"Is that what those were? I guess I've gotten used to just seeing so much gold around here, it didn't seem that out of place...
She shakes her head.
"Maybe the heat is just getting to me. Regardless, at least we are gaining on those terrible people."
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.
After Calden calls for a halt, Merephel looks around
"Do you think that we could get the drop on it? I hate the idea of leaving an enemy at our flank, even if it isn't intelligent..."
Shirzon's heart beats fast at the sight of the huge pile of gold. She takes in a big breath through her nostrils, then releases it with a pining sigh. "There's no way a pile of treasure that big isn't rigged with some kind of trap. It just doesn't happen," she laments. "Besides, I learned my lesson back in the temple, with that mask..."
Shirzon carefully observes the skeleton that Calden points out, watching it for any movement. "Hey Korech. D'you wanna try shooting it? It might be a trick."
Korech stares in open awe at the gigantic pile of treasure. The golden, ruined city was too bizarre, too completely out of his frame of reference to really process. The fact this much money was before him completely overwhelms everything for a moment, until he hears Shirzon talking.
"Huh? What? Oh yeah."
Korech raises his bow, and fires an arrow, standing back around twenty feet.
Calden watches Korech shoot the skeleton, ready for whatever may happen with his quarterstaff in hand. Could there be more? I saw only the one, but who knows what may be hiding in that pile. "You're right, Shirzon. There has to be more to it than this."
Korech’s arrow hits the skeleton without causing any reaction in the remains of the masked dead.
You decide not to touch the molten pile of treasure, and you keep pushing forward, entering the Second Ring and starting to explore it. The Second Ring of Xin-Grafar is largely intact, except for two walled keeps in the southeastern part of the ring that appear to have been smashed open and shaken off their very foundations. These two citadels were long ago the home of the armies that defended the city but were defeated by Tar-Baphon’s army, as Calden is able to tell you thanks to his readings about Xin-Grafar’s history in the Pathfinder Chronicles. Tar-Baphon reduced their tall spires to rubble, brought down the walls, set fire to the buildings, and nailed the corpses of his defeated foes to the ruins. Those unfortunate soldiers remain there today, hundreds of skeletons nailed high atop the walls of the ruined keeps, ever a reminder of the violence once perpetrated on the original denizens of the city.
Most of the buildings in the Second Ring are constructed of stone. As it seems, the molten-gold floods long ago burned away their wooden roofs. The gold flood line in the Second Ring is a meager 20 feet high, meaning that most of the upper floors of this ring’s buildings, particularly those closer to the center of the ring, are free of gold plating. The foundation of the Second Ring sits about 20 feet higher than the First Ring, and its floor slopes gradually up another 40 feet until it reaches the bottom of the Third Ring.
The floor-to-ceiling bedrock walls surrounding this section make the Second Ring appear as though it were a separate cavern from the First and Third rings. As in the First Ring, three canals of molten gold split the Second Ring, all of which flow outward from the Third Ring in the center of the cavern. Only three of the original bridges are still intact; they function just like the bridges in the First Ring. On the southern face of the central wall stands the gate that leads to the heart of Xin-Grafar—the Third Ring and the Tabernacle of the Jewel of Everlasting Gold.
The Second Ring is the repository of Tar-Baphon’s wealth. The upper floors of nearly every building in the ring are overflowing with piles of coins, gems, art objects, and so on. There’s a seemingly limitless amount of wealth here.
As you approach the ruined fort leading to the gate to the Third Ring, you hear a voice calling out from somewhere nearby. “Lay down your arms, heretics and traitors, and we shall spare you! You are surrounded! Hundreds of Razmir’s faithful beg me to kill you—but I will spare your lives if you surrender to the Living God. Make your decision!”
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Calden feels a lot easier once they reach the Second Ring and reach a point where the gold on the walls only reach 20 foot up. It's only now that he realized how oppressive the earlier feeling was. "Can you imagine it, the level of that liquid gold rising and engulfing the entire city?" He shivers. "I'm glad we're higher up now."
