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You have each received a missive, asking you to come to the city of Vellumis in the heart of the crusader nation of Lastwall. There, Venture-Captain Shevar Besnik maintains a rowdy inn and gambling hall known as the Ace of Dreams, which also serves as the Uscalin Pathfinder Lodge.
You are welcomed into the common room, and escorted by a hostess to the Venture-Captain's office. Shevar, a slender, middle-aged male human, greets you warmly.
Seoni is one of the first to arrive if not the most alert. She yawns tiredly, after spending a long night of revelry, with a few particularly handsome defenders of Lastwall. She nods at each of the agents when they arrive, keeping close to a nearby waste basket, should need arise.
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A young elven man arrives. He wore outfit made for traveling the hot region of Osirion, a longbow, a longspear and an heavy backpack filled with books, and traveling tools.
He seems amused that the Lodge is inside a gambling house so much secret can be discovered here! A good choice of location for gathering informations...
He bows and says with an Osiriani's accent. Nice meeting you I'm Daeron Woodblood.
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Prisim bounces into the Ace of Dreams. Which is just as well, she is seriously short, and the only way she has any hope of seeing others in the crowded room is with the occasional jump.
Looking around she tries to work out who the other pathfinders are. Spotting the famous Seoni she hops over to join her fellow arcanist.
"Hi Seoni! I'm Prisim." and then waves to Daeron when he too enters. "Hi there Woodblood. Though I must say, I'd have thought red blood was more use. I'm Prisim, and I'm one of the Sisters of Shelyn. Well, that is what we call ourselves. Not sure where the others Roses are. We call ourselves that too."
She gives him an appraising look. "You're not related to Lannior are you?"
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A Human of Shoanti decent joined the others at the Venture-Captain's office. A rapier and short sword are on his hip with a holy symbol of Desna around his neck, and appears to not have any noticeable armor. Like other Shonanti, he does not have any hair.
"Greetings everyone, I am called "Two Blades in the Shadows" and while I can help patch you up, as the name suggests, I do most of my work from the shadows." he said as he made introductions with the others.
A barbarian woman walks in, a large sword strapped to her back. Approaching the group she says Amiri
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"This is so great. I love meeting new Pathfinders. And you are all so tall. I like that too. Mostly because people don't normally bother me when there are tall formidable looking folk about."
She flashes a smile at Two "I can do a very small amount of healing too. My BFF, Polly, she taught me all about laying hands and everything."
Once everyone seems gathered..Seoni finds a seat and flops in it, Hi everyone... She says in a rather muted voice, You'll have to forgive my appearance.. Seoni manages a weak smile while taking everyone in, Late night last night...my name is Seoni by the way...nice to meet you all.
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Loud and raucous conversation flters through the door from the common room of the Uscalin Lodge as you introduce yourselves, and the Venture-captain searches frantically through piles of papers and numerous boxes on his desk. “I know it’s here. I had it just a moment ago.” Besnik's face parts in a toothy grin as he lifts up a solid oak box. “Found it!” As if to punctuate his discovery, a crowd of players in the gambling hall erupts in cheers. Distracted for a moment, Besnik stares at the closed office door that leads to the common room. “Desna laughs. Well, she laughs at me, but she smiles on them.” The venture-captain shrugs. “All they have is gold; what I have in here is far more valuable.”
Besnik opens the box’s lid painstakingly slowly, careful to keep the contents out of sight. With reverence, he lifts a large tome from the box and gently sets it on the table. “Careful, the binding hasn’t held up well. This is one of the few copies of the Tome of Righteous Repose left in the world. I’m pretty sure there’s one in the library of the Sancta Iomedaea in Vigil, but I’m—well, let’s just say I’m no longer welcome there. That’s a story for another time.
“Up until today, I’ve only skimmed the pages. I didn’t want to damage it, but now that you’re here, I can’t wait any longer. Care to plumb the depths of this most ancient and wonderful storybook? Oh, the marvelous adventures we will soon read! This tome is a collection of tales describing how various crusaders died gloriously and honorably. I’m hoping to find some clues in the text that will lead us to an as-of-yet undiscovered site or relic. Maybe we can trade a bit of what we find with the Knights of Ozem and earn ourselves some goodwill. After what happened last time, we need it.
“Care to peruse the pages with me?”
“Care to peruse the pages with me?”
With the mention of the Knights of Ozem, Seoni suddenly snaps out of her stupor and eagerly blurts out, Yes! Let's have a look! I was just out last night with a couple of the defenders..Strong courageous people they seem. I'd love to know a little, of their most honored and ancient Order's lore!
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“Oh yes, strong and courageous -- and stuffy, prudish, and suspicious too! Well, perhaps not the ones you were out with, dear lady, but their leadership has yet to fully trust me again after what happened with the Boartusk Twins.”
As he speaks, Shevar begins turning the pages gingerly, examining the poems and art inscribed in the parchment.
KNOWLEDGE (LOCAL) OR LINGUISTICS
KNOWLEDGE (HISTORY OR RELIGION)
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This gnome poet was may be a friend of your deity my dear Prisim. His style is not the one of an historian, but may be he could give us hints about what happened during the war against the Whispering Tyrant...
Knowledge is a powerfull tool in the hand of the right people.
What do you think this tome could reveal for us Captain?
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What do you think this tome could reveal for us Captain?
