I cannot rise the dead, unfortunately. Ayako replies to Tyrando
You scoop up Ishani's body and head back to the roof to investigate Domina's study. You access the hidden chamber by following Venester's instructions and touching the phase door in the ceiling with an Arabasti family signet ring.
This room contains a large bookshelf filled with dozens of books and scrolls. A desk and chair stand nearby. Sitting on the desk is a single large book with a black leather cover. The walls of this study have been decorated—recently by the look—with dozens of spiky runes.
The large book on the desk is an immense volume titled, in Infernal, Truths of the Sihedron. The book’s contents (also written in Infernal) were penned by none other than Sermignatto himself, and chronicle the various cruelties and torments inflicted upon the people of Thassilon by the runelords. The book, which smells faintly of brimstone, contains seven chapters, one for each runelord, but the chapter on Runelord Sorshen has been heavily notated in Ileosa’s impeccably fine penmanship. Ileosa seems to have been particularly obsessed with something called the Everdawn Pool, a device she believes still exists today in the ruins of the Sunken Queen. According to her many notes, this magical artifact granted Sorshen her immortality, and the gathering of samples of blood from thousands of “supplicants” is but the first step to replicating this achievement. Once the Everdawn Pool is ready, it can draw forth the lifeblood of these thousands to infuse a single creature with eternal youth. In short, Ileosa intends to sacrifice many of Korvosa’s citizens to attain immortality. Among the papers are lists of all the people whose blood she has surreptitiously gathered, including your own and many of your allies, with indications that Ileosa’s agents gathered the few drops needed from any one of the countless battles you engaged in during the course of your time in Korvosa.
A search of the scrolls in this room turns up several powerful magic items, including a scroll of banishment, two scrolls of binding, a scroll of etherealness, a scroll of gate, a scroll of greater planar ally, a scroll of greater planar binding, and a scroll of plane shift. A copy of Ileosa’s agreement with the Red Mantis assassins is found here as well—a document that has little monetary value but is priceless as hard evidence of Ileosa’s true nature even to her most devoted followers. An elegant teak and ivory potion rack (itself worth 900 gp) contains 3 doses of fool’s leprosy left over from the king’s poisoning, along with a short note on how to administer the venom.
Sitting on the top shelf of the bookcase inside a permanently invisible gold and ruby scroll tube worth 3,000 gp is an infernal contract between Ileosa and Sermignatto. Inside the scroll tube is a sheet of human-skin parchment containing a contract written in blood.
While much of the contract is, by design, unknowable by mortal minds, you determine that, essentially, the devil Sermignatto has agreed to provide Ileosa with infernal aid, minions, and even a bound devil to augment Ileosa’s body and mind in return for her promise to turn over part or all of Korvosa to the bdellavritra and his unspecified superiors once she has finished her current goals. Destroying the contract won’t free Ileosa from the payment she promised or release the devils from her service, since a copy of the contract has been safely filed away in the Fallen Fastness in Dis.
The contract reads:
MATERIAL PLANE, being the FOURTH Incarnation of the THIRD Cycle of Mortality, on file in Fallen Fastness 9485784,3728:7845,9888495.
This is a lawful contract between SERMIGNATTO, Lord of the Bloody Quicksands, and ILEOSA ARABASTI, honored Queen of the Mortal City of Korvosa.
HEREAFTER shall all agents of SERMIGNATTO be consigned to the rule of ILEOSA, such that the following agents of the Nine be bound by her word: MAVROKERAS; the brothers known as YALLOPS; the erinyes DECABBARA, EVEANIE, SUISHANI, and VERASIA; and all Imps and Lesser Bodies who report directly to the agents listed above.
IN ADDENDUM shall the erinyes heretic ZANZINARIA be BOUND body and mind to ILEOSA, forthwith to augment her flesh and spirit against all things vexing and unforeseen until such time as she might wither and die, whereupon such bondage shall be null and void.
