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"Xûll would perhaps be fun, but not for very long," Xûll repeats, "I would perish long before you. I am much more interested in freeing you from here, Sellana. However, we have been sent here by a Jeweled Sage to retrieve these objects and other signs of the Diamond Sage (as well as the others). As such, this would not be stealing, merely retrieving for the rightful owners. These owners, I imagine, will be able to free you from here... and returning home would relieve you of the burden, yes?
"We cannot contact our Jeweled Sage until we have discovered the fate of the Diamond Sage. Those items in the fountain will help us to discover what happened to him... so... can you please retrieve them for us and give them to us? Oh, in addition to returning the things to their rightful owners, I also think it is not stealing if we are given the things... by you. If you please?"
If she gives him the ole 'stay with me for eternity speech again', Xûll says "Perhaps soon I will join you for a while and relieve the boredom... but we must fulfil our obligations first."
I'm just shocked it was not Warpac she wanted to have stay forever. Simply shocked.
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Korasu mulls over things for a moment, before speaking to the elemental "Ah, thinking about your requirements:
You cannot leave. What if we were to take you with us when we leave?
You are to guard the secret door. If someone opens it without moving the cartouches, you are to attack. Ergo, we are free to go into the secret door.
You are to guard the shiny things. If someone is to steal them, you are to attack. What if you were to give them to us freely?
Would these satisfy your instructions?"
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"Do not be too quick to obtain the objects in the fountain. We know of two cursed items already. They too may be cursed. It is a difficult thing to detect such things. I only barely was able to see through the illusion on the belt. Let us enter the room and fulfill our quest. Leave the plunder to the fools who thirst for such things."
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1. She gives them to us... or
2. They're ours by rights anyway (because we're working for a Jeweled Sage).
Also, putting coins in there doesn't seem like paying for them since she doesn't own them... but I understand how PFS can be at times, so...
Xûll is taken aback that Sellana does not seem to agree with his line of reasoning. Suddenly, he is struck by a (very generous) inspiration from out of nowhere. He throws a few gold coins in the fountain and says, "Here you are, now we've paid for the shiny things. You said they were worthless to you, so I think the price is more than fair. No thievery going on here whatsoever."
The big Shoanti reaches down and retrieves the shiny items, giving them to the more astute Pathfinders for inspection. "Please, bear with us while we search through this room here for signs of the lost Sage. I promise to return and alleviate your boredom for at least a little while as soon as we are done following this course of investigation."
Making a deal with the water woman, Xull throws a few coins into the fountain, and explains that his life's purpose is to give people items and they give him shiny things. This is called buying, not stealing.
She looks at him with her water face, and though the Pathfinders cannot read her expression, she seems to stare blankly at him nonetheless. "That sounds ... well that sounds boring."
As the Pathfinder move to retrieve the wand and the wayfinder, they notice that the scimitar the statue is wielding does not appear to be fully attached. The grab it off and add it to their cache , Warpac throwing in a few more coins figuring with his luck it would be a terrible monster that would try to kill them all like the water woman. Best be safe rahter then sorry." he says as he slowly walks to catch up with the rest.
The three arcane users are able to determine that the wand is a Wand of lesser restoration (10 charges) and the scimitar is magical.
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"Best to leave those 'magical' items for now gentlemen. You just never know." Pooka looks at Warpac with veiled pity.
A dwarf would rather punch me in the face than accept my pity. I better be careful.
Pooka walks Luna towards the secret room, checks the cartouches (mainly for the water woman's benefit) and then pushes the door open, excited to see what is behind it.
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Toorin seconds Pooka's suggestion on the items. "If we are in a desperate situation and a magic weapon is needed, I can cast a spell to provide the effect for a short while. If we need restore someone's health urgently, we can try the wand, which I'll carry, unless someone else wants it."
He gets an idea for mollifying Sellana. To Xûll he says, "Tell Sellana that if it will amuse her more, I can stay a while and she can teach me her language. It is a beautiful tongue and, as we now know, useful. We will need to be sure the place is secure, however, since that could take a while for one as slow as me to learn her lovely language."
As the Pathfinders move towards the secrect room, Pooka does a last look over the cartouches, before pushing the door open.
They glance over their shoulders and see the water woman once more vanish under the water of the fountain.
She pokes her head back and up stares at the elf. "Toorin, you will will be fun. Yes? And you will be with me much longer than Kiras."
