Hearing the unmistakable sounds of spellcasting, Vosk speeds into the room and spirals towards the ceiling. "Must be a Tiefling lurking in the mist!" he calls out.
Weaving a spell of his own, he culminates it with a snap of his fingers.
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In the blink of an eye and much to his displeasure Blue Man suddenly has Quang Chi much closer than he was a few seconds ago and suffers an arrow to the gut!
Vosk flies ahead into the room and ascends, ready to resolve a spell to hasten his own companions.
Frankie hops the table - taking care to knock over as many things as he can - and then drops down on the other side to shank the tiefling man in the leg with a well-placed dagger strike!
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Frankie
Zirt + Benedict
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Blue Dude
Red Tiefling
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Vosk
Quang Chi
Meredith + Denair
Active Conditions: Obscuring Mist (Green Grid)
Environmental Conditions:
Zirt + Benedict are UP!
As Zirt & Benedict wait for just the perfect moment to strike Vosk decides to go ahead and resolve his Haste spell, empowering himself and his other allies that are within the chamber.
"No! I can't fall here!" Blue exclaims. He drops one wand and moves back while pulling out a different wand. He points it not at Quang Chi or Meredith themselves but at a spot further behind them. A burst of fire escapes from the wand and detonates, enveloping much of the room and nearly everyone in it except for the man himself and Denair!
It's about this time that the mist fades - though admittedly most of it had already dissipated thanks to the fireball - and reveals the tiefling, a bit singed but still clearly eager for blood.
"Haha! Nice one, Terliss!" he crows as he moves out of the puddle of alchemical waste and back towards the nearby door, apparently unconcerned about Frankie and his dagger now that he's made himself visible.
"You got lucky, little boy," the tiefling smirks as he wheels around and pulls out a small, round object. "But now it's my turn!"
Red flings the small orb at Frankie...
...which explodes with a burst of fire that even reaches Vosk!
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Frankie
Zirt + Benedict
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Titus Terliss
Red Tiefling
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Vosk
Quang Chi
Meredith + Denair
Active Conditions: Haste (All but Zirt + Benedict)
Environmental Conditions: Acid Pool (Green Areas)
Vosk, Quang Chi, Meredith + Denair are UP at the bottom of Round 2 and Frankie, Zirt + Benedict are UP at the top of Round 3!
Frankie manages to evade the fireball and even manages to stick the tiefling in the other leg as he moves away, despite the tiefling's surprising mobility. He then evades the thrown bomb and closes on Red, trying to stick him for a third time, but misses.
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Frankie
Zirt + Benedict
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Titus Terliss
Red Tiefling
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Vosk
Quang Chi
Meredith + Denair
Active Conditions: Haste (All but Zirt + Benedict)
Environmental Conditions: Acid Pool (Green Areas)
Vosk, Quang Chi, Meredith + Denair are UP at the bottom of Round 2 and Zirt + Benedict are UP at the top of Round 3!
"Tiefling, quickly now, why don't you roll around in the water back there," pointing into the direction of the room with two faces, "for a few minutes before any fire takes hold on you too!" Vosk suggests.
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Unlike the quick Frankie and the smooth Chi, Meredith still gets toasted.
She prepares to skewer the guy, but Chi begins rapidly firing. Will he survive the onslaught?
Denair continues flying the remaining 5ft up to swing at him.
Denair, meanwhile drops down and swings at him.
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Unlike the quick Frankie and the smooth Chi, Meredith still gets toasted.
She prepares to skewer the guy, but Chi begins rapidly firing. Will he survive the onslaught?
Denair continues flying the remaining 5ft up to swing at him.
Denair, meanwhile drops down and swings at him.
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Quang Chi also completely evades the fire and retaliates against the man - the nefarious Titus Terliss - by peppering him with arrows. The combination of four more arrows on top of the one Quang Chi dealt him earlier is by itself enough to drop him, but the fifth and final arrow that knocks his prone body off the balcony is just icing on the cake!
Terliss' body hits the floor below with a *THUD* and a slight splash, having landed in the pool of alchemical waste.
There's a faint sizzling sound as the acidic waste begins to eat into his prone and bleeding body.
