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Seeing the blond patch and the man’s height, Eadie lets out a sigh of relief, as she whispers:
“Praise Desna, Shiruzu and Abadar. I think it’s him.”
Assuming she sees no alarms or traps, Eadie whispers in his ear and draws her adamantine falchion slowly. “In the Song of the Sphere’s Name, you must whisper when I cut off your gag, or we are all finished, Mr Frosh. Nod if you understand.”
Assuming he does, she cuts off his gag and waits for the countersign before cutting his bindings.
“Insidion, are you happy to haste us all now? Mr Frosh I have an escapeway planned. Can you walk and run? Are you OK to climb a rope? We must whisper as we move.”
"I will signal the others to leave, once we're heading out the window."
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"I've never seen much in them myself." notes Oleander.
"But the thought of rutting with a greenblood...Does she have no standards?"
The elf shakes her head in disgust, trying to keep an eye on the rest of the inn as well as talk with the bounty.
"So you come from Westcrown eh? I've not visited it myself. I hear the river is quite impressive though."
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Satisfied the man is their contact, Eadie cuts him loose with her adamantine blade, before re-sheathing it.
“Right, let’s get you to the window in my room. We can rappel down the rope to the ground and takeoff to the easternmost road out of town.”
“Insidion, haste would be pretty helpful.”
Eadie tries to pump the man for information in case something goes wrong. “Are you guiding us to where the Onyx Alliance seeks the Cairn of Shadows, Mr Frosh? Or just telling us where it is? Are you familiar with the members of the Onyx Alliance we will face?”
“Once we exit the window, I will signal the others it’s time to go. Let’s move, quietly now.”
Eadie slaps Insidion’s shoulder pretty hard and calls.
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"Let's get airborn, Kit-- do you mind if I call you Kit?" Eglantine asks Xichikitte, and then they're up and away. The two of them have no trouble heading for the window through which they can glimpse the others of their troupe.
When close enough, Eglantine whispers: "Hullo! It's me and Xichikitte. Er, me being E.G. You've got about four and thirty I'd guess until the muscle arrives. Oh, is this our man? Hello! I can't make you all invisible, I'm sorry to say, but maybe push the bed in the room against the door to hold them a few seconds while we all get out of here? Kit and I can zip back downstairs to let the others know the situation if you like. Ugh, I wish I'd learned that darn 'message' cantrip."
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"Then let's do that!" whispers Frosh as he quickly makes his way across the hall, and waits for Eadie or someone else to open the window and drop a rope. "I'm to be your guide to the Cairn. Should something happen to me, Mericel Thay will guide you. Don't worry, she'll find you. If someone asks how your luck at cards is, reply "Desna Weeps". And I know very little of the people who you are trying to beat to the punch." The knot is quickly tied, and Gobrier Frosh is out the window and down into the street, making his way eastward. "I will meet you by the third barn along the main road northeast. I'll have horses Desna willing. Don't let the Silent Enforcers catch you" were his last words to you before he made the descent.
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Eadie lets out a high pitched
She SLAMS the door closed, locks it, throws the key in the middle of the floor and jams the bed behind the door.
True to her word, Eadie is the last one out the window.
Very relieved that Skug is on the right track and confident in Insidion’s abilities to evade-and-escape, the warrior keeps a sharp look-out for Silent Enforcers.
If she sees any that are close enough to catch her or any of the hasted Pathfinders, she will flub the last metre of the rope rappel and activate her snapleaf as an immediate action to turn invisible.
Otherwise she makes a wide, HASTY dash away from pursuers and the rendezvous, to hopefully draw any pursuers away from the true destination. Once in the clear, she doubles back to Frosh's rally point.
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Eadie, Skug and Insidion, insisting on accompanying their contact, leave through the window and make their way hastily towards Nisroch's eastern gate.