As the Pathfinders enter, The rich scent of palm wine, cinnamon, and myrrh fills this magically illuminated storehouse. Each wall has deep slots filled with papyrus scrolls. A white-and-black marble altar enveloped in faint wisps of faerie fire sits squarely in the center of the room. A ladder to the south leads up to a walkway, with more shelves and a golden sarcophagus.
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With a gratified glance back at Toorin, Warpac makes his way s*l*o*w*l*y into the next room and observes with chagrin as Xull swiflty passes him by.
"Don't open anything until I get there!" he calls out.
When he finally gets there he stops and says, "Whoooaaa. They are going to be sooo excited about this back in Absalom, but why do I have the feeling we shouldn't just grab scrolls? Remember what I said about us not being thieves? It sure would be nice if we had a skillful one with us right now. Any of you know anything about traps, magical in particular?"
After a pause, "Is anyone here?" he calls out in common?
Of particular interest to Warpac is the alter, on which he begins a detailed search after someone with decent trap-finding skills takes a look.
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"Well isn't this an interesting room." Pooka looks around.
"I have a tingling sensation in the back of my brain that whoever was racing us here is not to far behind. Yet even still, I feel we need to spend some significant time cataloging and searching through this room. If this is the sanctum of the sages, then I would not want to leave any stone unturned, or any hidden caches unfound."
Pooka begins a step by step search, coordinating with the others and cataloging in his journal as they go.
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Korasu stands, beak agape as he takes in the trove of knowledge here, before feverishly searching for any information on the Sages, or whatever looks the most interesting. "Ah! We should try to take a cursory examination for whatever is most relevant! As much as it pains me to say, it would likely take days, if not a year to properly examine such a find, not the hours that we might have before our competition arrives!"
He doesn't look to see if the others follow suit, literally climbing the walls (though he makes a requisite search for traps...)
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"I have some training the delicate work of disabling traps, not because I'm a thief but because I am a Pathfinder who has to deal with situations such as this."
"Of course, of course. I've never met an actual thief you know. Seems anyone I've ever met who has those particular talents use them legally from what they tell me. Care to take a break from our water lady and come in here and take a look?"
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Amarok seemed shocked that his theatrical performance seemed to garner a reaction from the bound elemental, though with his point portrayed he left itnup to the others to ask her for the information. He spends the time listening intently to the groups discussion with the wayer maiden, secretly happy that her attentions had been thrust upon Xull, who seemed to be mostly taking it into his stride.
Once they were theough with their discussions, Amarok set off through the secret passage with a careful step and eaychful eyes, stepping through the corridor he caught himself in awe of the room he now found himself in. Inhaling deep the scents, which seemed oddly fresh considering this place had not been entered for some time, he begins searching around the altar for anything off, out of place, or important.
"What a fascinating find" he intones with reverence, "I wonder how they kept it so preserved, especially the scents."
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Pooka begins a categorical search, but realizes that the group is pressed for time. He moves a little faster, paying slightly less attention to detail, but leans on the walls, desks, shelves, and grabs whatever implements he can in his search on the off chance one of them opens some secret catch or compartment.
The Pathfinders understanding what a treasure trove of information they have discovered are in awe of the secret cavern. If only they had hours, days, to explore and read everything in depth. Sdaly the remember Grandmaster Torch's words, "“I’m going to throw you something extra for free—just because I’m such a caring individual. You’re not the only ones who know about that site. I hear a group of foreigners set out from Totra not too long ago and are after the same prize. Sounds like there’s no time to waste.”
The archive contains a trove of history from the Age of Destiny. Specifics will have to wait for later, possible even on a suede couch in the Grand Lodge, mid-day light filtering in through the lead windows.
The altar is consecrated to Nethys, obviously, which explains the perservation of the numerous artifacts in the room. The smell, also.
The sarcophagus contains a mummified corpse that seemed to be dress in fine, though sorely outdated, raiment. It appears to be dead much than the other two corpses they have found. The absence of a wayfinder also indicates that this person was not associated with the other two.
A small shrine next to the sarcophagus holds coded notes in Ancient Osiriani
Searching the shelves reveals a
- collection of spell scrolls.
- The chest on the walkway contains five bottles of holy water
- A stack of ancient platinum coins
- five spell component pouches
- three scholar’s outfits in red, yellow, and green, cut in a style common millennia ago.
