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The elf keeps careful notes of all the information they are gaining. She adds a simple question about their investigation, "Tell us about the alchemist. What was your interaction with him? Did you control his mind?"
But when Effie speaks she nods her head side to side and pipes up, "Listen Mr. Veshtaz, you aren't exactly selling yourself to anyone here... that I know of. While it's wonderful you are willing to help one of us in exchange for not finishing you off, you are quite an evil little creature and nothing we have seen or heard so far indicates that will change. Now, we've really pissed off a couple holy god worshipers even taking the effort to wake you up and by my count we learned what we needed to. Now, I'm more than willing to open this box and give you back your memories because it's wrong to keep your mind split like this. But after that... well I think you might want to prepare for some judgement for your actions."
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"Yer methods make judgement 'arder, buh judgement will pass, none-tha-less," Rumble declares, nodding his head at Maria. Unsure what effect giving an Evil creature it's memories back will have on it's power, he now takes the Div by the horn in one hand. Sledge is in the other, but not yet raised.
I don't see how this was better. Plenty of risks, nothing gained. Next time I will do what the others need to be comforted into doing. I will shoulder the burden so they don't have to worry their minds over it. They may hate me for it, but healing this beast's mind only to rip the life from it is decidedly worse than just slaying it. Torag forgive me for my laxness in upholding your will.
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Choosing to keep the peace, Parison watches and listens as the others converse with the div. When Veshtaz mentions the women he once served and what she's done, he smirks wryly. His anger at the decision to question him/it subsides, but it doesn't go away completely.
We wouldn't have known about this woman that Veshtaz served, nor would we know that her essence isn't just in this gem we've found, but apparently in other gems that are out there somewhere. We wouldn't have known any of this had we killed it and I must give credit to Maria and Zithembe for having the guts to stick to their decision to talk to this thing.
But at the same time, he hears the mad screams of Mauta in his head. He also hears a recounting of Sokari's words of how Veshtaz manipulated him into poisoning his customers. In his mind, he sees the desecration of the graves by a Pharasmin that was also manipulated. Finally, his mind flashes back to discovering Onethar stripped of his memories. All had one common denominator: the div that Rumble had secured and was now holding by the horn.
Veshtaz has to answer for what he's done. There can be no two ways about it. I hope that no one here would be foolish enough to brook the offer he has put forth and that they will respect what Rumble and myself must do to prevent him from manipulating innocent people.
"Tell us about the alchemist. What was your interaction with him? Did you control his mind?"
"Heh! His little experiments...they reminded me of my old mistress," Veshtahz chuckles darkly. "I thought it might be interesting to see what would happen if I could...guide his actions, in a way. And it was interesting, but only for a short time; he was careless and his shop was closed. So I decided to let him be and move on."
Uh yeah...Veshtahz is trying to downplay his actions here.
"Now, I'm more than willing to open this box and give you back your memories because it's wrong to keep your mind split like this. But after that... well I think you might want to prepare for some judgement for your actions."
"HSSSH! Then why should I share my secrets with you, if you plan to put me to the sword either way!?" the div hisses, gnashing his teeth.
At this point, everyone seems to be more or less in agreement that it would be a kindness to reunite Veshtahz with his lost memories before putting an end to him. Perhaps an undeserved kindness, but no one ever said that doing the right thing or the kind thing would be easy.
The box is produced and easily opened, revealing...three curved horns, each radiating a magical aura. For a moment, nothing happens. And then, each of you begin receiving a barrage of mental flashes, memories that are not your own. Each of you see from the perspective of a disembodied, floating being, always in the presence of a woman dressed in Ancient Osiriani garb. Any distinguishing features of the woman blur and shift, as if either magically obscured or remembered poorly. When she speaks, you recognize her voice as being the same voice that you heard when you first entered the excavated ruins. You instinctively understand the language she speaks to be Ancient Osiriani and have no trouble deciphering her words, whether you yourself know the language or not...
