"Go away! I am protecting these treasures, probably from the likes of you!"
Garn is not sure, but he does get a sense that the man is truly guarding these items. For what reason, you cannot be sure.
Jayori is able to get the man's attention.
The balls of lightning appear to be elementals. They do not immediately attack.
With that, the man's green aura dissipates. It seems that he believed himself to be somewhat dragonish, hoarding items as a dragon would do.
Shaine congratulates you on a job well done. "Perhaps we should try to help the others now with this vault?"
You find the entrance and head down. The first room you come across is huge.
Veins of strange metal line the walls of this massive chamber. Enormous bronze devices connected to the walls by massive cables spark and spew steam, almost obscuring the large vault door at the far end of the room. The door is labeled with a single word in a plethora of languages: danger. Stagnant water collects at the bottom of a ten-foot wide pool in the middle of the room. A gasping, bleeding elf who looks like an aged version of Kreighton Shane lies across the room.
Several of the Harbingers of Fate and a few fellow Pathfinders litter the floor, as many battles appear to have taken place here. Luckily for you, the way seems clear.
“Good show, Pathfinders,” the injured form of Kreighton Shaine manages between blood-soaked coughs. “But Lady Arodeth is a true savant and driven to fanatical extremes. The same energies that infected her casters above have also seized her soul, and I fear she has already killed several of your fellow chroniclers. Or will have killed them. Blast, but this is confusing.” Shaine props himself up to continue speaking. “However noble her goals may have been, if Lady Arodeth forces us to remain in this time, we will all die. If the Sky Key is still functional, you must reactivate it before the Starstone arrives.” The machines in this chamber begin to spark and smoke, and female bodies take shape from the green miasma. Shaine continues, “She has learned to create temporal copies of, as I have. She can produce an army, left unchecked. Some teams will need to hold the line here, in this chamber, so that anyone confronting the true Lady Arodeth in the room beyond isn’t overwhelmed by these simulacra. You know your team’s capabilities better than I, but I promise you Lady Arodeth will be not yield easily.” With that, the chorus of murky green figures announce, “I would have brought destiny back to this world.”
Green temporal energy simulacra of Lady Arodeth stream into the room, as fellow Pathfinders stream in behind you to battle them.
Your copy of Shaine simply says, "The choice is yours, but I stand ready to support you either way."
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Jayori strides forward with a serious look on his face.
"My Lady Arodeth, it is important that you listen and observe what your labors have wrought here."
"Your followers die all around you, and your foolish endeavors are on the verge of dooming us all."
He eyes the nearest variation of the woman with a grave frown. "Though you are only a copy of the woman responsible for this, I can only hope that parts of you that are her, are not without reason."
"This must stop. Now."
He then speaks louder, trying to get the attention of any other copies nearby, as he recites more Vudrani parables hinting at the folly of their current efforts and need to cooperate with the Pathfinders to save everyone.
Heavy walls and strange panels in this room all focus on the strange orrery in its center. Raised on a small dais, and separated from the rest of the room by a wide trench, the device oozes a thick, emerald light. The air smells of ozone, like standing amid a roaring thunderstorm.
Lady Arodeth remains alone in this chamber, except for a handful of conjured servants.
Lady Arodeth observes your entrance, and is clearly struggling with some sort of decision. "I assure you, I am real. All I wanted was a world that made sense. I was sure you would fight me every step, but I see you have taken a less violent approach... and it intrigues me. Say your piece, I'll still probably kill you anyway."
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Encouraged by her willingness to at least entertain a conversation, Jayori will continue, trying to draw on some of her apparent noble nature to see the error of her actions.
"I have been told that you are Lady, in title as well as nature. It is the duty of all nobility to watch over those over whom they are responsible." He says. "All of those who have followed you here ... so many have died, and so many others are lost to the Sky Key's magic that your efforts have warped. You have lost sight of those who looked to you to keep them safe. For what?"