In recompense, shall all pending debts held betwixt these agents of the Nine and SERMIGNATTO be declared null and cancelled by SERMIGNATTO in case of ILEOSA’S successful commitment to perform the following services on a forfeit basis:
1. Support and preparation for future expansion as deemed necessary and desirable to one whose name shall be found on file in Fallen Fastness 4420,40200:0,88490 upon the Salt Towers of Dis, whose name is struck from this contract yet known by the undersigned to be one whose hand guides these words.
2. Pursuant to her own goals, ILEOSA pledges the fundament and development of Korvosa as open ground and fertile soil for infernal use, as recorded by the Infinitium Charters and the Voiceless Vexations of the First-Flensed.
In code 9485784,3728.7845,9888495. Subject to Asmodeus’s veto, honor to his name.
Signed in blood and bound by soul—
Ileosa Arabasti
"As if we hadn't enough reason to kill her already." Tyrandro tells.
This will be all the evidence we will need to have whatever forces are left hunted down. Ayako squirrels the contract away.
Iolana, can you use these scrolls?
"This is the evidence we need to show her evil, and her agreements with devils, the murder, and the collaboration with the Red Mantis."
"I can use the scrolls. I'll have to concentrate hard to cast some of them, but I should do all right if we need them."
It would be fitting if we brought in celestials to help fight Ileosa and her devils.
Our work here seems to be done, so let us return to Sabina and the others and tell them everything we have found. Then we can track down Ileosa. Ayako is ready to go.
Iolana teleports you out of the castle and back to the Grand Cathedral of Pharasma. You find that the temple is largely empty of rebels compared to the last time you were here but the Archbishop greats you upon arrival.
Keppira d’Bear takes you back into her chambers so you can brief her on your report of your achievements within the castle. And she fills you in on the activities going on within the city.
”While you were assaulting the castle, the rebels staged swift strikes against various strongholds under Ileosa’s direct control. Soon after, riots and battle filled the streets as the rebels began taking back neighborhoods from the remaining Ileosan loyalists, Gray Maidens, and other holdouts. I would say, overall the rebellion is successful as long as Ileosa does not return. Any remaining agents of the queen would be making a fatal mistake if they try to show their faces in public right now. But until Ileosa is dealt with and a new ruler is installed, the threat of civil war remains. However, you should no longer fear violence when publicly walking the streets. Commander Kroft, Vencarlo, and Seneschal Kalepopolis have returned to Citadel Volshyenek since they no longer need to remain in hiding. You should seek them out there and fill them in as well. As for your friend, Ishani, it is quite unfortunate what happened to him. I could attempt to raise him but I think he would prefer to be returned to his own temple, the Bank of Abadar. You can bring him there safely now or I can arrange for it as I understand the urgency of the other matters you need to attend to.”
Once you are done at the cathedral, your next stop is Citadel Volshyenek. Cressida Kroft happily receives you in the bastion of the Korvosan Guard and you give your report.
”Excellent, you’ve accomplished all of the goals I set out for you and then some. The evidence you’ve provided will be more than enough to convince even the staunchest of supporters that our cause is justified. Castle Korvosa now stands more or less empty. Any remaining Red Mantis assassins have retreated back to Mediogalti Isle to report their failure. The Gray Maidens are disbanded, but there are still survivors about. Sabina continues to act in the shadows to tie up those loose ends. It sounds like you’ll be chasing after the queen west towards the Mushfens and to the Sunken Queen. While you tend to that final task, I will mobilize the remnants of the Korvosan Guard to reestablish order. Neolandus and Endrin are more than willing to step forward to help as well. Korvosa’s citizens have been through a lot lately, and until Ileosa is defeated for certain, they aren’t quite ready to celebrate, but it’s not too early to begin the job of rebuilding. If I may, I’d like to have the head of the Acadamae, Toff Ornelos, take a look at that book you found, the Truths of the Sihedron. Anything information we can gleam of this Everdawn Pool that is referenced would likely be beneficial. I will make sure this is a top priority so why don’t you rest for the night, and by the morning, I can inform you of anything discovered.”
