The halfling's kinetic blade strikes Folloch as the nagaji looks on with a studied eye.
Combat Round Three Cont'd/Round Four Begins
Bressa (grappled)
Delance
Teke
Omero (prone)
Skyllik
Folloch -15 HP (grappled)
Omero stands and tries to move.
He falls prone again.
Folloch, though injured, tries to get himself free.
However, he is unsuccessful.
Combat Round Four Cont'd/Round Five Begins
Bressa (grappled)
Delance
Teke
Omero (prone)
Skyllik
Folloch -15 HP (grappled)
A gleam of mystical armor seems to partially deflect Delance's blow, but he nevertheless manages to strike the priest hard. Folloch's body slumps in the brawler's arms.
With Folloch and his guards defeated, the party is soon met by a throng of grateful villagers, many seeming to have suddenly regained their senses.
"What happened?" some of the gathering villagers seem to be asking.
"Folloch's wand." another offers in explanation. "It must be some sort of mesmeric baton ."
Yet another comes forth, an elderly woman with a huge smile and pleading eyes. "Folloch Teag--he made us appoint him mayor... and worse! We are so very thankful for your intervention." she explains.
The villagers offer to cater to your needs throughout your stay in their small town and take up a collection of coins in an effort to repay you for securing their freedom. The collection consists of 300 gold pieces. "It is but a small gift," the village elder notes, "compared to the gift that you have given us all!"
With that, the village erupts in cheers, celebrating your heroic deeds!
With the help of an appreciative scholar in Allenstead, you were able to decipher additional portions of notes provided in Ulisha’s journal. Now translated, these notes recount the tale of a Pathfinder who, a few decades earlier, had uncovered a cave containing petroglyphs of the Rain of Stars—an event that occurred thousands of years ago during the Age of Darkness. This Pathfinder took note of the cave’s location and made rubbings of its etchings before shipping the papers off to the Grand Lodge in Absalom for evaluation. Although interesting, the find did not warrant further investigation, so plans to examine the rubbings or explore the cave were shelved.
The notes recount that Ulisha had found herself searching through a storeroom for a rare urn, when she came upon the decades old rubbings. Unlike the Pathfinder who preceded her, Ulisha noticed that the rubbings actually mapped a crash site from the Rain of Stars. By traveling back to the Pathfinder’s cave and surveying the hills from that vantage point, Ulisha notes in her journal she believes she has now pinpointed the location of this crash site.
Accompanying this notebook entry, Ulisha filled the next several pages with crude maps, complex equations, and further notes. Having returned to the Pathfinder’s cave mentioned in her previous entry and by observing the angle of the ridgeline and her current position, she was able to calculate the crash site’s probable location. The last page on the matter includes a detailed map into Numeria with various landmarks and a destination. An addendum written in recent ink warns, “Tread lightly. Numeria remains a mystery to the rest of the world. Those who stay too long draw unwanted attention.”
During your journey, you have plenty of opportunities to recall information about the land of Numeria that you may have already learned or to gather some from among the locals you meet during your travels.
Your travels take you back toward the northeast, back toward Gralton. On your journey, you find that Ulisha’s map is straightforward and easy to follow. The journey is not difficult. As you approach the Numerian border, you find it unguarded and you are able to easily slip across.
|
"Some say that the object that fell during the Rain of Stars was not a meteor at all, but in fact a massive ship carrying advanced technology and creatures from other worlds. The local population views this technology with suspicion and prefers to reclaim then often destroy any such finds they come across."
|
"Adamantine? I'd sure like to have some of that. Armor. Weapons. Both. Stuff like that can really come in handy." Her gaze seems to go unfocused. She is obviously imagining encounters that would be made different by having said metal. "Reclaim? Hell no! Not if I find any."
Other than that, she keeps to herself and watches for danger. There are threats everywhere.
As you climb into the Numerian foothills toward the area indicated in Ulisha's journal, the trees become sparse. A series of switchbacks rises to a low summit. The view is phenomenal at the crest of this hill, where the map Ulisha provided indicates a crash site. Vast plains extend to the north, where clouds gather on the horizon. To the south, the Sellen River cuts a definitive border between the River Kingdoms and Numeria.
Whatever it was that that fell from the sky and crashed here is quite large and it was once deeply embedded into the side of the hill. Over time, the hill has eroded, covering the mysterious object under layers of dirt. You believe you should be able to unearth a fair amount of the enormous object by hand.
After only a few minutes of digging, you uncover a solid metal surface buried below. The metallic object is ovoid, just over 10 feet in length and 5 feet in diameter at its widest point. The metal is strange and unfamiliar.
The entire object appears to be artificial in nature and relatively undamaged. The gleaming, metal exterior resembles something more like the hull of a vessel than natural stone or ore that has been shaped by the forces of the earth and the elements. Unearthing the crashed object feels more like recovering the remains of a wreck than excavating a buried meteorite. Its surface is scratched and dented but unbroken, and a 3-by-5-foot section of the side appears as though it could be opened on a hinge.
