The Sapphire Sage shrugs. "I was not able to scry on the two scoundrels, but we should not delay." He reaches into his robes and holds out a letter. "This is from Venture-Captain Norden Balentiir."
The Sapphire Sage has requested our help once more as his hunt for the lost order of the Jeweled Sages and their iconic gemstones continues. Amenopheus tells us that Kafar and his pupil Nefti have snatched two of the gems: an emerald and a yellow topaz. It goes without saying that the Aspis Consortium’s involvement in this matter troubles me deeply; I will not have them outwit us as they did my colleague, Hestia. It saddens me that such a pair of brilliant operatives may die before your mission is over, but I would sleep better knowing that they were no longer a threat to the Society. Were that they had chosen to become Pathfinders rather than pawns of the Aspis Consortium!
I hereby deputize the Sapphire Sage Amenopheus to lead this expedition, and you shall assist him in his quest. Remember our tenets: explore, report, and cooperate. I look forward to receiving word of your success.
Godspeed,
Venture-Captain Norden Balentiir
After you had read the letter, he smiles."To answer your first question, yes I will be coming along."
Gathering what information you can on the way out of Eto, you learn that witnesses report seeing a rather tipsy Nefti playing the flute in various taverns throughout Eto over the past several weeks, though he hasn’t been seen for three days. Also you learn that a man matching Kafar’s description recently visited a local herbalist and apothecary.
After readying supplies, the party sets out with Amenopheus in tow, heading toward the Pillars of the Sun. Once you get to the outskirts of Eto, the Sapphire Sage gathers you in a circle and teleports the group to the northern edge of the Pillars. Here you are able to find the trail used by Kafar and Nefti.
After fours hours of trekking in the hot Osirion sun, the group reaches
a place where the winding path through the spires splits. Studying the trail for a long time, Amenopheus looks up and says. "I cannot tell which is the correct trail. I believe the best course of action is to split up and follow both. You takes this path and I'll take the other. Don't fear, I will maintain contact with you." With that, he heads off in one direction, while you head off in another.
Your path leads them to a series of switchbacks that ascend the steep side of a gorge, and approximately one hour after Amenopheus’s departure, you reach an immense cliff where the tracks simply end.
The party suffers through the worst of the heat, though Khamul does not bear it very well. Searching around where the trail ends, Corb and Shana notice a a crevice in the rock face that leads to a trap door that descends deep underground.
Entering the trapdoor, you finds yourselves in an underground chamber. Enigmatic hieroglyphs cover just about every surface of this chamber excavated into the mountain. Bas-relief engravings stretch along the walls all the way from the lofty, tapered ceiling down to floor level, their eerie pictography suggesting an unnerving story. Toppled columns, crumbling shreds of cloth, and potsherds scattered throughout the chamber attest to the place’s abandonment and antiquity. Small holes in the vaulted ceiling let in thin beams of sunlight but do little to illuminate the chamber.
that tell the story of two monsters fallen from the stars in the aftermath of Earthfall.
As the party investigates the chamber, Shana notices what looks like a hairless blue lion with twin tentacular tails and a dozen or more thick tentacles that quiver and twitch where its mane should be, luking behind one of the columns!
At the same moment she notices the creature, a twin of the first bounds out and attacks Titus!
The creature's teeth glance off of Titus's armor though!
Shana casts a spell on Corb, while the other creature moves toward the party!
Corb rears back and chops one of the creatures in half with his greatsword!
Kahmul takes a hefty chunk out of the other creature!
Suddenly, four skeletons rise from the rubble and move to attack!
The lion-like creature lashes out at Corb and Khamul, biting the Garundi!
Corb cuts down the other creature with ease!
Khamul bends his will to overcoming the will of the skeletons and all but one obey his summons!
Titus completely destroys the skeleton to the north of him. At that moment, a hound of some sort appears, ten feet in the air, in the middle of the room. It casts a baleful glare at Titus!
Titus luaghs off the creatures gaze then follows up by pelting it with missiles of force!
Corb smashes his weapon into the hound, while Kahmul misses it twice!
Shana fires an arrow, that pierces the hound, dropping it to the ground!
Searching, the party discovers a worn-out leather strap hanging from one the lion creature's mouths. The strap appears to continue in the creature's gullet, perhaps still attached to something.
Further searching finds a few items that look to have been here a long time, a extremely well made dagger, a pouch of dust, and a sheet of beaten gold with strange writing on it. (Aklo)
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"Here, let me see that golden sheet. I believe I can make it out."
Khamul will also detect magic in the entire area as he looks around.
"Interesting that the pictures seemed to come to life, or were perhaps just storing the true thing; we should watch out for such tricks in the future, just in case."
Titus pulls the leather strap and extracts a pouch from the creature's stomach. Within the remains of the partially digested pouch are tattered pieces of journal. The journal remains include entries include poetry and music composed by Nefti, as well as mundane day-to-day observations. The last several pages record Nefti’s complaints about the Aspis Consortium’s lack of appreciation for his accomplishments. A folded sheet of paper wedged in the journal bears the title “Potential Partners” and names the Pathfinder Society among other well-known organizations.
Khamul reads the gold sheet and finds that it describes a prayer one can perform under the open sky to channel the power of the stars.
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"I would say so, Titus. And in addition it sounds like he is unhappy with the Aspis Consortium and has considered joining our side. Perhaps this ordeal can end in negotiation and the acquisition of a new agent rather than bloodshed."
"This plate could be useful in recharging the Ruby Sage's power bestowed in each of us, but we should be careful. Performing the ritual could attract the notice of something beyond the stars as well."
Looking around, Titus notices some boot tracks. The tracks lead toward the rear of the chamber and then disappear. Fifteen feet further, Titus notices a door buried under rubble. He also notices that where the bootprints, two sets, disappear, there are cracks in the floor the would appear to breach a lower tunnel.