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Anashka offers Fog a bright smile when he clinches up the last clasp. "Thanks so much. I feel kind of silly putting on chain mail to go to the museum, but better safe than sorry. Are you all ready for action or do we need to make any stops along the way?" She slings the pack across her shoulders and grabs the haft of her glaive obviously ready to go.
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The team hurries back to their rooms to quickly gather the things they will need for the coming mission...
Honored Servant of the Empire,
I understand that the agents of the Empire are not always successful. Consider this, simple task, a way of redeeming yourself in my eyes. I will get right to the point: This Blakros Museum is possessed of a number of interesting pieces. Weapons are fine, gold is always amusing, but me, I am more intrigued by masks—the more exotic the better. They can prove most useful, especially with so many fascinating balls and parties approaching. Collect for me at least four masks unlike any to be worn by other dilettantes of Oppara this season. Do this and you shall bask in the beneficent radiance of my gratitude.
Honorably,
Baron Jacquo Dalsine
Firebrand of Freedom,
You light the way to a better age with your continued bravery. I can’t express enough how grateful our nation is for your peerless service. We once more have desperate need of your talents. An agent of ours is in peril. His name is Sheg Wraithbane, a half-orc adventurer of note who was keeping tabs on the Blakros Museum for us, posing as a night watchman. We fear for his safety. A strange curse has befallen the place and we’ve no word from him. Find him. If he lives, bring him safely from that accursed place. If he has perished, then you must bring his collection of keys to me immediately. He wears them on a ring on his belt. I would trust this task to no other. May your sword arm know no equal, may your wits prove thrice as fast as your foes.
Sincerely Yours,
Captain Colson Maldris
Firebrand of Freedom,
You light the way to a better age with your continued bravery. I can’t express enough how grateful our nation is for your peerless service. We once more have desperate need of your talents. An agent of ours is in peril. His name is Sheg Wraithbane, a half-orc adventurer of note who was keeping tabs on the Blakros Museum for us, posing as a night watchman. We fear for his safety. A strange curse has befallen the place and we’ve no word from him. Find him. If he lives, bring him safely from that accursed place. If he has perished, then you must bring his collection of keys to me immediately. He wears them on a ring on his belt. I would trust this task to no other. May your sword arm know no equal, may your wits prove thrice as fast as your foes.
Sincerely Yours,
Captain Colson Maldris
Firebrand of Freedom,
You light the way to a better age with your continued bravery. I can’t express enough how grateful our nation is for your peerless service. We once more have desperate need of your talents. An agent of ours is in peril. His name is Sheg Wraithbane, a half-orc adventurer of note who was keeping tabs on the Blakros Museum for us, posing as a night watchman. We fear for his safety. A strange curse has befallen the place and we’ve no word from him. Find him. If he lives, bring him safely from that accursed place. If he has perished, then you must bring his collection of keys to me immediately. He wears them on a ring on his belt. I would trust this task to no other. May your sword arm know no equal, may your wits prove thrice as fast as your foes.
Sincerely Yours,
Captain Colson Maldris
Most Worthy One,
The Ruby Prince loves his subjects as you well know, but even he has enemies among Osirion’s greatest families. The Matl family has long proven a thorn in his side, and indeed their duplicitous brood has plagued our great nation for centuries, ever since Lakma the Usurper claimed control over the family’s destiny. Thankfully the arm of history is long-reaching, and we at court have long suspected Lakma’s treachery.
The true ancestor of the Matl family was one Taltuma-Matl, a wise servant of the pharaohs. His true will was never discovered, and in it he most likely names a distant cousin as the beneficiary of his family’s wealth and honors (knowing full well his closer kin, Lakma, was nothing but a vile, self-serving wretch). It has come to our attention that Taltuma’s remains are housed at the Blakros Museum, beyond our reach. We believe his last will was interred with him. Find it. If we can prove Lakma had no legitimate claim to his family’s holdings, we can embarrass his descendants at court who vex the Ruby Prince, thus solidifying his power and perhaps even paving our way to glory.
In Unfathomable Gratitude,
Amenopheus, The Sapphire Sage
Tender Supplicant,
You must prove yourself worthy of bliss: something strange is afoot at the Blakros Museum. Evil spirits vex the place and foul mists run its corridors, driving men mad. Driving men mad is a deep interest of mine, as you well know. Find the source of this infestation of power and bring me a sample of it, so I might study it. Do this and you shall know Hell’s most lustful delights.
Deeply Yours,
Paracountess Zarta Dralneen
Meeting back in the entrance hall of the Grand Lodge, the team heads out into greater Absalom. Despite the late hour (or perhaps because of it!), the journey to the museum is uneventful: However, upon your arrival, a chilling sight greets you:
The Blakros Museum rises into the night sky, its single black spire severing the full moon in twain. The black iron gates surrounding the exhibition hall grind in protest against the wind. Beyond, the museum’s large oaken doors stand wide open, a silver-gray mist belching forth from the cavernous darkness within...