With the door to the artificial object opened by the nagaji, you are all able to peer down within it. The inside of the wrecked object is cramped, bearing many similarities to the interior of a sailing vessel.
A single chair made out of the same strange metal as the walls faces the hatch, dozens of straps hang inside the device, and an array of levers and buttons lines the interior on one side. Several dozen palm-sized metallic discs and an unadorned silvery bracer lie scattered across the interior.
|
Teke is curious enough to pull some levers, but is disappointed to see them not do anything, when really he should probably be relieved.
"Some kind of big machine it seems. Darn thing's all broke now though..."
Then a last lever he pulls starts to close the hatch. Teke freaks out and pushes it back to avoid being forever entombed (until someone again pulled it open at least).
"This is definitely what Ulisha was looking for, but what did she want done with it exactly? Carry it back?" Teke looks around at all his much larger companions, hopeful he won't have to do much pushing or pulling.
|
|
"I sure as shoot ain't carrying that thing back. But maybe we can make some drawings of the levers and chair and stuff. Maybe take some rubbings?" She looks around. Is there any more to the interior? Or is it just one room with a chair? Her eyes scan the room again while slowly voicing her fear, "Where's the captain? If he went down with the ship, shouldn't he be at the wheel? His bones at least."
After an extended search of the vessel, the party finds nothing more of value. Once you have recovered the items discovered within, you exit the pod and descend the summit, working your way down the switchbacks.
Suddenly, a fierce woman dressed in traditional Kellid garb steps out from the surround brush and blocks the path.
“Stop there,” demands the Kellid woman who,, you can now see, hefts a massive blade. “You’re are not from here, and those things are not yours. Give us the silverdisks, all the gold you have, and anything else you found there. Then you may live.”
You notice that the woman is not alone.
The Kellid woman seems to consider her response carefully, then speaks.
"Very well." she partially concedes. "You may keep your gold and be on your way, but only if you leave the silverdisks as well as any other skymetal objects that you have undoubtedly planned to smuggle from our territory."
"These are our terms. Should you find them unacceptable, then we will instead simply claim what we want off your dead bodies." says the woman as she grips the hilt of her blade tightly. The other Kellids follow her lead.
"It is your turn, now, to be 'smart and prudent'." she remarks before inquiring, "Do we have an agreement?"
|
"We found the skymetal and have taken it into our possession therefore by right it is ours unless you have clearly written documentation from a duly recognized authority showing your claim to it. If you happen to have such documentation then by all means show it to me." Omero waits a brief moment before continuing on. "Ahh, I can clearly see you don't have legal authority to lay claim to the skymental but would rather act as highway men do and steal from those who rightfully found and claimed it. Unfortunately theft by armed force is not a prudent way to go for you. Now I suggest you be on your way or else I will be forced to bring the full weight of the law down upon you."
The Kellid woman, perhaps finding the barrister's attempts to practice his profession within a jurisdiction where, she concludes, he likely maintains no license, begins to visibly seethe.
"Do we have an agreement?" she repeats, more forcefully than before.
|
|
Single-mindedly assuming he is talking about her, Bressa nearly blushes. "Why thank you, Omero, I had no idea you thought so highly of me." She lowers her crossbow a little and looks expectantly at the Kellish woman. He's just trying to get rid of you, you know. a little voice in her head says. No, he's not like that. His code would never allow him to do that. And on that note, he would surely never hit a woman who wasn't gravely threatening his life. True, but I have a feeling she won't fight fair. That might be his angle. Nah, besides, I'll be dammed if I'm fighting fair. She's too full of herself. Needs to be taken down a notch. Wait, what are they saying?
Realizing that the party will not part with its recently acquired treasure, the Kellid woman let loose a battle cry. Her companions respond by bringing their weapons to the ready.
Combat Round One Begins
Omero
Teke
Kellids
Skyllok
Bressa
Delance
The leader of the Kellids charges toward the party with her greatsword held high!
However, Omero is prepared and slices deep into her with his halberd.
She drops the paladin with a single blow!
Her other comrade with a greatsword moves swiftly toward the party.
The other two each move forward and send arrows flying at the party.
An arrow pierces Teke.
Combat Round One Cont'd/Round Two Begins
The nagaji's enchanted club drives the Kellid tribeswoman to the ground and to the door of Pharasma's court!
Combat Round One Cont'd/Round Two Begins
Skyllik
Bressa
Delance
Omero -15 HP (dying)
Teke -3 HP
Kellids
- Lead rager (red) -22 HP (dying)
- Rager (yellow)
- Warrior (blue)
- Warrior (green)
The newly human skald strikes hard against the raging Kellid ; the Halfling is less successful.
Combat Round One Cont'd/Round Two Begins
Bressa
Delance
Omero -15 HP (stable)
Teke -3 HP
Kellids
- Lead rager (red) -22 HP (dying)
- Rager (yellow) -14 HP
- Warrior (blue)
- Warrior (green)
Skyllik
Bressa, walking around with her crossbow loaded as she usually does, takes a pot shot at an enemy before deciding whether to close to attack.
Her bolt drops the injure Kellid rager .