Keeping her performance going Felicitas engages the next enemy.
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Casting a quick glance down at his feathers to check how many have been trimmed by the near miss attacks, Garmit ducks in between the elemental and the huge efreeti, trying to get into better flanking position with the big magma beast on the stairs.
Doing his best to defend himself in the process he then unleashes all of his sword prowess onto the fiery beast.
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Malusha causes the leader to appear suddenly in all his fury. Amarthecthel and Garmit get solid hits in on the elemental, but its strange protections and elemental form keep it alive as Garmit is unable to find the proper places to stab it and Amarthecthel can't pierce its resistance to his frostbite effects.
Filmore provides a solid centering for the group as the damage piles up around him and Sickly takes the opportunity to land a near fatal blow on the Master of the House.
With the pulsing flashes of a half dozen scorching rays, the pair of efreets defend their home. Ewari at Garmit and Xojject (after a subtle dimensional slide) at the pesky gnome healing the party from behind. Only Ewari is able to nick the tengu.
But with two heavy thuds, the elemental does smash into Amarthecthel's defenses.
Felicitas
Malusha (shield other)
Amarthecthel the Annunaki (shield other) - 43 damage
Garmit (shield other) - 9 damage
Filmore - 28 damage
Sickly (DR/3)
Ewari (orange)
Magma Elemental (blue) - 40 damage
Xojject (purple) - 101 damage
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Seeing the efreeti disappear and reappear on the far side of him, Sickly gives an angry sputter. When Xojject then attacks the gnome, he seems to get even more furious. "Leave him alone!" He wheezes out, the words barely intelligible through his ragged breathing. His massive weapon swings around once more, clearing the railing, towards the genie again, and again.
, for damage.
, for damage.
Felicitas presses her attack and let´s her rapier speak.
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"Thugs and thieves, how dare you dishonor the Cinderfury name!" Xojject screams, steam seeping from the edge's of his snarling mouth.
Felicitas' blade smashes against the protective aura around the elemental sludge. Malusha prepares his weapon as Amarthecthel struggles to find the slight opening he needs on the scaly plates, but the beast finally succumbs to the faintest hint of the frostbite.
Garmit takes wings to find a better position, but is punished harshly for his daring flight. Filmore feels the sting of the tengu's injuries and coaxes Erastil further into the battle. Sickly finds just enough arm to fell the house leader with two massive strikes that tear his body nearly in two, but the battle rages on with the shocked underlings.
Ewari shouts with conviction as she lays into the tengu with her heavy blade. The magma beast throws a somewhat weakened fist toward the magus, his rage over Xojject's fate equally apparent.
Felicitas
Malusha (shield other)
Amarthecthel the Annunaki (shield other?) - 54 damage
Garmit (shield other?) - 55 damage
Filmore - 36 damage
Sickly (DR/3)
Ewari (orange)
Magma Elemental (blue) - 44 damage <fatigued, entangled 1 round>
Xojject (purple) - 167 damage <dead>
Keeping the pressure up Felicitas attacks again.
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Feli and Malusha fail to connect with the remaining foes, while Amarthecthel barely scratches the elemental with the edge of his blade. Garmit surgically makes some devastating cuts in Ewari's exposed skin and Sickly takes advantage of her pain with a whomp to her back.
Filmore wades closer into the melee, all while precariously stabilizing the group's health requirements, and his own.
With perhaps her final blows, Ewari furiously strikes back against Garmit and the elemental continues to test the magus.
Felicitas
Malusha (shield other)
Amarthecthel the Annunaki (shield other) - 32 damage
Garmit (shield other) - 21 damage
Filmore - 45 damage
Sickly (DR/3)
Ewari (orange) - 80 damage
Magma Elemental (blue) - 45 damage <fatigued>
Felicitas takes a deep breath and changes tactics. She aids Garmit to give him a better chance to hit.
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A scimitar suddenly appears and threatens Ewari with a quick slice on her cheek. Feli then steps in to give Garmit the full distraction he needs and his careful stabs drop the efreeti woman to the floor in a pool of her own steaming blood.
As her eyes roll back, she stutters. "I have failed you, master."
Amarthecthel finds enough strength to wound the elemental significantly, (though it still resists the brunt of the cold) and Filmore heals again before ducking under and through Sickly's combat stance. The dwarf quickly turns his hammer to the remaining monstrosity, nearly smashing it in twain and the fiendish beast can only manage to strike the magus with a ill-timed left hook.