There is this problem of the blood taken and intended sacrifice. Evacuating the city is unfortunately near impossible since leaking word of this would cause a mass panic.
"Here take the book. Let him look it over. I'd like any information w can get about this place and the ritual."
She's happy to rest and breath for a little while. "I'm glad that the city is becoming less dangerous and everyone has been able to return."
Sebastian will try to see his sister, and Vencarlio for a few minutes before the group rests.
"What is that sunken queen? I hope that is no place under water?" Tyrandro voices his concerns.
Mushfens sounds like a pretty wet place. We ebst be prepared for fighting underwater. Ayako glances at Tyrando's bow.
"So is the sunken queen a ship at the bottom of the swamp or what?" Tyrandro inquires.
Time to examine the library?
You hand over the book to Cressida while you go and research the Sunken Queen. There is little information on the subject but you are able to find out that the Sunken Queen refers to an ancient Thassilonian monument that served Runelord Sorshen as a symbol of her enduring power. It's original name is lost to time. In Sorshen's heyday, the majority of her realm was fertile farmland. With the fall of Thassilon, much of her nation slipped into the sea, and most of what remained above the surface became the vast wetland known now as the Mushfens. Over the ages, the Sunken Queen began to capsize into the Mushfens, tilting 20 degrees toward the southeast before coming to rest on a shelf of solid bedrock under the swampland. It's physical description is a massive four-sized pyramid with a giant relief of Sorshen on the south-facing side.
After that, you rest up. The next morning, you receive a letter from Darb Tuttle, the high priest of the Bank of Abadar that Ishani Dhatri was offered resurrection but his spirit refused. He has found happiness in the afterlife and has chosen to stay.
When you return to Cressida, as promised, she has information on the Everdawn Pool for you. Actually, the head of the Acadamae, Toff Ornelos, is waiting with Cressida to present the information personally.
He says, "The runelords of Thassilon had a long tradition of placing power into pools, liquefying and containing raw magic to harness for a multitude of goals. The runewells are perhaps the most notorious of such artifacts yet others exist as well. But they learned this technique from the artifacts of those who preceded them. The Everdawn Pool is one such artifact. Unlike other magical pools, the Everdawn Pool needs no well as a container. It is a 30-foot-diameter sphere of roiling, churning blood in which brief glimpses of limbs and faces constantly form and dissolve."
"Records of where Sorshen first discovered the Everdawn Pool have been lost, if indeed they ever existed in the first place, along with any hint of who or what may have created this potent font of magical power (although certain obscure sources hint at Leng and the creatures known as the scarlet walkers that dwell in that nightmare realm). What seems certain is that she--and later, other runelords--were able to reverse engineer some of the Everdawn Pool's properties and build pools of power of their own. In many cases, these pools even surpassed the Everdawn Pool. Yet the Everdawn Pool remains the first. It provided a legacy that helped shape all of Thassilon, and was a significant part of what gave Sorshen the boost in power to claim and keep the role of Runelord of Lust for the duration of that ancient empire."
"The Everdawn Pool requires specially prepared blood to function. A single drop of blood and a 12-hour ritual performed by a capable spellcaster is enough to awaken the pool and grant it a charge. It is said that if one spends time bathing in the blood of the Everdawn Pool, that person becomes infused with its power for a short period of time. In addition, the pool has a number of other powers."
"A person infused with the Everdawn Pool's power can creature a blood simulacrum of herself. Multiple simulacra can exist at the same time."
"The Everdawn Pool can also create life, forming a loyal minion determined by the power of the creators soul and personality."
"Third, the pool can grant eternal youth. This requires blood samples from numerous mortals to be mixed into the pool. Once this step is completed, a person must immerse herself in the pool, soaking in the pool's power. Once the ritual is complete, all of those creature that provided blood samples drop dead, and for each donor that dies, the user ceases to age for one year. From the records you found, Ileosa has harvested the blood of thousands of Korvosans, and if she completes this ritual, she'll remain young for thousands of years--more than enough time to repeat the ritual as needed to extend her effective immortality. The distance from the pool is irrelevant, so evacuating Korvosa will not save its citizens from this fate is Ileosa is allowed to succeed."