Alarmed at the message of the unseen voice, Calden takes a quick look about him, quarterstaff raised defensively in front of him. He keeps one and free, to deal with any sudden ranged attack. "I can see six of them," he whispers. And we know there can't be hundreds. Ten or fifteen left, right? I say we call their bluff."
"I'm glad that we're just going through the ruins, and we don't have to deal with Tar-whatever if he could control rivers of molten gold." Shirzon replies as she eyes the piles of treasure in the second ring hungrily. Maybe we can come back for some of that if we have time. It can't all be a trap, right?
Shirzon is broken from her treasure-filled reverie by the demanding voice. Her lip curls into a sneer, fresh anger flaring up ay this reunion with the cultists. "I see the other six, too. There's no way they've got hundreds left." she hisses back to Calden. She takes a deep breath in preparation for a shout, and if none of her comrades stop her, she yells,
Korech, distracted by the wealth, doesn't see anything but does hear his companions talking. He does know that a hundred people tend to leave a bit of a trail though.
"Yeah! You go bend! I know tracks, you are a bad liar - most of your people die to lizard-folk."
He quietly grasps his symbol of Erastil.
"I can't see them. Point them out."
"I see them, hiding in the shadows, the dogs."
She glances around, trying to see if she can pinpoint any others.
"What is the plan here? We are on their territory, so maybe we just take down a few of them, then retreat? I can cast a few spells on us, then we pounce, maybe? I'll follow your lead here guys!"
As Shirzon yells her profanities, it's clear to Calden that the encounter will end in violence. Hopefully they're try to hold up their ruse, or maybe they're too shocked to Shirzon to attack immediately. At Merephel's question, Calden tries to reach into his backpack inconspicuously. Even if there's only six of that, that's still more than us. "I have an idea..."
In response to Shirzon, the eerie voice stays silent for a few instants, before breaking into an eerie laughter. “So you’re stupid just like she said. Get them guys!” Before anything else happens, the source of the voice becomes clear: a cultist wearing the black robes of a herald climbs down a column atop which she was perched. The Razmir’s faithful wears an ornate mask and exudes confidence. As soon as she reach the ground, she draws a wonderful rapier. Her other arm is occupied by a light steel shield.
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The six acolytes you’ve spot before are ready to jump on you, but thanks to their reflexes Shirzon and Merephel get to act before their enemies can even try to attack the party.
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Merephel
Korech
Korech
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Surrounded, Shirzon moves from the center and ducks behind a pillar. She calls out to the Herald: "Better stupid than dead! You still have time to give up, you know." Shirzon tightens her grip on her weapon, ready to swing at the next mask she sees.
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Calden nearly jumps as the herald jumps down from her high vantage point. A steady breath calms his nerves. "Right, we can still take them. We fought a herald in the temple as well." He turns away from the herald to blow on his horn, hoping that the fog will give them some cover from the Razmirans behind them.
Once that's done, we drops the horn and makes a beeline for the herald. When he reaches here, he has found that he has dropped his quarterstaff along with the horn, and he's now wielding the temple sword again. "Huh."
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"Hang on Shirzon! Just grant me a moment."
Merephel sees that the party is surrounded. She thinks quickly, and grabs at her holy symbol. Symbol in her left, she quickly taps her allies with her right, as she chants to Shelyn.
"Shelyn, grant us your Grace, and protect us against these evil heathens!"
Merephel finishes the spell, and a tendril of white light ghosts out from her, tracing the path her hand made, and envelops the party. the effect quickly dissipates as the magic settles. She has cast Communal Protection from Evil.
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Shirzon darts toward the cultists’ leader as Merephel casts a protective spell on herself and draws her mace.
---
The acolytes move closer, trying to surround you from all sides, but there’s a lot of distance between you and them. As a result, they’ve not reached you yet.
Right after, the herald pulls out a potion from underneath her clothes and drinks it, disappearing instantly.
