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Karu sees the judge cast his spell and feels the crushing force around him as it seems the world wishes to collapse in upon him, rendering him into nothingness.
Interesting, but I don't think so... he says with a chuckle.
Karu flexes his muscles as the gravitational effect begins to squeeze, but the effect cannot overcome the mighty Bold Strider. "Have no fear, Atum." he says with a wry grin. "This man's abilities are no match for me."
Karu places a hand over his chest, repairing most of the wounds delivered by the man in an instant.
"See all better!" he reassures the Osiriani.
Seeing Atum nearly cutting down the man, Karu moves to detain the man with the red streak, pulling him roughly from the guillotine so that there may be no mishaps.
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The overly strict elf glances at the wannabe revolutionary. "I do not abide by the principles of your revolution. Order is what this world need, and we will see it restored here and now. I do not care for your squabbles with your feelings of injustice."
Extending his hand, a shower of golden particles rain down on the goody-two-shoes thugs.
Zandu retaliates, landing two out of the three of his attacks and dropping the guard!
Atum lands only a single attack against the judge, and the man manages to avoid a more serious strike!
Faldoc lands three arrows in the judge, but the man still stands!
Karu heals Atum, then moves up and grabs a hold of the man with the red paint smudge!
Kynrac fills the area with glitter, blinding the guard, but not the judge!
Adaxis transform back into a dwarf, as Mousebane pecks the judge. The judge still stands!
The two guards try attacking Atum and Mousebane!
The judge steps north, casts another spell, and calls donw a pillar of flame on Zandu!
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Feeling the ground under him start to heat up Zandu performs a forward roll mere moments before a pillar of fiery death erupts from the ground that he was occupying. Striking a dramatic pose as he springs up Zandu wags his finger at the judge. "Tsk Tsk minus points for not making a witty remark. I mean your a judge you could at least say... I judge you crispy or something"
"then again I've heard creativity kills in these parts he says as he tries to perform a public execution of his own.
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Karu sighs as the judge seems to have forgotten about him. "Oh well, that would have been too easy."
Karu tries to pin the man that was about to be executed, knowing of his disappearing trick earlier.
Karu wrestles him, but has time to look up to Atum in the process. "We need to find stronger opponents! I have hardly had to exert myself!" he says with a wink.
Zandu dodges the pillar of flame, then hops forward and cuts down the judge!
The party easily deals with the two remaining Gray Gardeners.
The mob of people have fled the courtyard leaving it empty. The man tied up at the guillotine peers up at you. "It seems I may have misjudged your character." He says.
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Karu lifts the man by his collar as he stares him in the face. "Explain yourself before I challenge you to a duel to the death." states Karu. He cracks his other hand's knuckles with the single hand as the other holds him aloft.
"Atum, you understand. He has slain our Venture Captain. Nice words is not appropriate. You have twenty seconds before I set you down and that will be the worst outcome."
The Red Raven sighs, and begins speaking. "Tell you everything? I suppose I owe you that much. My name is Aric of Halvon, though I beg you to keep that to yourselves. I was tasked with becoming the Red Raven and finding the murderer of Montrose Teppin. I was given this manse, Teppin's manse for my service in the Revolution, but had to expend all my resources in finding the killer. After much investigation, I undeniable proof the Adril Hestram killed Teppin! I then took it upon myself to avenge Teppin's murder, by killing his murderer."
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The lorekeeper sighs. "Since when does killing one's murderer stand for justice? If you want to be a true hero of the people, you have to see past that. Discredit a man, turn his life upside down, but killing will serve no purpose. Anyway, as Zandu states, you'll come with us. We're not about to keep the violence spiralling by killing you. However, you are still accountable for your crimes."
The Red Raven nods as if expecting the suggestion. "I would suggest and ask that you go into my estate and retrieving what evidence I have accumulated about Hestram. It is in the throne room. You must use the passphrase 'Sweet Geppa' to enter."
Aric nods and leads the way into the mansion, and into the throne room. On a small table he motions to a stack of papers and a map. Examining the articles, you find Aric's entire case against Adril as well as two intercepted letters between Eliza and Osprey. The two intercepted letters indicate that both had suspicions during the Talespinning Ceremony. The is also a mention of a subset of Pathfinder agents calling themselves the Shadow Lodge.
Looking at the map, you see that it shows the Maze of the Open Road and details locations of specific portals. You also find a writ from the Revolutionary Council granting Aric legal possession of Montrose Keep.
After retrieving the papers, the party returns to Woodsedge Lodge via the Maze.
When you enter, Eliza and Osprey leap to their feet as you step into the Great Hall, where the Red Raven killed Adril.
"Your back!", exclaims Eliza, her face lighting up with a bright smile. "I trust you tracked down the murderers to their lair?" She asks, glancing at Aric.