As it turns out, only Meredith suffers injury from the pair's fiery onslaught as Vosk manages to be plenty high enough to avoid the bomb's splash damage and juuuust high enough to avoid getting caught in the fireball. He attempts to use his magic to suggest that the tiefling go soak himself really good to avoid getting set on fire...
...and the tiefling gets a funny look on his face.
"Huh...that's actually not a bad idea..."
Meanwhile Meredith moves down and closes on the tiefling, hoping to goad him into attacking her, while Denair takes a swing at him, which misses - though not by a huge amount. But it's sort of a moot point, now that his buddy Terliss is down - the alchemist is now alone and there's no way he's getting away from all of you unscathed.
"Eeep! Quickly now, fish that buffoon from the waste, he had quite the manner of magical equipment at his disposal!" Vosk pleads. If nobody immediately leaps to perform his bidding, he floats over to the man and tries to drag him out by the cleanest part of his clothing.
"I'll be along shortly. I'm sure the other one could use a sound thrashing within an inch of his life before we turn him over to the Candles," he suggests. Not to mention being the cherry on top of what is turning out to be quite the delicious sundae! Negotiations will be in an excellent place after this!
He hums pleasantly while scanning, identifying, and generally looting the gently sizzling man.
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Denair hefts the man out of his acidic goo. Meredith beats the the tiefling silly, keeping him alive but unconscious.
"Is everyone alright?" Meredith looks about and stays away from the acid. "These two are gonna rot in prison for a long time. I wonder why they wanted to frame Pathfinders so badly."
Denair takes a moment to look for any clues.
After having pulled the sizzling Terliss out of the acid and beaten his tiefling accomplice into unconsciousness, Vosk and the rest of you set about examining this makeshift laboratory for clues or anything else of interest.
Between Terliss and the tiefling - who you figure out is named Lal Chawda - you recover a number of things both mundane and magical...
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds
Potion of Cure Serious Wounds x2
Wand of Fireball (CL 7th; 3 charges)
Wand of Gaseous Form (8 charges)
Wand of Shield (20 charges)
Bloodroot poison (2 doses)
+1 Mithral Shirt x2
+1 Longspear
+1 Rapier
Cloak of Resistance +1
Elixir of Hiding
Dagger
Masterwork Light Crossbow
Bolt x20
Thieves' Tools
Key Ring
Alchemist's Lab
Formula Book
The alchemical equipment arrayed on the sarcophagus is made up of several masterwork artisan’s tools used for alchemical crafting, as well as a full alchemist’s lab. Within the sarcophagus currently being used as a table, you find a small locked chest - and the key to it on Terliss' keyring. Inside is a surprising number of coins, totaling up to 62 pp, 1,810 gp, and 5,040 sp. In this chest you also find a thick leather packet containing important documents accumulated throughout the recent crime spree, which can serve as evidence of the instigators’ efforts to frame the Pathfinder Society. One letter in particular stands out, written by someone that several of you have tangled with once before - the Spider!
It certainly explains a lot.
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Frankie helps everyone 'sort' through the confiscated goods after helping Meredith calm down after the fight. "I think he gave up, you can stop now!"
Frankie grabs a wand and promptly turns himself into a cloud of vapor, moving around the room slowly. You swear you can hear giggling as the vapors try going up people's noses, then finally move through the rubble choked passageway at the top of the stairs. I'm flyin'! Wooo!
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Meredith breathes heavily, eyes fixed on the tiefling and her bloodied mace. She hears a voice and spins towards the source. Frankie looks at him for a bit. "Y-you're right, Frankie. He's gonna rot in prison for a while."
She reads the letter and grins. "They never destroy the evidence. We have a lot of leads, now. And the Pathfinder's innocence."
"Good job, everyone. This was a drug den. No one should be wasting their lives out here. Let's get out of here. Come on, Frankie."
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When the giggling mists float past him, Quang Chi playfully holds his nose and pretends that it stinks. He whispers to the cloud, "If you are already a cloud of gas, can you even fart?"
Turning his attention to the others, he agrees with Meredith that they have done good work here shutting down a source of such evil.
[b]"Let us take all this to the twins, and then go check on Mr. Chert.