Korech, in the meantime, fires two arrows at the approaching acolytes, but he’s still surprise by the sudden attack and both of his attacks miss, flying high above the cultists’ heads.
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Merephel
Korech
Calden
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Merephel runs to get out of the line of fire, hoping the fog covers her movement.
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After firing his arrows, Korech shouts out a prayer and the small plantlife poking through the ruins of the temple begins growing and twisting, reaching up to snare the legs of the approaching cultists. At the same time, he points at Aglanda, calling out a made-up prayer in orcish. Korech's focus, his intense hatred of the cultists and evil humans who would do harm spreads out to his companions.
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Calden finishes creating fog and drops the horn. He turns back and is about to sprint up to the herald, when he finds her disappearing from sight. "Watch out. She must have gone invisible!" Seeing how the Razmiran thugs haven't yet closed the distance, Calden takes a potion from his belt and pulls the stopper.
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After he downs the potion, Calden gains a peace of mind that he hadn't anticipated. He finds that he can survey the battlefield with a detached clarity. "Watch out for the herald, we have no idea what she's capable of. Chances are, she's not really a priest. And don't let them lure us apart. We have to stick together and support one another."
Following his own advice, Shirzon follows Shirzon to her position next to own of the columns.
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Still twitching for a fight, Shirzon clenches up, swinging her view from one cultist to another as they close in. She takes a focusing breath, though, and sticks by Calden. "Right. Stick together. Where'd that scoundrel of a herald go, I wonder..."
Confident in his abilities, but still not wanting to get hit, Shirzon carefully drops her cold iron mace, which clatters out a ringing song on the ground. She pops out a wand from her wrist sheath, and taps herself with it. A floating shield bursts from the tip, hovering protectively over the half-orc.
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As Shirzon uses her wand to cast a protective spell on herself and Merephel runs behind a pillar, the acolytes closes in on you. While almost all of them are not able to get in melee range yet, two of them do. One acolyte attacks Shirzon, but the magic shield protects the half-orc; in the meantime, another acolyte attacks Merephel, but the Kassenite girl easily parries the slashing strike of the acolyte’s short sword with her shield. There’s no sight of the herald yet.
After firing his arrows, Korech shouts out a prayer and the small plantlife poking through the ruins of the temple begins growing and twisting, reaching up to snare the legs of the approaching cultists. While one of them manages to avoid the growing plants, the other one is entangled as tall grass, weeds, and other plants wrap around him.
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Merephel
Korech
Calden
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Shirzon smirks at the acolyte, then dodges to the side, rolls on her shoulder to avoid their blade, then pops up behind them. In the mean time, she's dropped her wand and drawn a well made rapier that she found on a cultist in the swamp. "Calden!" She gives her friend a knowing nod and waits for him to step up so she can unleash a sudden vicious strike when the acolyte is distracted.
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Merephel smiles at the two cultists before her.
"Thought you'd come after the helpless priestess, eh? Let me tell you, you chose wrong."
She swings her mace at the cultist in front of her, trying to shatter his mask with her weapon. She's grinning, her eyes a little mad.
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Korech, flush the power he just exerted over the meagre plantlife in the temple, raises his bow and fires two arrows into the alcolyte who managed to avoid the worst of his spell.
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Calden finds that he only needs half a word from Shirzon. Ever since the entered the City, their fighting styles seemed to have meshes better and better. He steps up to her mark and takes a half-hearted poke at the acolyte. He then switches targets, however, aiming a kick at the other Razmiran before finishes off his series of attacks with a thrust of his quarterstaff.
He takes a quick look over his shoulder, and sees only part of the Shelynite. "Merephel, watch out. Don't get overwhelmed."
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Shirzon rolls on her shoulder and pops behind the one of the acolytes, preparing to strike. In the meantime, Merephel, unusually scary and resolute, swings her mace at the cultist in front of her, destroying his mask. Behind it, she can see the facial features of a young boy, not older than she is.