Osprey steps forward. "Well", he says expectantly, "What have you learned?"
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Atum is blunt and to the point. "What is the Shadow Lodge?" he asks Osprey and Eliza. "You seemed concerned about it in your correspondences and you seemed to have premonitions that something would go wrong at the Talespinning Ceremony, including some suspicions that Adril was up to something behind the Decemvirate's back. Tell us now, we deserve to know the truth after what we have been through." Atum punctuates his seriousness by slamming the butt of his polearm on the ground hard enough to crack the tile at his feet.
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"whoa whoa whoa Atum. I am sure their are more worthy foes to vent your anger on rather than this unfortunate woman's floor." he says as he approaches Eliza and presents a flaming bouquet of phoenix feathers "by the way my fair lady when we were pursuing this vicious villain we came across the most graceful and gorgeous of creatures and I couldn't help but think of you" he says as he hands off the feathers to the woman " and the best part was they were acquired mostly cruelty free"
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Karu lets the Red Raven down as the group confirms his story. "Do not make yourself hard for us to find should we require your presence once more. I would hate to have to hunt you down." Karu says with a smile, indicating that his likely preference is quite opposite of the statement.
He is surprised when the Red Raven offers to follow them back to the murder scene. "A man of some honor, it seems..." he remarks, pleasantly surprised.
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As the Pathfinders enter and Atum states his case bluntly, Karu joins in.
"I do not abide by all of this trickery and deceit. We Pathfinders should be above such subterfuge, but it seems that the lot of you are mired in it." Karu states boldly.
"As Atum has said, tell us the truth now, Miss Petulengro, or we shall be forced to take this issue up the chain of command." he says dutifully without threat.
Eliza holds her hands in a placating gesture to Atum. "Sir, first, let me say, everything to this point has been merely suspicion. Suspicions about a splinter group within the Society calling themselves the Shadow Lodge, suspicions of Adril, and....suspicions of you and your connection to Hestram. We dare not act on mere suspicion, so we waited and watched."
Osprey stands and begins pacing the floor, taking over the conversation. "As Eliza said, it was merely suspicion, so we invited Adril and you here so that we could watch you more closely. Had we known Adril was going to be murdered, well....we might have chosen a different tack. But, that is already done." Glancing at Eliza, he says. "I think we have seen enough to release from suspicion, but what...what can you tell us about what you have learned? Why was Adril killed?"
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Kynrac quickly recaps the Red Raven's story, before leaving an opportunity for that individual to justify his actions.
"A most terrible story. Aric of Halvon here, also known as the Red Raven, claims he has undeniable proof that Adril Hestram killed Teppin Montrose, and chose to act upon that belief. We have yet to see that evidence."
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Adaxis affectionately scratches Mousebane's head while feeding him plump raisins.
Just cuz yew don't like dare ideas, don't give ya a right da murder. Red Ravens be better to learn from Eagle Knights. Dey kill fer justice, defending territory or protectin' youngins from chains. We got dem scrolls wit names and maps. What else do we gotta do wit ol' Red? Dis poltical talk makes me beak hurt.
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Shaking his head and furrowing his eyebrows at the mention of Eagle Knights.
" Well lets start off with the facts. In Adril's room we found two items of creatures we fought in the maze, maybe a coincidence maybe not. We also found a map containing locations and what we can now confirm are initials of people." He says unfurling the map and pointing to the initials TM.
while in the open road we found a note
"this note contained several names matching the initials found on the map. Also I would like to point out that Teppin's name was crossed out. As we learned from our dear friend here that a man of similar name is also dead..... supposedly by Adril" he says crouching to the Red Raven and tapping his face with the notes " I would be willing to say that these are not yours but possibly Adril's or that of his accomplice(s)
"in the Roost we found a map, which once again bear the names of the initialed people but this time with their locations and if our spelunking has proven anything the mythical passage may lead to their locations."
He strikes a dynamic pose as if mimicking a statue of a famous philosopher as he delivers his ideal making it sound as if he is on the cusp of some great epiphany. "so if we truly seek the full story we should investigate another location and see if we can possibly fill out the missing pages in this story and maybe find out more about these names"
as he finishes his words he shrugs and says "oh and Adril probably did play a hand in murdering the Teppin guy" he says almost like an afterthought.
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"I agree. We can't base any conclusion based on the current information, and we have to investigate these four other names, going into the maze once again and looking for the connection between these individuals." concludes Kynrac.
"... Unless you have some insight about these names or what they could represents, Venture-Captains?" he asks, raising an eyebrow quizzically as he studies Osprey's reaction.
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"Hah! Eagle Knights... bunch of sissies. Couldn't fight properly or be respectable if it was drilled into 'em for a year at my training grounds." remarks Karu in response to Adaxis. "Give me the Monoliths any day." he says, clapping Atum on the shoulder.