"Finally, the Everdawn Pool can also be used to cast the wish spell, but only in the capacity to duplicate any existing spell."
"It is likely that Queen Ileosa is very close to completing this ritual. I must stress the urgency of reaching her immediately."
I'm about as ready as I can be. What about the rest of you? Any preparations that need to be made before we leave? I've never been to the Mushfens. Any suggestions on how to get there fast? I don't think teleport will work if I've not seen the place."
Looks like we will be using horse or feet. Rather ironic perhaps that we are back to our two feet like in the beginning of this mess. We best see about getting some Water Breathing if we must swim into the marsh.
Ayako is saddened upon hearing about Ishani's choice about staying in the afterlife.
"Let's talk tactics a little more. What was it about this false queen?" Tyrandro inquires. "You said something about foul magic, didn't you?"
"Let's talk tactics a little more. What was it about this false queen?" Tyrandro inquires. "You said something about foul magic, didn't you?"
"A person infused with the Everdawn Pool's power can create a blood simulacrum of herself."
That was no doubt what we faced in the castle. No doubt there will be other copies of her helping defend her.
Yay more witchy women. Blech. I wonder how many she can make of herself at once, and if there's a way to tell who the real queen is."
If we can find and destroy that blood pool, then we will have the advantage.
"You kill them all. The one who lasts longest was the real queen." Tyrandro comments.
Ayako will go shopping for scrolls and potions along with improving her equipment. Durign which, she pets Mushu on the head.
Sorry, I want you to stay here since I believe it for the best. Make sure you work with Fluffy and Majenko to help keep the streets safe.
Mushu oinks sadly.
Be brave.
Tyrandro inquires about a gondolier but quickly finds that no sailor in his right mind is taking a raft into the monster-infested swamp called the Mushfens. However, the Greenrust Reef is a relatively commonly known coastal landmark and a local ship captain points it out for Tyrandro on a map, about 360 miles west of Korvosa.
With some brief research into flight spells, you determine that wind walk will likely get you there the fastest and will only require a single casting of the spell. Archbishop D'bear gives Ayako a scroll with the spell on it as a gift both as thanks and to speed you on your way. The spell allows you to travel at up to 60 miles per hour, which is fast for Golarion travel (outside of teleport) but you still spend 6 hours in gaseous form as you soar over the landscape.
The Greenrust Reef is an odd, rocky formation on a sand bank a few hundred yards from the swampy coast of the Mushfens. The path indicated on the map as the “Trail of the Frog” is in fact a boggard route marked periodically by 18-inch-tall stones shaped like squatting, humanoid frogs. This trail leads north through the swamp 30 miles directly to the Sunken Queen.
Surrounded by a grove of primeval mangroves and draped in sheets of moss and vines, the immense horns that top the Sunken Queen seem to claw at the sky like the talons of an gargantuan monster drowned in an abyss of mud. On the east side of the pyramid, which leans heavily into the marshy slough, one of the three original horns has collapsed, leaving a jagged, metallic stump. On the south side, barely dented by the elements and millennia of neglect, is a giant relief of a standing, naked woman, her lean, idealized figure immersed in murky water up to the knees.
As they approach the pyramid Tyrandro takes a close look at it to search for entrances.
I could send elementals underwater to look for an entrance. Or we might even just disintegrate a hole in the wall. Opening doors is so out of fashion for us.
"Are we going to do our usual thing and just announce our presence with an explosion and a hail of arrows? I like the elemental plan. Let's see if we can get they lay of the land a little more before we enter."
High impact violence has served us well
Ayako chants under her breath and draws a line in the water that parts and
Three humanoid watery shapes hop out. Ayako directs them to swim around the Sunken Queen and comes back if they find an entrance.
"How much of the structure could you make disappear? Half?" Tyrandro asks. He'd really like the idea, to suddenly have all the enemies in the open, with them flying above and raining down death.