But the acolytes are ready to fight back now that they’re close enough to engage you in melee. The first one, who is going to be flanked by Calden, is clever enough to realize what’s going to happen next, and he steps backward in order to avoid being flanked. Then, waiting for his other companion to get into position, which he does quickly, the attacks with his short sword while flanking Shirzon, and his attack is quickly followed by that of his ally. Thanks to their tactical acumen, the acolyte manage to overcome Shirzon’s defenses, hitting the girl once each.
The acolyte in front of Korech, who’s been entangled by plants, somehow manages to break free from the entanglement and makes two steps to his right in order to exit the overgrown area Korech created with his spell. It seems like he has wasted all of his strength while trying to break free, however, and as soon as he moves he gets entangled again.
The other acolyte also in front of Korech, this one not entangled, tries to step forward in an attempt to get in melee range and attack the half-orc. This cultist seems to be pretty nimble and easily avoids being entangled as he moves closer to Korech and tries to pierce the half-orc flesh with his short sword. Surprised by the acolyte’s agility, Korech cannot avoid the lunge and the Razmiri’s short sword lodges right in his left leg.
The last two acolytes, those in front of Merephel, laugh eerily as the girl provokes them. One of them, the one with the broken mask, completely destroys the innocence of his young face by whispering something very grotesque. “We’re going to rape you when we’re done with you…We’ll see if you’ll keep laughing then!” Right after, he strikes together with his adjacent ally, but Merephel manages to hold her nerves and parries both the attacks.
---
Abruptly, something, or better someone, pops up behind Korech. It’s the herald. She suddenly appeared again, and she seemingly took advantage of the last seconds to sneak behind the half-orc and reach a flanking position. Then she attacks with both her rapier and her shield, trying to take advantage of Korech’s surprise by hitting some vital spots. Surprisingly, though, Korech manages to jump back right in time and avoids both the attacks in an amazing display of defensive reactivity.
---
Korech steps back and fires two arrows at the acolyte who hit him. The first arrow is enough to kill him instantly, while the second one is not accurate enough to hit the herald.
Calden steps forward, and although he’s too late to provide Shirzon with the flank she wants, he attacks one of the acolytes surrounding Shirzon and manages to knock him to the ground, unconscious and dying, with two fast, consecutive attacks. Shirzon reacts instantly and tries to pierce the heart of the acolyte in front of her. Her rapier hits the target, but she’s not able to aim for a vital spot and she only wounds the acolyte.
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Shirzon
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Merephel swings her mace again, trying to bring down the cultist with the mask she already struck. She swings hard, trying to crush his now-exposed face.
"I can handle myself, thank you Calden! These two are no trouble at all. Inexperienced, no formal training. Give me fifteen seconds, then I'll come bail you out, alright?"
She smirks, obviously enjoying herself, despite the danger they are all in.
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Korech winces as he is struck and almost yelps as Aglanda appears before him. However, he focuses on her, focuses on his hatred of her and the corruption she represents. He then steps back, firing an arrow right for her.
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Calden is shocked by the threat he hears coming from the acolyte around the corner. Luckily, Merephel doesn't seem phased by the obscenity. The next moment, he sees Aglanda appear from the corner of his eye. "Sorry Shirzon," he says, "you'll have to finish this one on your own."
He dashes off to the herald at full speed, launching into a flying kick when he's nearly upon her to knock the wind from her lungs.
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"Huh? Hey!" Shirzon scolds Calden as he dashes away toward the herald. She makes a slight, annoyed sound in her throat, but turns her attention back to the acolyte in front of her. "You lot aren't very bright, are you?" she asks playfully, before unleashing a series of attacks on her masked foe.
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Merephel attacks and hits again the acolyte in front of her with her mace, but he stands on his feet, ready to retaliate even though he’s deeply wounded.
On the other side of the battlefield, Shirzon an acolyte thrusts forward with his short sword, which lodges in Shirzon’s shoulder.
The entangled acolyte tries to break free from the plants holding him and somehow he succeeds. He then rushes to Korech, getting right behind the half-orc.