“Well, early crusaders had amazing adventures fighting the Whispering Tyrant, orcs, and a whole host of other threats, but they don’t have very many records that aren’t as dry as an Iomedaean’s hip-flask. This tome gives us important insights into the crusaders’ adventures. Rellakarabee Fustbickle, the gnome author, interviewed dozens of crusaders and wrote about the most heroic and tragic deaths in this book. It wasn’t very widely published, so it’s been difficult to get my hands on it. The poetry is a bit purple, too. Not really my style—but perhaps it’s something some of you’d be able to help me interpret?”
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"Epic tales are told around the camp fire on a cold night to inspire others, not written down. While I do not know much about this Rellakarabee Fustbickle, I have a feeling that he might have "embellished" some of the incidents, looking through the eyes of a poet and not as a historian." Two Blades said.
Seoni looks at the book amazed at the beauty of the calligraphy but, understanding very little of the content. better to be silent, and let people assume you’re simple... than open your mouth, and prove them correct... Seoni sits silently observing the others pour over the text.
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For several minutes, Besnik and the six field agents turn the pages placidly, until they come across a beautiful illustration of three armored women in a style distinctly different from that common in the Inner Sea. The Venture-Captain jolts upright. “Minkai art! Let’s see, the Minkai Empire was founded in 3619, and the empire’s first explorers didn’t reach the west coast of the continent until at least 3691 AR, which leaves only sixty years before the beginning of the Shining Crusade itself. These women could have been among the first Minkai citizens to reach the Inner Sea! Let’s see, what secrets does the poem on this page hold?”
Turning to the poem on the opposite page, he is slightly disappointed to see that some of the ink was smeared or otherwise obscured, so that several of the words are unintelligible. He nonetheless reads what remains:
“Rondeau of Righteous Retention”
The Whisp’ring Tyrant lurks below,
Feeding on peasants’ fear and woe.
The god’s faithful set a border,
Shielding with their knightly order.
Hidden beneath Gydular’s snow
[illegible] shining glow
[illegible] darkness he would sow,
[illegible] Minkai warder.
Still the Tyrant lurks below.
Only few, the location know,
In case Tar-Baphon’s power grow
And find [illegible]
Trusted few knew [illegible]
But they were [illegible]
Still the Tyrant lurks below.
Lurking tyrant? I like the sound of that
Seoni tries to follow what's going on but, finds it difficult follow the obscure book and harder to follow the rambling Venture Captain. Excuse me Venture Captain Besnik, what do these three woman from ancient Minkai, have to do with the whispering Tyrant? I thought Tar Baphon's second incarnation was imprisoned by the ancestors of Lastwall a thousand years ago? Seoni's forward is furrowed in concentration, What do these Minkai dames have to do with any of that?
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Besnik smiles reassuringly. “We may not be able to read every word of this poem, but what we can read is more than enough to tell us that we need to investigate this site. What is clear to me is that the poem references some sort of protection against the Whispering Tyrant. The Knights of Ozem have always been secretive about the many and varied ways they keep that old lich locked away in Gallowspire, even among themselves. It’s possible that they have no idea this particular protection exists. Whatever Gydular is, it must be important. Perhaps it refers to a location, somewhere within Virlych perhaps? As for the Minkai women, these lines of the poem, 'Minkai warder' suggests they were part of the Shining Crusade's resistance against Tar Baphon.” He turns the page and finds another poem about the same subject, referencing a "bold Samurai" and "faith in the rising sun". “If I'm not mistaken, that indicates a follower of the Tien Sun Goddess, Shizuru.”
[spoiler=DC 20+] The Knights of Ozem have compartmentalized knowledge of the locks on Tar-Baphon’s magical prison. This removes the threat of any one Knight becoming compromised and allowing an enemy to gain knowledge of all the prison’s safeguards.
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Two Blades thought a bit about what he knew, and passed on to the group his knowledge of the area.
"One of my teachers like to talk about the area and what he knew about the imprisonment of the Whispering Tyrant." Two Blades said. "He mentioned that Virlych was a wasteland of Ustalav where nothing natural lived. The weather is punishing and the ground rocky. Travelers sometimes passed through the area but not many. Gallowspire was where the Knights of Ozem imprisoned the Tyrant, putting many wards in the area to keep him secure, but that was long in the past and might have weakened over time as their prescience in Lastwall has waned."
"Now the one of the ways the Knights kept him locked up was by making sure that no one person has access to all of the wards, parceling bits and pieces out among the group." he added.
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Daeron recalls seeing a very old map of the Hungry Mountains with a peak labeled "Gydular's Point". Tallwun remembers his elders telling of a powerful earthquake centuries ago in this region that crumbled an entire mountain to massive slabs of jagged rock. Following this lead, the team is able to find a location: Gydular’s Point was once a famous peak in the Hungry Mountains, as the view if provided of the surrounding area was both majestic and militarily strategic. In 4187 AR, a powerful earthquake crumbled the peak, leaving an area of debris that locals renamed the Greyshards.
“That's worrisome -- the earthquake might have disrupted or destroyed the site in question. However, if it was a dwarvish build, they know how to weave magic into the stone to protect it from even such dangers, so it may very well still be intact. In any case, I will give you all some equipment that you may find useful in your exploration. Anything you don't use is part of your compensation.”
Besnik hands over a traveler’s any-tool, a wand of cure moderate wounds (5 charges), and a wand of protection from evil (7 charges), as well as six flasks of holy water and one soul stimulant.
A light would be appreciated. I can light a torch if no magical light is available.