*flash*
The woman stands surrounded by the aftermath of a great battle in the desert. She examines the wounded and dying with interest, ignoring their cries for help. She kneels by a dying man, places her hand on his forehead, and says, "Were you one of ours? One of theirs? It matters not. The Plague loves all of you the same. Do you feel it? As your body dies, does your mind cling to life? Yes — I sense it. Wonderful! I must try again. Soon even the Lady of Graves will have no hold over my fate."
*flash*
Screams echo around the dark halls as the woman snarls. "They die too quickly! There is no time. I need healthier subjects." She looks up, but her features remain obscured. "Go to the training grounds. Tell the captain I require another full squad of his most able-bodied guards for the Dungeons of the Ever-Dying. Perhaps they can survive long enough to further my studies. No — not one squad. A dozen fresh recruits each week."
*flash*
Feelings of intense pain and desperation accompany this memory. The woman mockingly waves one of the horns into view. "What better material to preserve a memory than the horn of a creature fundamentally obsessed with knowledge? Perhaps I shall find others like you, take their essence, and perfect my magic. Pain? Yes. There will always be pain for you. I will leave you those memories. A suiting gift for a traitor."
And the visions fade.
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"We know that Sakori lacked the skill to create the concoctions that poisoned his customers. You knew exactly what you were doing and what would happen when you manipulated him into creating them. You only saw him as a target for your misplaced aggression and a tool that you could use to wreak havoc," Parison states to Veshtahz.
After seeing the visions and recognizing the woman's voice as the same one that came from the gem, he looks at the gem with an expression of respect that borders on fear. "We have to make sure that gem is taken to someone in the organization that would know what to do with it," he says, not wanting to let the div know that they are Pathfinders nor drop any names lest it finds a way to escape them.
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Maria realizes they are getting glimpses of the creature's memories and frantically attempts to write it down. She catches a decent chunk in her journal but feels a bit exasperated at the end.
This lady... was nasty. Revenge isn't a thing worth pursuit, but I can see where this creature is coming from. The torture... wow. We definitely need to track the rest of the gems down and make sure she never gets free again.
The elf watches the reaction of the creature closely after Zithembe asks his question.
"How do I view my actions?" Veshtahz repeats, sounding baffled to be asked such a question. "Why, I needed to learn, yes, learn of this new age and what had happened to this land during the centuries I was entombed. I made do as best as I could using my own powers. What? Was I supposed to present myself to a local temple or library and ask to see their maps? Their records?"
The div chuckles. "My reception would've been worse than the one you have given me, yes, yes it would. So, yes...I spied and watched and waited! But...the years and years and years alone. I...yes, I helped the alchemist...it was simply meant to be an amusement and nothing more. Should I have? No, no, I see it now...should not have meddled. But! The alchemist lives and so do his customers, yes? No permanent harm was done, yes? Then all is well!"
Veshtahz seems like he's being pretty frank with all of you. It's hard to tell if he's sorry for interfering with peoples' lives but it does seem like he understands, on some level, that he shouldn't have done it.
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"It is appropriate that you should see your attempt at amusement as wrong," the shabti says. "However, what of Mauta, the woman on the street? What purpose did driving her mad serve?"
Zithembe says, "I hope you find a moment of solace knowing that your revenge will be carried out even if not by you."
"That was not something Veshtahz set out to do," the div hisses defensively. "Veshtahz was half-mad with rage and pain when the diggers opened the old ruins. Fled into the city...thinking only of finding the mistress...but found that so boldly confronting a human, even away from prying eyes, helped little. Why do you think I realized that skulking and sneaking were my only way forward? But not responsible...no, not responsible for breaking that mind, was not Veshtahz's intent!"
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Maria releases a slow sigh, putting her bow away and rubbing her eyes, "what to do... what to do... okay."
She looks at each of the pathfinders and speaks, "Okay, so I totally get where we are all at with Veshtahz here. A known Evil planar creature that did several terrible things. But I'm going to ask for a favor from you all to not kill them." She puts her hand up quickly, "And before you jump to any assumptions, NO I am not doing this to gain knowledge from the creature. Not about their hated master nor about anything else."