Meanwhile, an invisible Eglantine and Xichikitte inform Takahiro and Oleander in whispers of the plan they overheard. "Meet me at the third barn on the northeastern road out of Nisroch" echo through the remaining Pathfinder's minds as they quickly vacate the Broken Cup just as the Silent Enforcers march on in.
It is barely noon by the time the Pathfinders meet up again, this time in the company of Golbrier Frosh. Grinning with self-evident relief, he digs through the hay until a rather large chest in uncovered. "Quick, put these on. These will make you look as penitents on a pilgrimage. Better hide your weapons too. I can help you with that. We need to get to a farm about eight miles out and I guarantee you we are being chased by the Silent Enforcers or that bounty hunter. We'll lose them once we get horses at the farm. Or ponies" he adds mirthfully with a look to Eglantine "as the case may be." He then pulls out some gear for himself and an extra vest and pair of boots. "Desna smiles, our benefactors have been generous. Here, I don't need two vests, and the creeps haven't grafted another set of legs on me yet."
"Let's hurry and hit the road while we still can!"
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“I don’t want any of the magic gear.”
Eadie removes her gauntlets and great helm, before throwing the garb of a penitent over her armor. She practises shuffling forward with her head bowed.
Staying silent is probably her biggest challenge. "I’m ready, Mr Frosh."
"Say, what color horse am I getting? Will it be a boy or a girl? What’s their name?"
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It takes the Pathfinders a week of rough travel to get to the destination. A week spent dodging patrols and avoiding major settlements. During this time on the road, you come into contact with many nameless members of the Whispered Song, who try their best to assist you with all the minor things. Your last contact though looked you all straight in the eye as she bid you farewell, with an expression on her face that made clear how dubious she was of your success. Barely half a day past the Atteran Ranches you finally reach Barrowmoor. Mr Frosh, ever the diligent guide, re-reads a report he received at the last way-point. "Looks like they've found the cairn they were looking for. Our people are telling me that they have started digging up the entrance. So on the plus side, I can tell you exactly what cairn we're going to. On the down side..." he shrugs, sweeping with his outstretched arm the horizon. A light fog covers like a shroud the many hillocks that dot the landscape before you, as if the land itself had goosebumps. Apart from the jittery noises made by your horses and the clinking of your gear, it is absolutely quiet. Monstrously quiet.
After another hour or two, you finally come across what you are looking for. Shovels, pickaxes, wheelbarrows and other random digging equipment lay strewn about the front entrance to a more recent looking cairn. Massive bronze doors lay agape, and not a soul is to be seen.
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Xichi attempts to Detect Magic in the immediate area, and then as far into the cairn as he can perceive.
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"A dozen or so people were here. Probably mostly meanial workers, but who knows for sure. Looks like they are only a few hours ahead of us."
An evil grin crosses her face.
"With a bit of luck they will have tripped all the traps. " she directs a scathing look at the cairn. "Places like this are always filled with traps. Traps and undead. "
She laughs out loud for a moment. "Maybe undead traps?"
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Takahiro taps himself with one wand whilst offering a prayer to Shizuru, then holds another wand aloft and says another prayer, bathing his allies briefly in a heavenly glow that quickly fades...
"If what you say is true, then the menial workers are likely innocent victims who either need rescuing, or a respectful burial" Takahiro sighs solemnly.
He then advances, sword drawn.
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Eadie thoroughly enjoys life as a foreign raconteur on the run in rural Nidal. Even the bland trail rations and monotonous night watches don’t dampen her spirits.
<chuckle> I wonder what Hellknight Manius or Signifier Abraxia would think of all this …
At every village she chats cordially with the Whispered Song cell leaders about their lives as subversives and what Desna means to them.
The young Pathfinder picks up some of the Song of the Sphere’s sayings, like:
• Desna Smiles, meaning something lucky happened.
• Desna Laughs, the opposite!
• Desna Weeps, something very bad happened …
Eadie also learns to trace Desna’s Wings over her heart – twin triangles drawn with a continuous line using one's right index finger.