The last two acolytes, those engaged in a fight with Merephel, try their best to hit their opponent, but Merephel’s defense is perfect and she parries both the attacks.
---
The herald moves toward Korech and, taking advantage of the flank provided by her acolyte, she tries to pierce the half-orc’s heart with her rapier. Korech, however, is now wary and avoid the lunge with ease.
---
Korech fires another arrow at the herald, but in doing so he lets down his defenses, allowing both the herald and her acolyte to try and hit him again. But it seems like Erastil has other plans for his servant, since Korech nimbly avoid both the attacks before shooting his bow: his arrow lodges right in the herald’s belly, coating her black robes with blood.
Right after, Calden wades into the fray charging the herald. His flying kick hits the black-robed Razmiri right behind her neck.
Calden steps forward, and although he’s too late to provide Shirzon with the flank she wants, he attacks one of the acolytes surrounding Shirzon and manages to knock him to the ground, unconscious and dying, with two fast, consecutive attacks. Shirzon reacts instantly and tries to pierce the heart of the acolyte in front of her. Her rapier hits the target, but she’s not able to aim for a vital spot and she only wounds the acolyte.
Not so far from here, Shirzon quickly dispatches the last acolyte in front of her, putting him down with two quick and powerful attacks.
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Korech
Calden
Shirzon
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Calden spares a smile for Shirzon, even as he's shuffling to keep close to the herald. "I knew you could handle that one on your own," he calls to Shirzon. "Now let's deal with this one, Korech." After his flying kick at the herald's neck, Calden keeps up the offensive. He swings his quarterstaff for a hard blow at her legs, then follows up with a chop of his hand to the jaw, hopefully knocking her silly for a moment.
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Merephel swings her mace again trying for a finishing blow. But rather than go for a third swing at his face, she reverses her grip, and tries to swing it up and low at his gut.
"You just take care of those. I'll be over to help in a moment!"
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Feeling a bit tender from the acolytes' attacks, Shirzon leaves the herald to Korech and Calden, and decides to even out the odds with Merephel. She rushes to the skirmish between the columns, and swings out her mace with a sideways blow as soon as she sees a robed cultist fully in view. Her swing feels a bit off, but she still smirks at the now mask-less acoylte. "Are you sure you need to wear a mask? That face of yours is plenty nasty as it is."
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Ignoring the various insults and threats thrown around, Korech instead focuses on the fact that he's very quickly been surrounded. Realizing that this is no longer a great time to fire his bow, he reluctantly tosses it to the side, instead yanking his greataxe from his back before chopping down at Aglanda.
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Merephel strikes the acolyte in his gut and the guy collapses to the floor, wounded and unconscious.
There are only two acolytes remaining now, along with the herald leading them. One of the acolytes tries to pierce Merephel’s shoulder from behind, but the girl easily parries his attack just like before. The other acolyte tries to stab Korech from behind as he’s busy fighting the herald, but Korech’s lightning reflexes allow the half-orc to dodge the attack just in time without losing his balance. It’s precisely in that moment that the herald tries to deliver two deadly blows to Korech, taking advantage of the situation. Using her rapier and shield at the same time, the black-robes priestess aims for Korech’s vital spots and she hits them. Korech takes two deep set of wound, and the rapier pierces his heart as the shield almost shatters his teeth.
Bleeding and wounded, Korech does not give up and counterattacks. His axe lodges in the herald’s shoulder, very close to her neck. The woman lets out a shriek of pain as she falls unconscious to the ground.
“” begs one of the acolyte, the one who was close enough to witness his herald’s defeat. He kneels down, dropping his weapons and puts his arms up, close to his face, as to beg you to spare him.
The other acolyte, on the other side of the battlefield, does the same.
It’s up to the Heroes of Kassen to choose whether they’ll be merciful or not, but in the meantime…
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Calden looms over the surrendering acolyte, still holding his quarterstaff up in a threatening manner. When it becomes that the fighting is over, he relaxes a bit.