Felicitas
Malusha (shield other)
Amarthecthel the Annunaki (shield other) - 24 damage
Garmit (shield other) -6 damage
Filmore - 30 damage
Sickly (DR/3)
Ewari (orange) - 134 damage <unconscious>
Magma Elemental (blue) - 115 damage <fatigued>
Feli continues to aid Garmit.
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With the battle complete, you move quickly to search the efreeti bodies. You find their elaborate magical armor and weapons, a ring of protection +2, spellbook, and hanging from a silver chain around Xojject’s neck - the Cinderfury Gorget.
Checking out the rest of the manor, you can now place more pieces of incriminating evidence from your stash and search for other treasures.
Storage Room - Much of this room is filled with stacked furniture, piles of random colorful knickknacks, and lavish room decorations.
This balcony where the main battle took place overlooks the ground level. Two large windows overlook both the front and the back of the estate, and a small bookshelf and chairs provide a cozy space for reading. It is flanked on either side by well appointed bedrooms. Each of these rooms contains a bed, a wardrobe, a small stand, and a large portrait of the stoic efreeti you have just defeated - Xojject Cinderfury, patriarch of the further dwindling family.
On the western side of the manor stands a reliquary. Exotic trophies, ancient relics and glimmering weapons rest atop illuminated pedestals that encircle the room.
The first is a Large +1 spell-storing battleaxe whose edge is encrusted with a thin layer of curious green crystals.
The second is a frost-forged steel breastplate inscribed with Shelynite iconography.
The third is a set of bonebreaker bracers made of steel and studded with tiny garnets that seem to map the constellations in an unfamiliar sky.
The fourth is a +1 dragon-defiant shield cloak made of orange-red drake hide.
The final room is Xojject’s master suite which also served as his main business office. The walls of this chamber bear a patina that continuously shimmers and swirls, and every inch of the floor bears fantastic mosaics of metallic tiles. A desk of polished marble stands to the southeast between two bay windows. The desk’s surface is covered in an abundance of brass sheets.
Most of the documents requesting aid are stacked together and set far to one side as if they’d rather be forgotten, whereas missives from creditors congregate messily toward the center. In a glass case atop the sideboard to the northeast rests Flamebinder’s Jaw, a brass azer jawbone poised atop a metal stand. This could be returned to the azers that helped you to further court their favor.
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As you are set to leave the manor, a mysterious figure stands in the doorway, leaning conspicuously against the doorframe. She is another efreet, dressed in a fine set of crimson robes and one that you have not met before. Sensing your hesitance of action, she smiles broadly.
”Do not fear, I have not come to melee. Nor to discourage your mission today in any way. Your secrets are safe with me. Indeed, I applaud your initiative. You and your patron, Qalkami --through such intricate palace intrigue-- have unwittingly played a role in larger plans that shall reach all corners of this plane... and beyond.”
Looking out over her shoulder and quickly pulling herself away from the wall, she closes the main doors behind her. She then sweeps her hands out and bows gracefully .
”But allow me to introduce myself - I am Sarath Iqdaudja, a faithful member of the Sultana’s court, and I was tasked with keeping an eye on your progress this day. Be warmed! You have the Sultana’s favor, not her ire. So --- perhaps we will be in touch. Now, you will forgive me. Your patron awaits outside to complete this ruse, and we would prefer the local nobles know nothing of our little meeting here.”
With that she takes her leave, deftly turning invisible as she makes her way toward the terrace doors.
Turning your attention to the windows by the main doors, you can see the distant silhouette of Qalkami moving towards the edge of the estate to debrief the mission once you are ready.
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As the elemental falls, Sickly flops down on the floor, sitting there with his legs splayed out in front of him, breathing in ragged gasps, and sweating profusely.
Eventually, his size returns to relative normal, and some time after that, he seems to get his breathing back under control... but it isn't until he's applied a number of salves and drank a couple of small tinctures that his face seems to stop swelling, and the redness begins to abate.
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Inside a locked drawer of Xojject's desk (easily cracked open by Garmit) is one letter of credit held in reserve by the efreet. This (along with the other information found in the library) will satisfy some of Guaril's appetite, but securing a local liaison escapes you.
Xojject is obviously out of the running at this point, but who else might work?
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Qalkami straightens her posture in anticipation as you move stealthily to her hiding location near the edge of the estate.
”It is done, then?” She strains to whisper loud enough to be heard.