The elf takes a deep breath, "Listen. My kind have been fighting demons since... well since long before any of us were around and honestly, they will probably be doing it long after we are gone. But if there is a tiny sliver of a tiny chance that a creature as evil as this could at least learn to exist in our world without causing harm to others, that could be a possible path to peace. Now then, you heard Veshtahz's own statements about their actions and you've been able to experience their memories of the torture. I think the reactions they took, based upon their experiences, are pretty much to be expected. But if you allow me to give Veshtaz a different set of experiences, where they are NOT tortured for centuries to near insanity, then maybe we'll have a different result. Before you make your decision though, just answer a simple question. If this creature had simply waited patiently inside the tomb when it had been opened and not caused havok and harm, would you be so quick to pass judgement? Especially once you had known the nature of their entombment?"
She pulls out an arrow and places the sharp tip against her palm, "Now then, since blood oaths are all the rage in this town, if you all allow it, I will take full responsibility for Veshtahz from this point on. Any harm they do will be on me. I will seek to enlighten them in the ways of the current world and lead them to a path of understanding."
Maria moves up to the Div, "Alright, it's your turn now. Obviously you may feel that we are pretty much saying, 'do this or die' and that is totally true. But... you want revenge for what was done to you more than anything, right? If you swear to do as I say and do no harm to anyone, then I will swear to help give you your chance to find your master. I know a great deal about , I think you'll find the secrets I hold to be quite tantalizing."
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"Do you know how hard it's going to be to go back to every person that Veshtahz charmed or manipulated, look them in the eye, and tell them that not only did he escape punishment for his actions but that he's under your charge?" Parison says, feeling his anger beginning to rise.
"I'm sorry, Maria. You may be willing to do a blood oath, but that means nothing if he turns on one of us or even you," he says. "He could cause you or anyone of us to do anything to the rest of the group."
Take a deep breath and compose yourself! a voice inside his head tells him. Doing just that, he takes a deep breath and begins to speak. Once more, he grips his holy symbol tightly in his hand.
"I believe in free will," he says, looking around at the rest of the group, "and I can't hold it against anyone for standing up for their convictions, so I hope you will not hold it against me for standing up for mine. Simply put, if the div lives, I have committed anathema against Sarenrae for not striking down evil. That forces me to make a decision to whom I serve."
With his other hand, Parison sheathes his scimitar and undoes the clasp on his shirt collar where his Silver Crusade pin resides. "My faith comes first. I won't travel with or be a part of this group as long as Veshtahz is," he says, beaming death rays at the div. "Or the organization," he says, as he shows the pin to the others.
Now I know how Eando Kline felt when he had to resign from the Pathfinder Society on principle that some things were more important than what the Society stood for, he thought.
The cleric kneels down and places the pin on the floor and takes a step back with the implication being clear that he's not afraid to renounce the Society for casting its lot with an evil entity.
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Rumble nods his head at Mariea's question. "Aye'd 'ave struck tha beast down on sight, like aye did jus' now. Tha only difference ihs aye woulda already crushed iht tah pieces," he responds with absolute certainty. "Expected or nah, 'orrible actions were taken an' thah mus' be punished. Aye'd expect no such mercy from anyone if aye did tha same fer any reason."
He hefts the Div up level with his eyes and delivers his judgement. "Veshtahz, ye 'ave admitted ta yer crimes agains' tha people o' this community an' a historical allegiance tah an Evil master. While tha conditions o' yer life explain some o' tha horror ye've brough' inta this world, they do nah excuse them. In tha name o' the Father o' Creation, aye sentence ye tah death," he says calmly. With a practiced hand, he brings Sledge up to meet the Div one final time.
Torag, may your will be done on Golarion as it is in Heaven. Unceremoniously, he drops the corpse to the floor.
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As Rumble passes judgement, Effie holsters her pistol.
"Sorry, Maria. Rumble and Parison are right. The div wasn't a person. You can guide a person - teach them and care for them so that they learn to do right. You can't do that for a creature of the pit. Who knows how many millennia Veshtahz has been a div for? I doubt even an elf's lifetime is long enough to redeem an immortal spirit - even if it wanted to be redeemed, and I don't think Veshtahz did."
Effie ponders a moment longer. "A sane div is probably more dangerous than a mad one. Sane, it would be able to pursue its original motivations. And those would not be wholesome.
