eyes like yours can detect hints of the city's former magnificence. Shattered glass gloves covered in barnacles still hover along cracked sidewalks, where they once provided illumination. Likewise, stone benches and broken machinery of an indeterminate nature float in place, and old library collections, their holdings now little more than corroded bronze plates, orbit lazily around shelves and statues long lost.
Over all, though, looms a dark shard: a Crystal Palace. The apex of the jagged black spire smolders with thick, dark smoke, and embers and sharp crystal flakes shed from its surface. Other than jagged crags, the spire boasts no window or doors beyond a single grand archway that provides entry into the imposing structure.
You approach the tall, broad archway grown of crystal standing at the base of the palace. The door the archway frames bears no hinge, lock, or knob-only an unbroken sheet of pockmarked black crystal bars the way into the palace's interior. Well, that and the three gillmen who step out of the water as you approach. "Hail!" they call in Aquan. "What is your purpose here?"
Brelar! How'd these guys beat us out here? Argust looks at the men once more. They don't look like they coulda done all this ta me.
"I believe they are guards Argust. They likely lived under the sea with the city where it had been submerged."
"Hail! We have come from nearby land in search of the source of many strange and terrible things which this place seems to be the source of. Are you guardians or protectors of this Palace? Perhaps you'd be willing to share what you know with us to aid our search in some way?"
Continuing to converse in Aquan, the Gillmen reply, "Nay, we are not guardians nor protectors. We seek a way in. Our companion has been working on it for some time but has had no luck. Would you like to join our efforts?"
"Certainly we are willing to work with you. Can you tell us what you know of this place already? Is there a problem with the archway to enter?"
Brelar gestures toward the archway.
Oh! Well tell 'em to point me at the door and I'll smash us in!
"Or I'll pick the lock. Between us, I think we've got this door-opening thing down!"
"We can sense the power in this place and I imagine that much like you we are just curious to delve its secrets. Come, let us show you the entrance."
You move closer to the Crystal Palace where the first set of doors have been cracked open. Inside the foyer the next set of doors still stand firmly shut but before the doors is another creature: four long tentacles writhe from this three-eyed fish-like creature’s flanks, and its green body glistens with thick, clear slime. When you look back at the gillmen to question them about their supposed companion, you see that they have been replaced by similar fish-like creatures!
(+2 underground)
Argust will move to the east to protect his liege and strike one of the not-gillman!
for
Argust leaps back to protect Brelar and cleaves from one aboleth to another! The two aboleth in the rear back up and cast a spell simultaneously with the leader in the front, trying to turn you against each other!
#2: 55 dmg
#3: 60 dmg
Argust laughs off the effects of the spell! He clicks his heels and decides to take a step forward and tries to kill the one that attempted to dominate him!
for
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for plus and DC 25 or be
*fail*
Maybe my SR 18 will save me? :)
If not:
*miss*
Bert calls on his luck and skips up next to Karn, drawing a bead on the aboleth and firing! "Hey, don't ignore me! That's rude!"
In two strikes Argust drops one of the aboleths and in another two swings he finishes off a second. Meanwhile, Bert peppers the leader with a trio of bullets!
#1: 50 dmg
Brelar launches magic missiles at the aboleth!
Karn's hammer only slips off the aboleth's slippery skin but Brelar's missiles leave behind scorch marks. The aboleth shrugs off the spell as it tries to smack Karn with its tentacles!
#1: 72 dmg
Keeping his Haste, August quickly moves between Karn and the enemy and swings!
for
Brelar calls on a fire jet!
DC 25 Ref for half and not catch on fire.
Karn and Argust put their strength together with a jet of fire from Brelar to help and together the group takes down the last aboleth, leaving the entrance to the crystal palace unguarded!
Crystal walls that once might have glittered in mirrored reflections are now dull and blackened, oppressively absorbing light and sound. Several glasslike globes—all but four shattered and extinguished—float near the ceiling, casting a muted light within. The haunting eyes of cracked crystal statues stare vacantly toward the door.
As you settle down from the fight with the aboleths, you note the appearance of three subtly glowing runic assemblages slowly etching themselves on the floor of this chamber. They quickly amass, rising up to coagulate into tall humanoid forms dressed in impossibly complicated raiment befitting the richest prince. "Emissaries seeking audience with Xin?" one of them asks to no one in particular. "And in such strange garb. An impossibility, I’m afraid, even for noble primitives." The second nods in agreement. "Once my lord and king awakens you might be allowed to pass." The third says, "But one does not request an audience—one comes when Xin beckons."
Bert looks over the strange forms with interest. "So, when do you expect Xin to awaken, then? Just so we know how long we have to wait, you understand."