The purple in her face slowly subsides and she puts away her weapon. "Very well, I will accompany you. But I'm keeping a close eye, you hear? By the wrath of Sarenrae, I will strike you down if you so much as think of stealing."
"I am Onyeka, High Priest of Sarenrae. You would do well not to anger me, serpent."
Ahead, the door of Arkath's mausoleum is sealed with a sturdy stone slab.
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"Onyeka, Lady Priestess, there's a mystery that stretches beyond a hundred years that we need your help to solve. While I appreciate and understand and admire your steadfastness, all of our research points to a builder- -well, an ex-builder now" Jillia shrugs, with an embarrased smile before continuing "a builder by the name of Arkath being buried with a key that should link everything else together. If you have a moment, we could explain it all to you."
Jillia moves to the slab and paws around for a good place to push or pull or lift or slide it somehow.
"Or we could skip right to trying to find it? Respectfully, of course," she adds gleefully.
Purple rage builds in the priestess's color again as the Pathfinders push open the vault. Fortunately, she can't quite find a reason to forbid you from doing so, since she agreed to let you visit the tomb.
The inside of the tomb is not particularly interesting, so the team peels open the sarcophagus (again causing nigh apoplexy for Onyeka). A careful inspection of the skeleton reveals a small silver coin tucked in the mouth of the skull.
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"Onyeka? Is that normal?" Jillia asks, pointing at, then reaching for the coin in the mouth of the skull, before realizing that grabbing something from a sarcophagus probably could be interpreted as 'grave robbing.' "It doesn't look normal."
Without permission to snatch the curious coin, Jillia will settle for the closest inspection she can make without touching the corpse.
Maybe there's something we're missing.
Xanac announces that the coin is a very special coin, known as a Pathfinder's Coin. When placed above a wayfinder, the coin will play a short message that is then erased permanently.
Jillia knows that the placement of a coin in the mouth of the deceased is not a typical practice of Sarenite burial rites, and Onyeka confirms this with a sullen "no..."
After Jidai obtains a resentful agreement from Onyeka, Xanac uses mage hand to levitate the coin from its bony prison without disturbing the remains. Jillia places the coin atop her battered wayfinder and, after the coin spins a moment in the air, a gravelly voice fills the air:
"The path and chamber are complete, hidden behind the nameplate of the requested aspirant and guarded by the word you requested. Fimbrik will add more."
The others are eager to leave the ticking-time-bomb cleric Onyeka behind and follow Agis out of the cemetery. Arriving in the Ascendant Court, the Pathfinders find the streets a crush of teeming spectators eager to watch Sir Reinhart's attempt at godhood. The Shrine of the Failed is wholly devoid of visitors (and attendants) and largely closed off, but someone forgot to close off the stairs leading down to the lower level.
Silmor's alcove is as the team remembers it. Agis messes around with the nameplate on the altar and finds that it slides out of place. Behind is a miniature chalkboard and a single piece of white chalk.
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"Deeply sorry for your troubles, Lady Priestess. Know that the good you've done today is worth ore than any gold. Even still, a donation for the trouble- -call it a good Turn." Jillia says reverently, offering a 10 gold donation to the Church of Sarenrae an a four-foot-high high-five.
"Hopefully a spot to write a password," Jillia says, briefly looking it over, ( ), before scrawling 'wiffle' in messy cursive script.
This had better work.
Writing the password on the chalk board does work! The illusory wall hiding the secret door discovered at the team's last visit disappears, and the portal itself opens. Beyond is a narrow, natural-looking stone tunnel that bends northwestward toward a dim light. The Pathfinders advance cautiously along and arrive a small, cleanly cut chamber.
Several desks are arranged along the northern and eastern edges of this stone alcove. Whereas the stonework leading to this chamber is rough, the walls in the chamber are polished. A single gem rests among the neatly filed papers on the desks, emitting a soft luminescence that brightens the small room.
The papers on the desk are written primarily in Azlanti script, although anyone performing a field translation reports that the text comes out a gibberish. Still, this trove likely represents a very significant find (or several).
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"nice catch Xanac. These are all coded, easy enough to see. Shouldn't be too hard to work it out given time..." Agis cracks a crooked smile. "this is more what I expected as a pathfinder. "
-Posted with Wayfinder
Xanac reports that the gemstone has continual flame cast on it, although the spell seems stronger than usual.
By the quick assessment of Agis, it will take weeks to decipher all of these documents. In fact, he has a difficult time finding enough backpack space for all of them. Still, everything is eventually loaded and the team prepares to depart.
Back in the Shrine of the Failed, the Pathfinders are surprised to find three black-robed figures awaiting them with hoods up and weapons drawn...
The dwarf holds only a holy symbol, while the half-orc bears a club and the halfling a rapier.
Round I -- bold may act!
1. Jillia, Xanac, Agis
2. Dwarf (red), Half-orc (green)
3. Jidai
4. Halfling (blue)
5. Tsschas
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Agis steps a bit to the left. He inhales sharply as the air crackles around him. Something like a slow moving reverse shock wave enters the man before he rockets forth a blast of kinetic every towards the dwarf.
for
-Posted with Wayfinder
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Wow... crappy rolls.
[ooc]I forget if I used my reroll yet. If NOT I'll do so now. I will be at a memorial service tomorrow and not likely to post. If I used my reroll, consider this my round 2 action.