- 1 - a scroll of bless
- 2 a scroll of magic weapon
- 3- ?
- 4 -?
- 5 scroll of remove disease, 23
- 6 - ?
- 7 a scroll of elemental speechAPG 23
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"That scroll of remove disease would be useful, if no one else has cause to use it. I am pretty sure that zombie chunk is coming back up at some point, and the longer it actually stays down, the longer I am worried about it." Pooka says grimly.
"I am sorry I can't help identify the magical items. Times like this make me feel rather useless."
Pooka sighs as he looks around.
"Nothing else in here? That seems strange. There isn't much left in this place to explore, so perhaps we should do one more quick look before moving on to the last space. I'll ride out to the entrance to see if anyone is coming. I hate being surprised like that."
"Real quick, could someone take a look in that second wayfinder we found? Perhaps there is some initials or clues in that one. At least we could tie it back to the man who died of starvation entertaining our elemental friend."
With that, Pooka mounts up on Luna and takes a quick trot out to the main door, looking outside for any dust clouds in the distance that might mark the passage of another company or caravan.
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Xûll waits patiently as the others pour over the scrolls he helped to find. When Pooka gets up to leave, he does so also. "Yes, let us be out of here... unless you've found something of note, Toorin?" Xûll looks expectantly over at the transmuter, who looks like he has found something, "That room Pooka is heading towards looks to be the logical next step. I just hope I'm not waylaid by that overly amorous water elemental again..."
A small shrine next to the sarcophagus holds coded notes.
The notes are question-and-answer sessions conducted with the scholar’s spirit. The questions concern the preservation of memory in magical jewels and the crafting and repair of such jewels The notes explain that the sarcophagus allows a creature touching it to commune with any corpse placed inside. This ability can be activated once per day, as the spell speak with dead (CL 8th), though the visage on the lid speaks the answers rather than the corpse.
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"Communing with that spirit?" Lort looks on doubtfully, 'We can put any corpse in there. Why not the Pathfinder we found near the entrance, or the one the elemental is guarding? Besides, it looks like all of the relevant questions have been answered. Toorin can no doubt crack the code, right Toorin?"
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"I second your suggestion Xull. I would very much like to know what our pathfinder brethren were doing here, and why at least one of them was left to starve. Even if they didn't find the answers we seek, they can at least help us narrow our search down by telling us what they did find."
"Can't say I have ever looked forward to speaking with the dead, but this sounds like it could be fun."
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"If the body in the sarcophagus is one of the sage who fought and died here, then the notes of someone trying to forge new jewels or at worst, trying to weaken the current ones is an issue. Though the alternative is that the diamond sage was asking this soul for answers on the jewels."
He thinks pensively for a moment, weighing several possibilities in his mind before speaking again.
"Though why there would be Pathfinder Agents here without our being told so, unless of course it was an exploration of their own, is a mystery I would like solved. Yes, let us question the Pathfinder unfortunate in the previous room. If only we had the time to ask all three."
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After sharing what he learns about the coded message, Toorin listens attentively to the suggestions for whom to question. "I think we should question the sarcophagus' current occupant. It seems likely that the Pathfinders fell victim to the various traps set up to prevent theft, or maybe they fell prey to wandering predators native to the area. In any case, they did not make it to this room, which means they probably did not find what we seek, information on the location of the diamond sage or the jewels. If these notes were the work of the corpse here interred, then he is the one most likely to have information we can use."
Toorin carefully packs away the notes he decoded so they don't get damaged in any fights while the others discuss what to do next.
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"Actually, I think the ancient one in the sarcophagus will have the most useful information. The dead pathfinders did not look like they made it very far. Besides, we are taking the pathfinders back and they may be questioned back at headquarters. I don't even know if the body currently in the sarcophagus can handle being moved. So I vote questioning the old body."
"I mean, what if we get to the jewels and there is a bunch of them and we need to know which is the right one and make a quick escape? What if there is another trap? I very much doubt the ones that fell to the previous traps would be any help! Any number of possibilities occur to me and the dead pathfinders would not have the answers any more than we live ones do."
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Xûll pulls out a shiny coin from his belt pouch - one of very few left in there after their recent purchases. "Heads, we pull the Pathfinder in the next room's corpse. Tails, we do the one already in there. Sound fair?"