With at least one prisoner in tow and your business here concluded, you head back to the crypt's entrance. Ylandria, Eun, and the rescued Sczarni youths are nowhere to be seen but the way out is open and so you ascend without issue and head back into the encampment proper. It's there that you find them, seated around a campfire and sharing a meal. The two youths injured by the water elementals sport slings and bandages but otherwise look to be much improved from the last time you saw them.
"Ah! You done it," Ylandria grins when she spots you with Lal Chawda in tow. "Terliss didn't come quietly, eh? No big loss. Our kapteos figured that'd be what happened in the end."
She waves you back towards the tent where you met with the siblings earlier. "They told me to just send you lot on in when and if you got back in one piece."
When you enter into the tent, you find the kapteos also preparing to sit down for a meal as well. "Oye, that were fast," Jacek exclaims as you all file inside. "How'd it go down there?"
"It looks like it went quite well," Olivia remarks, nodding at your barely-conscious prisoner. "Tell me, what did you learn?"
"Drug dealing, a puppetmaster pulling the strings, delusions of grandeur, the works. It has been sorted now, however. Your guests either have or will depart shortly," Vosks explains rather cryptically. He offers some of the written material they found as proof.
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"You got played like a fiddle. Narcotics does that to everyone." Meredith shows the letter showing Terliss's plan. "He would have set you against the Pathfinder Society, no money would have been made. Just misery and pain."
"So the next time you want to mess with drugs, think carefully." So looks at the recovering youths, then back at Frankie. "The next generation's gonna pay for it."
Once outside the encampment, Meredith takes a deep sigh and coughs. The city stink irritates her nose. "I can't wait to get back to the farm. Let's tell Mister Chert the problem has been resolved, and then report to the Venture-Captain."
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When the giggling mists float past him, Quang Chi playfully holds his nose and pretends that it stinks. He whispers to the cloud, "If you are already a cloud of gas, can you even fart?"
The cloud hovers around Chi for an extended period, obviously trying to do or communicate something. After a short while it floats off and explores the rubble before finally a smiling Frankie walks back into the room. "Cool!"
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"What did we learn? Eh..." Frankie scratches his head as his eyes browse for snacks. "Oh! I learned how to turn into a cloud and fly!" He spreads his arms and zooms about the room smiling.
"Oh, and I learned that clouds can't fart." Crunching on a biscuit he found nearby.
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"Ah yes, I suppose they will," Olivia replies to Vosk, with a pointed look at Lal Chawda. "There may yet be a handful of Terliss' agents out and about in the city but not so many that we can't take care of them ourselves when they return to their crypt."
"Ya done us square and we won't forget it," Jacek continues, "but at the same time, looks like the bit where our business and your business cross is done with. So once you leave Two-Lights, it'll be back to the usual. That's our polite way of saying that you keep out of Twincandle business and we keep out of yours."
Olivia nods. "Indeed. We thank you again for your assistance and you are welcome to whatever treasures Terliss and his men kept in the crypt as your compensation for the trouble. Otherwise, it is time for us to part ways."
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Your temporary alliance with the Twincandles over, you waste little time in departing their encampment in Two-Lights and returning first to Mr. Chert's shop to check in on him and then to report to VC Sheila Heidmarch.
After reading the letter that you recovered, as well as the various other documents you found, she gives a satisfied nod.
"You have done well, Pathfinders. This letter and the accompanying stolen artifacts should be enough to convince the city at large as well as those currently aligned against us that the Society is not responsible for their losses."
"We will take charge of your prisoner and make sure that he is turned over to the proper authorities to answer for his crimes against the people of this city," she continues. "And as for all of you, take a few days to rest and enjoy the city. You've more than earned it."
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On the Venture Captain's advice, Meredith takes a few days off in Magnimar. She makes sure the Pathfinders are no longer suspects, and she even hears a few rumors about Maiveer Sloan having to deal with unexpected investigators. The Twincandles remain small and stay out of her way.
