The imp then turns invisible and you sense it may have moved...
Herman grabs the box, but suddenly feels a sting as the imp reappears, now directly next to Herman and also attempting to grab the box.
Herman also feels a powerful tingling both painful and numbing spreading from the wound.
"MINE!" it says in a hissing shout, but you are able to grab it and run, moving through the doors and closing them behind you.
Boomkin steps past the corner and stabs the imp with the silver dagger, causing it to hiss in pain and annoyance.
Amaruu strides around the bed and gives the imp a blow as powerful as before.
Storn clambers across the bed for the sheer joy of it, but misses the imp.
Xeno steps forward and stabs the creature with her rapier, but it doesn't seem to notice.
Tromos misses with his strongest blow, for while the creature is still prone and more vulnerable, Tromos had to strike awkwardly at the creature around the corner.
"Please stop, have mercy! I surrender!" the creature cries out as it turns invisible again before your feet.
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After getting stung, but evacuating, Herman still feels quite queasy from the poison. He has a hard time, still with the numb feeling in his extremities.
However, while behind the door, he asks the lady if the box he carries is indeed the trinket the group needs to recover. Either way, he removes his wand of CLW and gives himself a little pick-me-up.
"Ah yes, that is the trinket. Be careful with it on your way home, and I wouldn't go opening it if I were you." Zarta says to Herman with a wink.
The imp's disembodied voice hisses, "The chest contains a dark leather bag and a silver hook, and the hook can be used to draw imps straight from Hell. I am trying destroy it, to protect others of my kind."
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Tromos cocks his head.
"A display of altruism," he notes dryly, "a rare quality among devils. Much less common than, perhaps, deceit."
He steps out of the room after Herman. The aasimar gives a nod to the paracountess, and a quick glance to the dented chest in the halfling's hands.
If Valsin had expected her to mislead us, he would have been more specific in his instructions, he reasons, suppressing his own curiosity.
"Sparing the creature's life some would call gratuitous mercy. We have the relic, let us return it to the vaults, and visit the--and conclude our errands."
"Oh, just leave it be," Zarta answers, rather subdued, as if disappointed that the fun is over so soon. "You've got what you came for," she says - perhaps even more disappointedly? - "and I am more that capable of disciplining it myself."
At various point while traveling to your next destination, the estate of Dremdhet Salhar in the wealthy Petal District of Absalom, Amaruu, Boomkin, Herman, and Storn have that strange feeling they are being watched, but are unable to pinpoint who it could be or where it was coming from.
You make your way to the rich estate of Grand Council member Dremdhet Salhar, and are greeted by a guard who is expecting you as you reach the tall, wrought-iron gate. Once inside, a servant tells you that Salhar is not present, called away on important Council business, but his most trusted advisor is available to negotiate any business you may require. The servant explains this while leading you down well-decorated hallways, past expansive rooms.
After a few minutes, the group arrives at a simple study near the end of a long hallway. Inside a tan-skinned old man sits behind a desk flipping through pages in a large tome. Scraps of paper jut from the book marking over two dozen different places. As the group approaches the open door, the wise sage silently gestures you into the study with one thin hand, while closing the tome with the other after finishing what he was reading. Once you are all inside the study, he addresses your group.
“Good day to you, Pathfinders. I am Amenopheus, the Sapphire Sage, advisor to Master Salhar. I understand you were sent here to discuss archaeological permissions. Knowing this was coming, I spoke with Master Salhar at length on the subject and have this to say.
“Since Osirion was reopened to exploration a decade ago, adventurers, historians, and treasure-seekers flock to my country by the hundreds, perhaps thousands. While most families with ancestral burial vaults maintain guards and keep their sites out of the hands of casual thieves, not all families have the wealth or power to restrict everyone, and as we all know, not every defense is perfectly secure. Unscrupulous tomb robbers and maligned merchant organizations cause Osirion to bleed relics into the Inner Sea—something the descendents of Ancient Osirion cannot afford. We Osiriani have thousands of years of rich history coursing through our veins, and while that power has been out of focus in recent years, we are content to wait, knowing our enemies will wear themselves down. As they fall into arrogance, folly, or greed, we wait for our return to power, knowing we bear the riches of our ancestors at our feet.
“Master Salhar remains impressed by the Pathfinder Society, orating in their favor a handful of times in front of Absalom’s Grand Council, in fact. Due to previous relationships between him and the Society, Master Salhar has agreed to grant permission to the Pathfinder Society to explore his family’s vaults below Sothis. The only thing he requires is that you retrieve the map of the vaults from his own vault here. The servant will lead you to the basement and show you the room.”