"You claim to be a devotee of Aroden." He continues, trying to talk religion with her. "Aroden, the god of humanity, and culture, and history. Look around you, at what you have accomplished here this day. You kill your fellow man and interrupt history itself. Again, all for what?"
"Aroden is gone. Where? You do not know, nor do the gods themselves. Perhaps that was his destiny. To seek to avoid it, or circumvent it, as you did here today, that flies in the face of Aroden's very existence. His was about fulfilling one's destiny, not avoiding it. Nor was he about foresight into to what that destiny is... and it is only that later that we have lost in his absence."
"Just because he is no longer part our lives, does not mean destiny no longer is. It merely means we must have more faith. The faith of man, as well as the works, are his parting gift to us, and our way of honoring him. You need to step up and display both here today. As do we all."
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Garn, out of his usual character, speak up. "Milady, I am a man of few words. I know little of magic, and even less of time travel. I know traps, though. I was a master trapper back with my tribe up in the northern winter lands. There's this trap I use often - the snare trap. A very simple trap, but effective, as it uses the animal against itself when they walk right in. The wise ones, the intelligent ones, that recognise it early enough to gently back out, come out unscathed. Most of them, though, keep pushing through, making the snare tighter and tighter until it is too late." He pauses here and looks up the large green dome, and more pointedly at the giant rock hurtling down. "I think we are trapped now, aren't we? Are we wise enough to back out now? Before it's too late?"
“I have learned something of these controls, and I fear the damage my Heralds and I have inflicted in our zealotry has damaged your Sky Key. It now acts less as a projector and instead like a bridge… And a bridge must be anchored at both ends. For any of you to return now, something—someone—must remain behind or else the path home will collapse. “I have earned this fate. As I said before, I can think of no finer way to die than in the fiery cataclysm that spurs on Lord Aroden’s journey to divinity. It will never be enough to make up for the blood we have shed here, Pathfinders, but know that I truly regret what I have done here today.”
She begins manipulating the Sky Key to dismantle the temporal energies and send you home. Something is wrong, though. Worried, Lady Arodeth turns to you and says "Too many Harbingers are still anchoring the Sky Key in this era, and the PCs must convince them to relinquish that power!"
Two green glowing copies of Arodeth come charging in the room at that moment. They see you and move to attack.
Each copy of Lady Arodeth looks remarkably like her, but yet somewhat diffferent.
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Jayori sighs. "How do we know we were even talking to the right one?" He says sadly.
"Can you not talk them down?" He calls back to the one they hope was the original Lady Arodeth.
He moves around the far side, so his companions can help in defeating these copies, waiting for a distraction before doing so.
, for damage.
The real (not glowing green) Lady Arodeth shouts back to Jayori, "Sorry, these are automatons - they are not real people, so while I appreciate your sentiment, I have also lost control... I am a little busy right now!"
Snowball leaps at the first one, pulling her down while biting her leg. Taking advantage of a foe that is prone, almost all of the other attacks are successful and the simulcrum blinks and then winks out of existence.
The next one imbues her staff will some magic while casting a spell defensively.
There are now 6 of the orange Arodeth. (Mirror image)
Fluffy hits once, and removes two of the images.
Lantorth steps in to fire an arrow, destroying another mirror image.
Snowball runs through the crowd to take a position around the corner. The cat's paws manages to get rid of the last of the images, leaving just the target, which it bites and pulls to the ground.
Based on the order of initiative, this prevents Jayori's attach (which would have missed anyway). The simulacrum does radiate an aura of evil.
The glowing lady casts a spell defensively and swings at Fluffy with her quarterstaff, wielded in one hand.
She then crawls back 5'.
Lantorth smacks the enemy with a force missile, but it does little damage.
Fluffy does a lot of damage, connecting with both the AoO and his 5' step forward and full attack. This blocks Radagast's ability to attack, and no one else can get in the hall either. But it doesn't matter, because Fluffy ripped and tore the pseudo-life of the creature, ending the combat.
You have 2 rounds before the next ones attack.