The water elementals do find an underwater entrance. However, they also find the guardian of said entrance. One elemental is immediately destroyed and the other two flee back to you to report.
They describe the room as: A set of stairs descends to a submerged hall. Near the bottom, the tilted stairway drops into a horizontal layer of silt. The walls and the four massive pillars supporting the ceiling are decorated with hundreds of stylized images of the same beautiful woman carved onto the pyramid’s face.
And they describe the monster that attacked them as a purple, seven-armed octopoid monstrosity the size of a house, with hook-lined tentacles and cold, blue eyes.
Tyrandro's search also turns up a second entrance. Hidden behind a permanent illusory wall is an entrance to the second floor of the pyramid. This entrance looks to have been created via disintegrate spells and then hidden behind an illusion to prevent others from finding it.
Giant squid creature. it will certainly be fighting at an advantage since Tyrando's bow will be little use.
"Let's take the dry entrance then." Tyrandro tells pointing to a solid looking wall.
Certainly sounds good to me. Ayako blesses the group before they head in
You enter the Sunken Queen through the hidden entrance that Tyrandro points out.
The Sunken Queen’s interior is made of hewn basalt blocks. The floors, walls, and ceilings are finished in white or green marble tile, and despite the structure’s age, they are clean and unscathed.
While the steep angle of the chamber’s floor is unlikely to matter much to flying characters or to swimming characters in the flooded areas, it does make it navigating through the pyramid on foot difficult. The floor slopes down toward the southeast at a 20-degree angle. Movement along the floor requires a successful DC 15 Acrobatics check—remember that when a creature balances in this way, it is considered flatfooted. Whenever a walking creature fails one of these Acrobatics checks by 5 or more, it falls prone and slides to the southeast until it strikes a wall, taking 1d6 points of damage.
Unless otherwise noted, the ceiling height in the chambers averages 50 feet, while the ceiling height in passageways averages 25 feet.
The entrance tunnel goes in 30 feet and then becomes a 'T' intersection. Because of the tilted floor, the southeast hallway to the right is submerged underwater while the northwest hallway to the left is dry.
A single boggard stands watch at the intersection. Instead of attacking, it lets out a loud croak and abandons its post to retreat northwest.
The terrifying croak requires a Will save DC 13 or become shaken for 1d4 rounds. While you are all unlikely to be affected, the croak is extremely loud and alerts anything that may be in the nearby areas.
Laori casts air walk on Tyrandro. "I'm fine, I don't have any agility to lose anyway." she tells.
Ayako wobbles a bit on the floor and then utters some of her obscene spell language which causes black ooze to erupt from her back and lift her off the floor. She seems to be floating but it is hard to tell since the tendrils crawl along the walls and ceiling as they support her.
"After the toad then." Tyrandro tells and takes up the pursuit.
Iolana casts Fly on both her and Sebastian. "Let's follow the loud thing."
Seb is fine from the croak, and accepts the spell and goes speeding off after the creature.
Ayako follows along
Which all of you with some sort of flying ability, you give chase after the fleeing boggard who does not make it far, but does make it to the next room.
The northwestern portion of the sloping flagstone floor of this chamber has been fitted with a crude horizontal wooden platform. On the platform are nine filthy straw mats, leather bags, and fishing rods.
Within the room are 5 additional boggards. The boggards have worked themselves up into a frenzy and beat their greatclubs against the ground in a menacing rhythm.
Boggard 1 (if it isn't dead) wheels around and swings its greatclub wildly like a baseball bat. Sebastian observes the tell in its movement and sidesteps out of the path of the swing.
The menace of the boggards comes to a hilarious halt as three of them hop off the wooden ledge and all tumble down the slope until they slam into wall.
The last two remain on the ledge and croak. Which is 2 more Will save DC 13s or become shaken for 1d4 rounds.
"That is ridiculous." Tyrandro states with a straight face and a raised brow.
Seb stabs at the boggard in front of him with his rapier.