”Quickly now, a host of nobles are on their way to witness the “Cinderfurys’ treachery”. I take it you planted all the evidence sufficiently, and that you have the Azerite Pact and the Gorget? Anything else of value?”
Well we could deposit the slandering things and plant them behind the breastplate. Slandering is a thing of the heart and a breastplate protects the heart.
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"Azerite Pact? Don't remember you mentioning anything about that...but yeah we got the Gorget. Here you go! That was the main thing, right? That and planting the evidence which we managed to leave in a few places." Garmit offers.
Hoping that is enough to satisfy the efreeti, Garmit will attempt to line her up as a trade contact, despite not particularly liking the woman, but somewhat reluctantly respecting her pluck and willingness to go after what she wants so forcefully. "Say, before we go, don't suppose you'd be interested in swapping some details. Perhaps we can do business again...you know, for mutual gain?"
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Qalkami listens intently to where the evidence was planted and seems satisfied they are in suitable places for discovery. The efreeti tests the Gorget’s weight in her hand for a moment before pocketing it, adding with a smirk. “How far the poor Cinderfury family name has fallen since their generals were the pride of the sultanate.”
”The Azerite Pact? But I’m sure I mentioned it, Tengu. I mean, what possible use could the likes of you have for such a document?’
She stares for a moment as the realization hits her, then laughs deviously. “Ahh, seems like the pawns may have decided to take the moral high ground; the same pawns who just raided a noble efreeti home. If so, well, the irony would be… palpable.”
She begins to say even more through a delighted grin, but instead just relaxes her shoulders and shakes her head. ”Ah well, I can accomplish what I must through other channels.”
”As for doing further business…” She forcefully takes a step closer to Garmit and for a moment you think she might strike out, but relents at the last moment. ”...I think not. Any foreign initiatives in the unforgiving city won’t work if overseen by operatives who leave a job ...half-done. May I suggest a magical item that can improve one’s memory.”
”But...” Her voice wavers with a tinge of approval. ”...I suppose the Pathfinder Society’s obligation is essentially fulfilled and it’s time for me to let you in on the promised secret you all nearly died for...twice.”
She looks down the road at a growing rabble of nobles and guards heading your way.
”Time is running short, my audience is arriving. I will only tell you this once, so please pay attention.”
Kneeling down behind the thorny hedges to buy some time, she begins.
“Only a powerful artifact in its own right could crack the jewel your Society has found. What you all seek now is known as Fossilblight, a legendary weapon of solid diamond the shaitans built to punish the City of Brass.” She scoffs. “They lost it, no thanks to my family’s guile. We found it, and when the shaitans dispatched a mighty colossus to crush us in retaliation, we used the weapon to pin the war machine deep in the Kullan Dei Mountains of Tian Xia, a range on your home planet. Tell your elders, as they seem so desperate to know.”
She stands quickly, nervously straightens her clothes, horn-rings, and hair - using Sickly’s odd reactions as something of a mirror.
”Now begone. I have a final piece of business to conduct.” She whispers angrily out of the side of her mouth as the first nobles wave to her. ”Your presence will only complicate things now. Leave the protective talismans at the Chromatic Dragon in my name and return at once to Golarion.”
Qalkami then abruptly makes a flourishing turn to properly greet the plethora of elegantly dressed efreeti nobles, royal guards, and obvious lesser politicians who start to mill about the estate’s main entrance, scowling at any of you who linger. Now completely ignoring your existence, Qalkami rises triumphantly and hovers to address the gathering as you begin to awkwardly shuffle away.
“Citizens of Brass! Look upon Emberhearth and observe! Today, the corruption of the Cinderfurys will be revealed, defying the very dynasty that put them in power. It will be shown that they conspire with the Peerless Empire to attack the throne, and their crimes must be punished. It is my solemn charge to protect the sultana’s glory, and I would extinguish the last flame before allowing any harm to her. I’ve failed her once before, and I will not do so again!”
Respectful nods, light clapping, and a few cheers from the crowd greet Qalkami’s speech. The royal guards quickly rush into the building while the nobles begin congratulating her on a job so well done.
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Hunting down the azers before you leave the city is no small task, but eventually you find them and present the Jaw to them. Most of the azers are in awe and soon excuse themselves to begin making arrangements to commune with their ancestor, but one remains to talk with Garmit and Feli.
Anwar Alim (the group’s representative) is open to smuggling the occasional Exchange shipment for a high price, but his fee is lower than what the faction might otherwise pay in tariffs. The deal can thus be made to fully satisfy Guaril’s wishes.
Many, many thanks!