It's evening on the third evening when one of the youths she saved accosts her on her way back to the Heidmarch manor. The kid warns her she's entering Twincandle territory, and he's supposed to rob her since she never bought protection. But really, he wants to thank her, and leaves a small wood carving of a leopard leaping out of a planter's pot. Meredith smiles and turns back to revisit Mister Chert's shop. Antaios seems a bit confused by the gift, but it seems thankful.
"This town is beautiful in some ways, but smelly in others." She tells Frankie as she tries to tuck him into bed. "I wonder if I could do better." She smiles. "The farm is really growing, isn't it?" She looks out at the nighttime sky.
"Frankie, look. I... I don't know where your mom is. Maybe we'll find her." I don't think she wants to be found. "I can offer you a place to stay at the farm. It won't be as crowded, either. Anyway, think about it. I'm gonna head back in the morning, alright?" Meredith forces herself to sleep that night. May be the last in a big city like this.
The next morning Meredith summons Denair and they begin packing. "Hey everyone. It's been... I'm not going to say fun. But I've learned a lot. So thank you. All of you. I have to return to the farm. Or, I guess it's a town now? Anyway, Bittyboo's daughter and Derrik's son finally announced their engagement. I'm a guest of honor. Gotta go." Meredith shakes hands with each of you, except for Chi.
"I'll keep practicing, I promise." She recovers from her bow.
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Rose petals of all colors fell from the trees as Bellaban and Corvus kissed and the crowd erupted into applause. Mayor Meredith looked up at the sky and wondered where the petals came from. The roses in her hair seemed intact. They fey began partying immediately, and some Satyrs shuffled to Derrik's side of the aisle to see who was in the mood for more personal entertainment. She sighed.
"Just another part of being human, correct?" Meredith turned, startled at the Emissary offering her another cup of tea, which Meredith drank in one shot. "The Queen is growing impatient, but patience is your virtue, Meredith." Meredith notices the Emissary's head has no facial features. "The Queen wishes to meet you. But you will not survive the encounter."
Meredith frowns, unsure of the message. "Didn't I... forgiveness?" She stammers. "What did I miss?" The Emissary strains to turn to her.
"The sooner you shed your humanity and consume me, the sooner we can stop this charade." The Emissary's body withers away into a mass of roses before blowing away across the wind.
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Their business in Magnimar concluded, Quang Chi felt uncharacteristically restless and ready to move on. He’d made the decision to return to Tian Xia, and there didn’t seem to be any reason to delay enacting it.
He told Frankie that he was going home to report to the Dragon Lords (which was true) and that he would mention Frankie’s name to them (which was a biiiig maybe.) He’d then gifted the boy with some imported Tien candy from the only shop in Magnimar where he could find such things. Quang Chi suspected that Frankie would forget him within a year even as he envied him just a tiny bit for the boy’s ability to never grow up.
Meredith beat him to the punch and bowed her farewell quite well, demonstrating that she had indeed been paying attention all those other times. His bow back to her meant: “goodbye, I will miss you, I hope to see you again, but I doubt that will happen.” Then he’d hugged Denair just as she’d hugged him at their first meeting and those few times since when one of them had needed it. He would miss the fox-tree-lady the most of these three, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on why.
The archer knew when Vosk’s ship was sailing and made sure he was at the dock to see it off. Standing in the cool morning air, he was surprised to realize how much he would miss the Baronet. They had nothing in common except their membership in the Pathfinder Society; their personalities, drives, backgrounds, and abilities were complete opposites. And yet, the big man had grown on Chi. As the Luscious Eclair began to pull away from the dock, Quang Chi bowed it out and held the pose until it was out of sight around the harbor jetties. The act was a rare honor, usually reserved only for royalty and daimyo. Well, Vosk was nobility after all, Quang Chi had rationalized to himself.
Goodbyes complete, the monk caught the first ship headed to Almas later that same day. It certainly wasn’t the fastest or most direct route home, but there was someone he needed to see before leaving Avistan. Though he hoped she would remember him, he was caught by surprise when the little orange kitty leapt jubilantly into his arms and began purring and head-butting him enthusiastically. So when it came time to leave Almas the following day, there was no question that she was coming along.