Many are the evil spirits who would tempt mortals with occult knowledge. Consider what we've learned about Veshtahz's former master. She had dealings with Ahriman, the lord of the divs. And we've glimpsed the experiments she conducted on human beings. These things are connected.
No, the right thing to do is resist temptation and destroy the tempter."
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Without a word, Parison takes a step forward, kneels down, picks up his pin, and puts it in his belt pouch. He doesn't say a word verbally, but his eyes speak volumes as he looks at Rumble and gives a solemn nod.
Veshtahz has paid for what he's done, he thought. If he was penitent for his actions, may intervention not consign him to oblivion and allow him a chance in a new life to atone for his crimes. But Effie may have the right of it. Even if it was motivated to seek revenge against its former master, who knows what it would have done in order to exact it?
As he looks around at the others, the disciple of Sarenrae suddenly feels far older than his years from the experience. He is wiser and to a very small extent, mentally stronger, but not without a price.
A decision like this wasn't easy to come to and it could be a costly choice in the long run for some of my companions. Killing him might not be the popular decision among us as a whole, but it's the right one. Right choices are never easy, cheap, or popular among a group of people.
Over the objections of Maria, the rest of the group agrees - Veshtahz must die, even if he himself was something of a victim in this whole sordid tale. Rumble lifts the div up and pronounces his judgement before bringing Sledge down in a single crushing blow, silencing the creature's angry hissing and spitting for good.
In many ways, the past several minutes have proven more mentally and emotionally trying than anything you've experienced to date. But there's still the remainder of this complex to investigate before you return to report your findings so there's little else to do now except press on.
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Ready to get going, Effie decides that one door is just as good as another and moves to the one that Rumble and Hepsubia are standing near. A quick inspection reveals that it isn't trapped but it *does* seem to be locked from this side - an easy enough situation to rectify. It also looks like the key that you found on the cultist leader would fit this lock.
Effie swings the door open...and luckily, there's nothing waiting on the other side. Several doors leading off this cross-shaped hallway stand open, revealing ten-by-ten-foot cells. The wall of the east hallway has collapsed, revealing the cavern beyond.
A quick examination of the cells reveal that they seem to have been converted into sleeping quarters, most of them currently unoccupied. Rather disturbingly, you do find a body in each of the northernmost cells - a halfling male in one and a human female in the other. Though they are dressed the same as the cultists you encountered in the ritual chamber they appear to have had their throats slit in their sleep.
Each of the sleeping quarters also contain a number of small idols and shrines but otherwise there doesn't seem to be much of interest here.
Unsurprisingly, these idols and shrines are dedicated to Ahriman, Lord of All Divs.
Once the group decides on whether to perform rites for the dead cultists now or wait until you're finished exploring the dungeons Rumble heads for the northern door that leads out of the cellblock-turned-sleeping quarters.
After a quick perusal by Hepsubia, who determines that everything is clear, the dwarf boldly swings the door open. Narrow steps lead down from the door into an empty room. Arrow slits line the north alcove of this room while the eastern alcove has collapsed, leaving it open to the cavern beyond. Looks like this was once a guard post, judging by the arrow slits.
Another door leads away to the west, presumably back out to the front entrance.
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Not willing to let others go off without him, Parison follows Rumble's lead and trails after him and Zithembe. As the members who are exploring find the murdered cultists, the cleric shakes his head with grim sadness.
"We can do nothing for them now, and this dungeon doesn't appear to be a safe place to be. I think we should wait until we are ready to leave. After that, we can perform funerary rites outside when we leave."
With nothing of interest to be found in the partially collapsed guardroom to the north the group heads to investigate the door at the southern end of the cell block.
Hepsubia creeps up first and though neither she nor anyone else notice any traps on the door, it does appear to be locked with a very good lock - similar the one Hepsubia had to fiddle with earlier. But as luck would have it, the key you recovered from the cult leader fits this lock. Once everyone is ready, the door is unlocked and Hepsubia steps back to allow Rumble to swing it open.