“Oh, it’s kinda like the circle-and-tail ‘Sign of the Key’ Abadarians use, Mr Frosh!”
She maintains combat readiness by sparring with Eglantine, Oleander, Skug and Takahiro. The two-handed warrior appreciates the different tactics and defenses employed by exponents of other weapons.
the Master of Swords used to counsel me.”
Eadie smiles as she parodies VC Farabellus.
⚔ ⚿ ⚔
At the dig sight, Eadie sets her ioun torch spinning, paints her armor with alchemical grease and draws her enchanted falchion. Before
moving to the front of the line, she offers the Tien cleric a minor spell scroll.
“Takahiro, please take my scroll of unbreakable heart. If one of us gets a little out-of-hand, it should suppress the effect for six seconds or so.”
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The bronze door creeks ominously as you file into the cairn. "I'll be hiding nearby with the horses. If I don't hear from you in a day, I'll be going to get some help" offers Frosh somewhat lamely as you make your way into the darkness within.
There is a shimmer in the air as you advance onward, and about fifty feet in, there is a distinct change; something that courses through your bodies, appealing to more the more primal instinct to flee. It isn't just a feeling though. Your lights become noticeably dimmer, as if the Cairn itself resented them. Insidion, Xixhikitte and Skug's vision remain unhindered by the darkness within. However, as you approach the end of the hall, even their sight is hampered by what you all see.
Chains. Spiked, glistening in what light does shine, it does seem that some are matted with waxy dripping gore. This forest of chains makes things difficult to see at about ten feet . At thirty feet, it becomes impossible to make sense of things To the immediate right and left though, spiked to the walls spread eagle with exquisite cruelty are two fetchlings; both women, both seeming to shiver and spasm under the light. Their mouths are bloody torn messes, as it looks like someone took care to sew their lips shut before causing them to scream.
echoes throughout the chamber, words shouted in despair from somewhere on the other side of the room.
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Eadie drinks soothe syrup and antiplague, before oiling her enchanted falchion with bless weapon. “Can anyone read the Fetchlings’ thoughts?”
Eadie tries whispering to the wretched captives. “You’re Onyx Alliance, aren’t you?”
MANY FEASTED UPON THE FLESH OF HIS STEEDS WIND-RACER, FEARLESS, AND DAWNS-HOPE.
“You speak of the heathen Horselords of Zon-Kuthon’s promised land.”
Eadie exclaims, “We would hear more of your sermon, Shadowcaller. But will you not partake of holy communion with us - gaze upon our faces as you flense them with your own hands?”
“Or are you in the Midnight Lord’s disfavor? An excommunicate? A coward? A … *Gasp* SHELYNITE??”
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Eglantine squints unhappily into the shadows ahead as they enter... but the shadows aren't thick enough to stop her seeing the horrid and grisly scene of the tortured fetchlings. "Oh sweet Desna," the halfling mutters.
Even smaller now-- a quarterling!-- Eglantine prepares to sidle into the room, attempting to quietly approach the tormented fetchlings.... as Eadie calls out a booming challenge in the name of Shelyn.
"--or we could do that. Yes, Skug, I think time to kill," E.G. mutters with a blink, but quietly, hoping she'll be unseen when the owner of the spooky voice comes to answer Eadie's challenge. She slides her rapier noiselessly from its sheath... or tries.
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The fetchlings do not seem to respond to Eadie's whispers except perhaps to moan.
The deep plaintive voice answers Takahiro shrilly.
It seems that the voice comes from somewhere on the other side of the room. Skug and Eglantine can see a divot in the ground where perhaps some sort of dark fluid lazily courses by.
The rest of the Pathfinders, hidden as they are in the entry hall, notice that the chains seems attracted to Eglantine and Skug as they walked on in; like to pieces of cloth charged with static, they slightly bent themselves towards the two agents as they walked by. No ill-effects seem to have befallen them though.