Keeping an eye on the acolyte before he, he calls over his shoulder to Shirzon and Merephel. "We'd best search the others for useful equipment quickly, and then get out of here. The others might decide to check up on this group, and we're probably not in any shape to take on more so soon." With a wry smile, he adds "We also have to decide what to do with this one. We can't really send him off, or he'll rejoin the others. Tying him up and leaving him here can't really be called mercy, either. And sending him off to the Island on his own isn't better..."
He gives the acolyte an intense look, or as much as he can muster "Maybe you could start by telling us what you know, about the group you came here with. Who are left? How many? We'll discuss what to do with you later..."
Her rapier missing his heart by an inch, Korech almost collapses to his knees before he manages to clear some space and blast past her defenses, chopping her brutally into the collarbone. His axe then clatters to the ground as he collapses face-first to bleed out on the ground.
Dimly, he becomes aware of the acolytes surrendering and Calden's questioning. Fumbling, he grabs his wand from his belt. He stabs it into his wound, coursing healing energy through the wand into himself before he jerks it out, groaning.
He staggers to his feet, and looks around.
"We win..." his eyes focus on the acolyte. "What he says. How many others?"
"Wait here. I've got some stuff to take care of," Shirzon commands the surrendered acolyte, giving him a nasty scowl. She gathers up her things that she dropped during the battle, and puts them in their proper places before returning. While Calden and Korech interrogate the one acolyte, Shirzon squats in front of the other one. "Hey. Your luck is pretty good: I'm not planning on killing you. If you help us set up a safe place to rest, answer our questions, and then leave, you get off with your life. Sound like a deal?" the half-orc asks, tilting her head in a nonchalant way--almost like a cat that's taken a lazy interest in a mouse it has cornered.
"What do you think, Meph?" she says, turning toward the young priestess. "Should we let them help out before we send them out of here? Or just kick 'em out now?"
The two surrendering acolytes are frightened as they obediently comply to your will, not opposing any resistance when you tie the up using those ropes you have with you. One of them appears to be particularly shaken, almost panicked, and react to any action on your part with a shrilling shriek. The other one is only a little calmer than her peer. She's a young girl, and now that she does not wear her mask anymore, you can see her face. She's only a girl, maybe 20 years old or something along that line. She has a dark and heavu make up on her, especially around her eyes. She has short, fair hairs, black eyes and a smart countenance.
As soon as you turns to her companion, she smirks. "You're not going to get anything from him. It's like getting blood out of stone. We called him Kendric the Fearful. He's probably already shitted his paints for fear." The girl smirks again, then laughs bitterly. "But things are different with me. I'm no liar. I was never really in this bloody-Razmir thing. They just took me here. So I don't owe any loyalty to them. Ask me all of your questions, and I'll answer them. But then you'll let me and my fearful companion get away from here. How that sounds to you?"
When Calden asks his questions, the girl laughs bitterly. "High Priestess didn't give us many explanations. She just brought us here. At least acolytes like me and Kendric. Lizardfolk killed many of us, and we were caught in a negative energy storm, which further decreased our numbers. When we entered the city we were 12. Iramine is left with her most loyal underlings. The others she sent here to fight you. That woman, Agland, was our herald" she says pointing to the dead, black-robed priestess with a gesture of her head.
Shirzon nods as the girl speaks, her expression focused and serious. She holds out a hand to shake once the girl finishes. "Deal. Thanks for the information. You seem pretty smart - too smart for this cultist nonsense anyway. You two should get out of here, find somewhere safe (well, as safe as you can find), and we'll be out as soon as we deal with Iramine. That was the name, right?"
Once the acolytes are sent off, Shirzon stifles a yawn. "We should rest now. I can't tell what time it is in this place, but I feel like I've been awake for days. Once we're ready, we can find the Razmiri leader, get Kassen's key back, and then leave this place for good. I never thought I'd be sick of gold."
The girl nods to Shirzon. "Yes, that's her name."
Then she turns to the others. "Can we leave now?"