...do you dare enter?
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You also learn that shortly after his return to Absalom, many of the monkeys and apes in the city’s menageries attacked their keepers and fled into greater Absalom... perhaps the two things are connected...?
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"Oh no... what happened to the staff? Are they doors open because they fled too terrified to properly lock up or because something finished them off and fled into Absalom?" Anashka strikes the butt of her glaive on the cobblestones and the head begins to glow with a soft light. "Its time to find out." She begins heading up the stairs into the fog cautiously with her glaive lighting the way ahead.
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Anashka turns back from the mist briefly, bows her head and holds the glaive upright with a two handed grip. "Our Lady in Nirvana,
As you daily find the strength to resist the whisperer of souls, so too grant us some measure of your divine will as we go now into danger unknown." So saying she steps forward and brings two fingers up to her lips then steps in to lightly touch Kovar, Wadi and Fog on the lips in turn.
"This is a house of art holding objects of beauty from across time and beyond the Inner Sea. My faith is not a militant one, but I cannot allow priceless works of art to be lost due to some kind of Mwangi curse. I'm afraid it is time to put an end to this. Come." She beckons to the others and again leads the way into the mists pouring out of the museum.
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Crossing the threshold, you find yourself in the main atrium for the museum. A small ticket kiosk has been knocked over, spreading coins, pencils, museum brochures and various touristy nick-knacks across the floor. The grand entrance-way’s vaulted ceiling is supported by six great pillars of hewn black stone. Braziers mounted on the pillars cast white radiance from balls of continual light. The light glimmers eerily in the silvery haze that fills the atrium, giving the impression of something alien watching from the glowing fog, even as it pulses in waves, like the heartbeat of some spectral, eldritch beast.
As the party tremulously enters the chamber, an unnatural cold spreads throughout the room, and tendrils of silver-gray mist flow out from the main mass, effortlessly piercing the flesh and gently caressing the bone in a cold embrace, at the same time as fingerlings of fog dart for every exposed orifice that they can find...
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...but rather than being concerned, you feel the overwhelming urge to join in, as it resonates with the savageness deep within your souls.
You have both degenerated into ape-like proto-creatures, little more than brutish animals. The benefits of this template are:
An afflicted creature’s Intelligence and Charisma scores are both reduced to 6, and the creature gains a +2 bonus to its Strength and Dexterity scores. Additionally, the creature becomes immune to fear, gains a +10 bonus on Climb checks (and a climb speed of 20 feet), and gains a +5 bonus on Acrobatics and Stealth checks. The creature also gains a slam attack (1d4 damage for Medium creatures). This template adds +1 CR to the base creature.
For a moment, you are confused; you are surrounded by creatures that do not share your... connection... but then you recover, remembering that they are your friends and allies, not intruders...
...their forms warp and twist, and they degenerate into strange, ape-like proto-creatures, covered in fur, with large canines and long neo-simian arms that drag on the ground. Despite all of that, they are still horribly, recognisably Fog and Kovar...
They turn on you with a hiss, but check themselves at the last moment, a spark of recognition in their eyes.
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Kovar steps into the mist and nearly drops to his knee, dizzy and slightly nauseated. It passes a few moments later and he lets out a gigantic whale, "Awwhhoooooooooo." Then then bounds towards Grey using both his hands and feet to propel him to his companion. Kovar takes a moment to look over the wolf. Once satisfied, he starts to pick off insects from the wolves' mane and groom his fur.
If anyone comes close, he snaps at them viscously clearly wanting them to stay back. Thankfully this only lasts for a few moments. Kovar is happy with the look of his wolf and is ready to move along.
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Alie picks up the brochure, and shows it to her fellows. "Look here. I say we check every room as we come to them, so nothing should be able to sneak up on us."
Saying that, she rummages in her pack and pulls out her trusty new wand. She uses a charge on herself, increasing her magical defenses. "I believe I owe you a couple shots of this for last time, Wadi," she adds, as she uses a charge to increase her friends defenses as well
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Wadi nods in appreciation to Alie's assistance. "Thank you for that help, Alie. We should also try to find the stairs leading down to the basement. As for those monkeys..." He grimaces. "You are probably right, Tal. I don't think we can reason with them. We have to be careful here not to slaughter them, as one of them could be Nigel."
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Anashaka turns back with a start when she hears Kovar hooting like some kind of beast. "Oh. Well this is awkward." Once Fog sniffs Alie without becoming aggressive she breathes a sigh of relief.
Tal points out the howling to the East and Anashka nods, "Let's get out of this hall. First door on the left?"