This room contains a long table and sturdy chair, each with thick manacles dangling to the side. A smaller table in the corner hosts several surgical tools, including a deep basin, saws, scalpels, and needles. Wooden shelves support an open ledger and variety of other objects, and large, empty stone basins stand in the room's other corners.
Still on edge, everyone files into what is clearly an ancient laboratory. Some, such as Parison, stand guard while the rest of you begin nosing around the ledger and the items left on the shelf.
Zithembe takes interest in the ledger, noting that it contains two lists. Some of the items listed have additional notes next to them:
'Items Recovered'
Journal entries - Fragmented
Circlet of Persuasion
'Items Requested'
Alchemist's Fire x3
Potion of Lesser Restoration
Spellbooks - Unknown quantity and whereabouts
Fading Light lab notes
Plague cloak
On the 'Items Requested' list Zithembe is also quick to notice that the first two items have check marks beside them, whereas the last three do not.
It's also quickly discovered that two of the shelves are labeled to correspond to these lists - one with 'Items Recovered' and one with 'Items Requested'. A jeweled circlet rests on the 'Items Recovered' shelf, along with what seem to be scraps of notes and other journal entries. On the shelf labeled 'Items Requested' you find three vials of alchemist's fire and a single potion of Lesser Restoration.
Aside from the ledger and these items there doesn't seem to be much else in the way of clues to be found here - but thankfully there don't seem to be any traps, either. Still, you now have at least one more piece of information than you had to start with - Fading Light. Given the context that it's mentioned in it's likely the name of another experiment site but it's not a name that rings any bells for Maria. Perhaps someone within the Society might have a better idea?
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Effie shakes her head sadly.
"The madness of this place! I thought I'd seen evil, but by all the gods what was this woman doing? Is that black gem the one that these notes refer to? How many died and suffered to make it?
Let's finish our work. I feel sick and I want to see the sun."
Effie draws her pistol. She sets her jaw straight and firm, and it looks like she very much wants to shoot something.
Once you've finished looking about this ancient laboratory you press on through the next carefully-examined door into what seems to be another repurposed cell block. Rugs and cushions lie on the floor of this large room; they are covered in overturned dishes and spoiled food. Several humanoid corpses lie about, all dressed in cultist robes. Deep wounds and copious blood speak to their violent deaths.
Unlike the sleeping quarters this area is revealed to hold more that is of interest. In the small cell closest to the door you came in from you find a simple bed, a chest with mundane clothes, and a thick book of vile prayers to Ahriman written in a variety of fiendish languages.
The next cell contains an armory, wherein you discover five maces, five cold iron morningstars, three spears, and six sickles. There's also a sixth morningstar, also made of cold iron, that radiates a modest magical aura.
It's a +1 Cold Iron Morningstar.
In the third cell is a wardrobe that seems to contain sets of clothing that might have been worn by the cultists as disguises; all are mundane but range from religious garb to urchins' rags and are suitable for blending in in the city above.
And finally, in the fourth and last cell you find...another cultist, this one a human male. He's alive but clearly wounded and weakened from starvation. Rocking back and forth he pays your arrival no heed as he continually mutters, "Yes, all else must wait. The Black Moon rises! She shall bring glorious ruin upon the world. I can hear her — she is almost here! Ahriman, look upon our great work, and grant me a place in the House of Oblivion!"
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As they investigate each cell, Rumble keeps his wits and weapons about so that the others can search in relative peace. At the armory cell, he inspects the magical cold iron morningstar. "Even if we cannae figure ouh whah tha magic is, aye'll hold ontah this, if thah's alrigh' with tha rest o' ye," he asks.
Entering the last cell, he sighs deeply before putting Sledge's head against the floor and leaning on it. By Torag's beard, we're gonna have another "ethical dilemma" over what to do with an evil cultist. Might as well convert to Pharasma's faith if we're going to deliberate over every soul we meet. That's her whole damn job, we should just off the clearly evil things we find and let her sort them in the Boneyard. "Leh me know when ye realize tha fool is irredeemably evil an' aye'll deliver 'im justice fer 'is sins," he says as he steps outside and leaves the others to it. Beyond the story of this place, ain't nothing worthwhile he could say to us.