Standing on the deck of the cargo ship Queen of the Skies with a tawny cat riding on his shoulders like some pirate’s parrot, Quang Chi pointedly ignored the stares of the crew and other passengers. He simply watched the waves and pondered what he would do when they got back to Tian Xia. He didn’t intend for this sabbatical from the Society to be forever. Maybe he could teach at Master Kae’s school or go to the capital and work for the Dragon Lords in some special capacity. Either way, the path would become clear, and this was simply the first step along it. He looked one last time back toward the West and where he’d left his many great new friends. Then he gave Little Guì Fù a scratch behind the ears and turned his attention to the East and the future.
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Well, Chi is being nice with his hugs. Normally he just bows. The Boss told me it was very important to him. I hug him back.
Frankie's innocence is still intact. Yay! That's always the first thing to go from these short-lived mortals. He still reeks of maple syrup, though...
I've been organizing more and more at the Farmtownbreach. Lots of First Worlders are arriving to check things out, and I have to lay the ground rules.
- Pranking is OK, unless it kills them. Mortals don't like that.
- Alert the patrols if you see cold-forged iron; we need to keep track of it.
- Remember the Mortals haven't figured out their purposes yet, so don't stifle them too much.
- Be wary of which animals you awaken. Some of them are meant for harvest.
The Queen and the Boss figured it out, huh? Good, I hate keeping secrets. The Boss keeps wondering about her eventual return to the Grove and meeting Queen Syntria again. The Queen of Thorns decorates the rosebed and keeps her temper in check everytime the mortals do something silly. The Boss is keeping the Queen calm. Maybe Syntria's experiment is paying off: teach the Queen of Thorns humility by using the Boss's experiences.
I fear the Wind. He's whispering into my ear or a friend's ear, like a bug digging into your bark. If you ignore it, it burrows deeper and deeper, draining you dry. If you dig it, it squirms faster and steals your attention. And when you pull it out and throw it away, the bug left its mark. He wants me to remember something I did and... I don't want to. I just want to help the Boss.
So I curl up next to her and the Queen. The tea leaves smell like comfort as the Boss drinks up from her teapot. The Queen nitpicks every blemish and error in the grove, especially if Mortal trash blew in. But the Boss does compliment the irrigation system, or the tools used, and even the teapot. All made by Mortals.
The Boss scratches me behind the ears and it reminds me I'm important. That's all I could ask for, really.
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With an invitation to "rest and enjoy the city," from none other than Venture-Captain Sheila Heidmarch, Vosk begins immediately. After a meal at the finest bakery (composed of at least a dozen different pastries), he weasels his way into a charity gala. Having relieved three wine bottles of their contents, his evening reaches it's pinnacle with a rousing speech during which he beseeches the wealthy attendees to depart from some of their wealth in the name of the sick and needy. And that's how you start a night in the big city!
The following morning, his head is swimming. Bottles litter the floor, along with men and women wearing Fey-inspired masks and props. A pair of fake rabbit ears are still mounted on his head. By the Divine, I fear I've developed some unusual tastes for those forest creatures. Ick. I'll rectify that as soon as I return home! Bracing himself against a lavish wall, he tip-toes out with a grace that could only be born from practice. The rabbit ears are discreetly stowed in the folds of his robe.
Having stumbled his way back to his ship as the sun still works to banish the morning fog, he finds that his crew is already preparing the ship. The best lads money can buy! They know me so well. If anyone were watching they'd see a tear roll down his cheek.
Bracing himself with the cool morning air, as refreshed as he could be, the portly man stands with as much dignity as he can muster at the stern of his ship. He isn't sure what he's looking for, but at the least the city was deserving of the honor of one final look at the man. Having just cast off, the ship gently bobbing against the surf, he catches sight of Quang Chi, staring at the floor. S%~!, how long has he been doing that? Well, when in doubt...
With a groan, he bends over in return, bowing as best as he can, occasionally peeking to see if the Chi still holds his own. The peeking increases in frequency as last night's revelry clamors for an encore, his hamstrings threaten rebellion, and the mild throbbing in his head progresses to a severe drumming.
The Lucious Eclair barely makes it out of the harbor before he spews over the railing but into the wind. Fists raised in rage at the sky, he screams "I JUST CLEANED THESE ROBES!"