The Sapphire Sage’s eyes twinkle as he smirks knowingly, then he turns back to reading his book as though he had never been disturbed.
(You have the distinct sense that questions and comments are inappropriate at this time...)
After leaving Amenopheus’ study, the servant brings you back through the spacious estate, leading them down sturdy stone steps into the cool basement. Down a hallway, after a couple turns, the party ends up at a plain wooden door. The servant opens the door, gesturing to the room with a bow, and waits silently for you to enter.
The plain stone room contains three chests: a copper-banded chest of smooth, dark wood; a red lacquered chest; and what looks to be a cube of solid steel. Behind the chests sits a low table holding a clear glass jar half full of liquid and a covered wicker basket.
After entering the room, the door is closed and locked behind you! Turning around, you see written on the back of the door is the message: “Within these cases lies your quest and your way out.”
You see a wicker basket, a glass jar, and three chests: one copper-bound, one red lacquered, and one steel cube.
The 2-foot-round wicker basket has its lid resting gently atop its wide rim.
The gallon-sized clear glass jar is about half full with clear liquid. At the bottom of the vessel sits a jeweled brass key.
There is a rather plain copper-bound chest with a keyhole.
There is a smooth, red lacquered chest that looks devious: the solid metal plate surrounding the gaping keyhole pulses with glowing amber runes.
The steel cube has only the faintest crack where its lid meets the base, and would be completely featureless save for its narrow keyhole.
The chests all appear magical. The basket and jar (and the key within the jar) do not appear magical. Nothing else in the room is magical except the lock on the door leading out.
It is faintly of the evocation school.
It is faintly of the illusion school.
It is faintly of the universal school.
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Herman will start humming and singing an old Chelish song about the sea chests and the treasures. This action begins his Careful Teamwork Bardic Performance which adds +1 to all Perception, Disable Device, and Initiative rolls during the performance.
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Storn waves a hand, muttering some words before he sits down.
"Gorum, show me the magic."
His eyes briefly glow blue as he picks at his beard.
"Chests are magic, not the other stuff. Maybe traps. The red one has a uh... I forget what its called. The one where they make energy. I'm sure you smart people can figure the rest out. I'm good at asking questions, not so much for answering." He grumbles.
"Okay. Three chests and I bet three keys. Basket, cube, and the jar. Let's look at that basket first. If this is some sort of puzzle, then why shouldn't we just open the basket? Anyone with good eyes or - heh - good reflexes want to find out?"
Herman delicately knocks the lid on the basket, apparently without much disturbance to that within.
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"Probably evocation but there are a number types of energy you could make that would fall into other schools. Sounds logical, although given the lack in logic so far shown that might make it less likely. As long as the walls don't start crashing togething and boulder crushes us I'll be happy."
Xeno leans over to look in the basket while avoiding getting too close.
Xeno does a graceful backflip over the basket, looking down in and seeing a blue stone key resting on top of a wadded pile of cloth - although it is hard to see what might be among or under the folds.
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The Sapphire Sage...
Since reading of their assingment at the Salhar estate, Tromos had been anticipating to the opportunity to meet Osirion's voice on the Grand Council. He had not prepared himself, however, for an introduction to Amenopheus himself. Among the manifestations of an aasimar's angelic ancestry is the gift--as most would call it--of long life.
Slow aging, more like. Despite his 70-odd years, the alchemist had the distinct sense that their host was, in every meaningful sense, many times his elder.
Shaking off the introspection, he turns his attention to the puzzle before the group.
Peering into the liquid in the jar, it looks like water but is actually a concentrated caustic cleaning solution. It would cause 'acid' damage if reached into or poured without care. (Well, probably 'base' damage, since it isn't dissolving the jeweled brass key in it.)
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The alchemist examines the jar of caustic liquid. Many times while learning his craft, he had spilled this reagent or that catalyst with a careless movement. Even when a mishandled ingredient sizzled through his gloves or sleeves, however, he found that substances could be slicked from his bare flesh with only mild tingling and irritation.
Trusting that the Sapphire Sage would not pose to the Pathfinders an exceptional risk of bodily harm, Tromos rolls up his sleeve and dips his hand into the jar.
Tromos rolls up his sleeve, reaches in, and quickly withdraws the jeweled brass key. Little drops of solution come off his hand and drop to the table, sizzling and burning small holes.
There are only runes around the red lacquered chest's keyhole, but there is nothing else on the jeweled brass key or the chests. There appear to be inscriptions (or carvings of some kind) on the key in the wicker basket, but no one has gotten too close.