"Aye, the next name is Kyalla and her location is the Mwangi Expanse, according to Adril's writings. We have a map of the Maze and can find the Mwangi through there." Karu reasons, his headband helping his faculties quite a bit.
"Do we have your permission to investigate the next name on the list?" he asks of Eliza and Osprey.
Eliza listens to everyone's assertions, nodding gravely to Osprey. Finally she says. "If you will give me and Osprey but a moment to confer, we will then decide which is the best way to move forward."
As you discuss evidence and details with Eliza and Osprey, you are able to piece together somethings, gainng a clearer picture.
- Adril Hestram is a traitor to the Pathfinder Society and is associated with the Shadow Lodge (which the you now know is real).
- Adril and his agents murdered Teppin Montrose and have targeted four more venture-captains (presumably members of the Decemvirate themselves) for execution.
- The Shadow Lodge knows the location of the Decemvirate members it plans to kill.
- The Red Raven has a map to Maze of the Open Road portals leading to these locations.
Eliza and Osprey suggest going up the Adril's room to inspect the body for more clues, but when she unlocks the door and you enter the room, Adril's body has disappeared! Eliza turns to Osprey, confusion on her face. "How did this happen?! No one has entered this room!"
It appears this mystery contiues to grow......
After taking some time to rest and equip yourselves, the party returns to the Woodsedge Lodge, ready to continue the investigation.
Eliza Petulengro welcomes you to Woodsedge Lodge’s meeting room, still undergoing repairs after the Red Raven’s assault. She motions for you to have a seat. The red-haired woman mutters an arcane incantation under her breath and gestures deliberately at the doors and windows, then sighs heavily, nods to herself, and looks up at you.
“As you know, the very fabric of the Pathfinder Society is under attack. Though your efforts were instrumental in protecting this lodge and a member of the Decemvirate, our task is far from done. You are already intimately involved in this affair, so it falls to you to see it through. Secrecy is of the upmost importance in this regard, so rather than involve more people in this embarrassing debacle, we trust you to take care of everything. These are among the most momentous events in our organization’s long history, and our very survival depends on your success."
Eliza sighs deeply and looks t each of you.“What I ask of you now is even more dangerous than your previous involvement, but I trust that you will not let the Society down. I need you to return to the Maze of the Open Road and discover what you can about Adril’s use of the portals within to further his devious plans. Find Condria, the Maze’s medusa guardian, and gather from her any information you can on Hestram’s recent comings and goings in the Maze. While we have a general idea of who his targets are, we don’t yet know how or when he plans to assassinate them."
Pausing to let her words sink in, she continues. “Should you discover any hints as to the identity or location of his next target, do not delay in travelling there and ensuring his or her safety. May the gods be with you; if they don’t favor your efforts, the Pathfinder Society is doomed.”
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at the revelation of Adril's disappearance Zandu mumbles to the party " 5 gold on that he's now some super zombie anyone want to take me up on the bet"
Zandu presses his fingers together nervously at the mention of the medusa "now Condria the medusa guardian didn't happen to be in a garden of statues" he says as continues to describe the creature they fought in the maze earlier
"because if that matches her description she may be how would I put this... well past her expiration date he says as he starts walking out the door to avoid the possible chewing out.
Osprey and Eliza exchange glances. "Well, you just have to make do." Eliza says.
Osprey nods. "Well then, ready to be off?"
Once everyone is ready, you have little trouble traversing the Maze of the Open Road; the high hedge’s twists and turns are familiar to you after your previous foray into its passages.
As you approach the center of the Maze, you hear a sibilant voice echo through the area. "Back again, Pathfindersssss?" As you round a corner, you find the medusa, (your sure the same one you killed previously) standing in the center of the path!
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Kynrac nods inr ecognition of the medusa, though it may also be that he seeks to avert his eyes from direct contact.
"Greetings, Honored Condria. We come in peace, and wish to rely on your wisdom and countless eyes, for we seek information about the comings and goings of Adril Hestram. His movements have most certainly not eluded your vigilance, noble medusa, even though for all its girth the man could prove discreet."
The medusa bows her head in Atum's direction. "It wasn’t the first time I’ve met my demise in this blasted Maze. But like every other time, I reappeared here in full health shortly thereafter. I am bound, body and soul, to this place, to guard it until the powerful druidic magic binding me is broken, or some unknown conditions are met.”
Chondria lets out the smallest of sighs, as if glad you chose to talk rather than fight, as she responds to Kynrac. "That bear of a man isn’t easily forgotten. He’s been quite active in the Mazesince you and I last met. In each case, when I confronted him, it always ended badly for me. In fact, I can’t recall more agonizing deaths than those he granted me in all my centuries in the Maze. While he travels often through the Absalom, Galt, and Mwangi Expanse gates, his most recent movements centered around the Chelish portal, taking place under the cover of night.”