The man doesn't know his own strength, and the shiny silver piece flies high in the air, spinning end over end for what seems like too long a time. Eventually, it lands and bounces off the floor, then off the sarcophagus itself and then lands on the smooth flagstones, rights itself on its side and rolls around the room before hitting Warpac's very slow foot.
"Tails it is! I guess at least now we don't have to touch a corpse - or risk talking to Sellana again," Xûll notes cheerily, "Someone better practiced in magic should give it a go."
Warpac, the subject of so much ill-luck lately, resolutely stands with his patroness and relies on the flip of a coin to determine their fate. He is rewarded with a successful flip and feels that his luck might finally be turning around.
Toorin, Warpac, and Korasu again look at the notes detailing the procedure to activate the sarcophagus. They begin by clearing the area off all debris, and arranging the notes on the alter of Neyths parallel to the white and black half.
After performing some ritual cleansing, the each take a side on the alter, leaving the side facing the sarcophagus unmanned. As one, they begin to chant. The raise and fall of the pitch has a hypnotic effect on the assembled. They try to maintain their focus but the temperature is slowly rising, as the cloying smell of the wine and cinnamon become stifling. Collar are loosened and Luna begins to back into a corner, slowly growling.
The three are lost in the arcane flow of magics, unaware of the uncomfortableness of the companions.
Just as their chanting reaches it crescendo, sound reverberating from the walls, all light is extinguished plunging the chamber into darkness.
A sound as if stale air is pressed through a hollow reed begins to hiss through the room. The air continues exhale for an extended period of time, longer than another race can possibly hold their breath.
In a burst of light, the room returns to it ambient light and temperature, if a bit colder. Each turn and look at one another.
The only difference is the face on the sarcophagus is now animated, and the lips appear to be smacking together, making a faint 'clink' noise and the air still escapes it.
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The pathfinders whisper in the corner, trying to come up with the best questions to ask, knowing they only have precious few. Finally, Pooka screws up his courage and asks the one he thinks is most important for context.
"Who are you?" he speaks with forced confidence, only his natural halfling bravery keeping him from completely freaking out at the disembodied lips of the mummified person.
The candle lights flicker momentarily, as the mouth on the sarcophagus opens unnaturally wide. The sound of air escaping can still be faintly heard.
"I ...... am........" the sarcophagus intones as the body still lies motionless.
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Xûll looks to Pooka, a little worried about the simplicity of that question. He turns to his companions as they explain who he was, "Do you think this pharaoh will even know the diamond sage? Surely, he's not that old. Can't hurt to simply ask him "what is the exact location of the diamond sage"? Although, I'm beginning to feel maybe the coin made us pick the wrong corpse. We should perhaps be best served asking questions about the history of this place rather than the location of some more recently lost jeweled sage."
Again the wispy rasp of a steady breeze flowing through a small opening rises slightly, and the mouth of the sarcophagus opens wide.
"Do ....... not ....... know...... .......sage."
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Warpac's mouth firms into a grimace of disapproval, whether at the mummy or himself you don't know.
Dang! I should have know that. But I think I may know now what Desna is trying to teach me. At least I hope I've figured it out. Not to rush into things and rely on luck, but to to rely on my companions more and provide them with divine support. Not something a Warpriest is known for, but Desna is unconventional at best and an odd choice for a Warpriest as everyone keeps telling me. I'll have to test that theory out.
"Sorry about that one folks. I'll keep my mouth shut."
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Xûll gathers around to quickly check something with his comrades, "That's fine, Warpac. I was unclear as to how old Ancient Osirion was myself... who knew the Diamond Sage didn't live that long?" Xûll gives the dwarf a playful look, "I'd really like to know who was talking to him before and what they wanted to know... how about we ask something like 'what information have you given to those who have spoken to you since your death?' That should elicit quite a lot in a single question, I should imagine!"
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Toorin's brow is creased with thought as he listens to the strange voice. He speaks next, assuming the ancient librarian might have established the jeweled sages and would know the relationship between the jewel itself and the sage with the name of the jewel. "Halmrat, how does one become a jeweled sage?"
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Toorin's brow is creased with thought as he listens to the strange voice. He speaks next, assuming the ancient librarian might have established the jeweled sages and would know the relationship between the jewel itself and the sage with the name of the jewel. "Halmrat, how does one become a jeweled sage?"
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