Merephel has been silent, unsure of how she wants to weigh in on the situation. She'd been looking into everyone's wounds. The observant may notice she chooses not to stabilize the wounded after this encounter. She speaks up now, looked more determined than ever.
"I say we let them go. We've taken their weapons, and stripped them of their masks. The Razmirans won't take them back as it is. Let them go...Unless there is something else you are withholding from us? How many are left with Iramine? And what weapons have they?"
Calden sighs as he realizes that the acolytes are barely adult, just like themselves. He takes a step back as Shirzon take charge of their interrogation. The girl's eagerness to leave has him smirking, though. "Hold up, not so fast. First you tell us that you'll answer all your questions, and now you think you're off the hook just for telling us something we already knew? You have to come up with more than that. Also, what's stopping you from just rejoining the other Razmirans when we let you go, and telling them all about us?"
As he speaks those words, a thought dawns on him. "Wait a sec. Your expedition left before we even arrived in Tamran! How did you even know about us?"
Adding to Merephel's questions, Calden adds "What else can you tell us about Iramine? I get that she's not a priest, but can she cast spells at all? We've read some stuff about her. Depending on how you interpret that, she's either really old and powerful, or a complete lunatic. Which one is it?"
Korech takes a long time to recover from his near-fatal wound, despite the healing from his wand. He finally climbs to his feet, gritting his teeth. Slowly, he walks over to the acolytes and the rest of the group.
"We let you go soon. No need for kill. You leave Razmir. Razmir mean death, Razmir mean beatings and hurt. Learn for a better life."
The girl looks to Calden and smirks mischievously. "What's stopping me from just rejoining the others? That I don't want to die here. You're going to kill them, isn't it? Besides, if I rejoined them, they would kill me for having failed."
The girl laughs again as Calden questions her about how did their previous allies know about the party members. "We didn't know you were here. We just...heard you. We knew someone was stalking us. So they sent us to stop you."
When question about Iramine, the acolyte shakes her head and shrugs. "Don't know a great deal about her. No one does. But yeah, she can cast spells. Oh, and from what I heard from my older peers...she's both powerful and lunatic."
---
When you're done questioning her, the girl takes the leave with her panicked companion, heading toward the First Ring. Once the acolyte are gone, the party members gather all the equipment they need from the defeated Razmir's faithful. After looting the corpses, the Heroes of Kassen try to find a comfortable spot where to rest. Eventually, their best option turns out to be an old ruin filled with gold. For one night, Calden, Korech, Merephel and Shirzon will sleep on a bed of gold.
_____________________________
Shirzon settles in for sleeping, having found a small corner to put her bedroll in. She stares up at the ceiling, watching the yellow light's reflect on the ceiling from the gold covering the ground. "Is sleeping on gold a dragon thing? Or is that something kings do?" She idly picks her teeth, thinking of the ridiculous situation she's in. Shirzon the Quarter, once only one scummy step above her uncle, now chasing cultists through some lost city coated in liquid gold.
She would laugh if the whole situation weren't so dire. Considering what they faced in just the first ring, who knew what could be waiting for them further on. Between Iramine's bloodthirsty Razmiri fanatics and the gold covered skeletal guardians of a dead city, their chances didn't seem good. And yet, they made it this far. Maybe they would live up to all this hero stuff after all.
Calden is mollified by the girl's words. "Fine. Take any gear you need, and then get out of here. Best of luck in getting out of her alive. And try to find something better than the Razmirans, if you do..."
--
Calden looks uncomfortable in the room full of gold. He closes his eyes in meditation, trying to forget about his surroundings for a moment. "I think that's dragons," he answers Shirzon. "Kings only if they're really stupid, I guess." He shakes his head. "It makes you wonder, doesn't it? The cult came her for riches. Why didn't they just start filling up at the first building, and leave. What could there be, that's worth it to push on? Something that's more desirable than all this gold together?"
As he prepares for sleep, a thought hits Calden. "How would captain Walren fare, on his boat in the bay? He would wait for us for ten days, right? How many has it been?"
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