-Posted with Wayfinder
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Xanac stares at the interlopers with wickedness in his eyes. "Ah. Now this is the part I'd been waiting for...." A subtle, sudden shift is noticeable in Xanac as he says this: If there can be any such thing as a "black glow," he is emanating it, and one is tempted to imagine a cruel, unnatural smile on his expressionless mask.
He stares at the half-orc, and their very existence seems to shudder, like delicate glasswork exposed to a great noise!
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The dwarf must be the biggest threat.
Jillia snaps into action, immediacy guiding her limbs as she dashes towards the dwarf, drawing a short sword.
"In the name of the turn," she shouts, thrusting at the dwarf.
"We're not alone," Jillia calls out, "stay on your toes!" She draws her sword, pointing at the three enemies she can see, and rallies the party, "Explore, Report, Co-Operate!"
Jillia charges at the dwarf and nearly impales him with her sword. A profane energy helps redirect her thrust at the last moment. Agis doesn't give a damn about that and ripples air at deadly velocities through the dwarf, who collapses to the cold stone floor. His holy symbol clatters beside him.
Not to be outdone, Xanac bends the shadows to inflict great pain upon the half-orc. She grits her teeth and whispers well beyond the range of audible hearing. Jidai hesitates, unexpectedly afraid that a charge may become her death.
Round I -- bold may act!
1. Jillia, Xanac, Agis
2. Dwarf (red), Half-orc (green, 3 dmg)
3. Jidai
4. Halfling (blue)
5. Tsschas
As Jidai grows rapidly in size, the halfling darts around a column to stab Jillia in the gut.
HIT
Round I -- bold may act!
1. Jillia (15/20 hp), Xanac, Agis
2. Dwarf (red), Half-orc (green, 3 dmg)
3. Jidai
4. Halfling (blue)
5. Tsschas
Tsschas sends a spear glancing off a nearby pillar and Agis's kinetic blast accidentally sends it flying in a perpendicular direction. Jillia stabs her halfling opponent in the lung, staggering him, and Xanac follows it up by ripping said lung asunder. The halfling bleeds to death a few moments later.
The halfling gazes at the towering Jidai and extends a crooked finger, from which springs a black ray. Fortunately, it passes just under her massive arm. The woman turns to flee...
MISS
Round II -- bold may act!
1. Jillia (15/20 hp), Xanac, Agis
2. Half-orc (green, 4 dmg)
3. Jidai, Tsschas
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And Agis looks on, grabbing hold of a piece of rubble with his mind and hurling it at her. for
-Posted with Wayfinder
The two psionics team up to take down their last foe and the Pathfinders make a hasty break for the Grand Lodge (after looting the bodies, of course). Helpfully, the crowds around the Starstone Cathedral are beginning to disperse amid hushed whispers about Sir Reinhart's doomed attempt at vaulting the chasm on horseback.
At Skyreach, they find Dreng to present their findings. "...yes, I heard he just fell straight down. Poor fool. Whatever was he--oh, hello again. Brought my wine, have you? My, that's quite a stack of papers you have there. From Selmius Foster you say? And someone named Eylysia! Yes, this will be very interesting indeed. Thank you for such a thorough investigation, and with no prompting at all! Hmm, let's see... who of you have yet to be assigned a Confirmation? Yes, well, I'll recommend that the Masters assign you one right away. The rest of you I am sure will receive another assignment soon... Let's get studying these right away!"
A few days later, each Pathfinder receives a missive:
Pathfinder,
Your recent investigations and recovery of agent Eylysia’s papers have already yielded results. Under my direction, a team of scholars has tracked down the long-retired Society ciphers the gnome used and translated many of her entries. Although several of these records present valuable leads, our contact Amenopheus has identified one that is especially timely and exciting.
Osirion’s borders have not always run where they do today--Ancient Osirion has survived for more than six millenia, and its dominion stretched to Nex and beyond. However, opportunities to study the land’s earliest days are few. The ruins that Eylysia identified i northern Nex are ancient in the extreme, dating back to the Age of Darkness, when desperate survivors of Earthfall sought refuge any way they could. Eylysia reported that the Arclords of Nex had left the ruins largely untouched and under the guardianship of the local girtablilu; there are no signs of further explorations since her report. This site may very well provide a pristine view into the lives of those who experienced the Age of Darkness, allowing us to expand our understanding of that period.
Venture Captain Roderus is taking great care in selecting the agents to delve into these ruins. While I would not normally recommend that agents as new as yourselves delve into a mission so fraught with potential dangers, you show promise and may very well be prepared by the time he is ready to launch the expedition. In the meantime, if you can help me identify other promising agents to take on this project, I would consider it a great service.
Highest regards,
Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin
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To Dreng. "it feels good to actually make a difference. I've long desired to put my training to use, and I will continue to train even as I grow. Thank you sir."
To the others, "as a recruit I had delusions of grandeur, but I'm learning the value of a good team. Thank you. I hope to be team up with you in the future."
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Are all misssssions like this??"
"But of course!" Dreng winks.
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When the last interloper is defeated, Jillia jabs her swort sword into the air, a four-foot-three-inch-high salute to the Calamitous Turn.
"They were no match for us!" She exclaims, sheathing her sword and offering high-fives to her companions, compatriots, comrades, and co-conspirators. (She gets a running start to jump high enough to high-five Jidai).
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Jillia will congratulate anyone who just got assigned to a Confirmation, wishing them 'luck- -or better yet, victory!' And likely another couple rounds of high-fives.