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The rain that has been falling over Magnimar for the past few days seems to have picked up in intensity today as you wait in Heidmarch manor's opulent briefing room for Venture Captain Sheila Heidmarch and Dark Archive leader Zarta Dralneen to finish discussing matters with a tall blond man who looks from one to the other with thinly-veiled distrust.
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The assembled Pathfinders have noticed that one of their fellows...seems off. He is a hulking creature over seven feet tall, with dragon-kin or tiefling features, or maybe a mix of both. Large horns curve from his head, and sharp teeth from his jaws. He tries to focus on their assignment, but seems to be having some difficulties.
Listen to me, and you will take power from others...beyond your wildest imagination...none shall stand in your way!
Leave me be...I tire of your presence...
The tiefling occasionally thrashes or has his face contort strangely. His erratic behavior is unnerving, and his shifty eyes stare at the others for a moment, though he does not appear to see them.
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Standing silently off to the side, you see a tall, dark human man with a dark weathered cloak and a longbow and quiver on his back. He has a habit of observing conversations, studying the comments made as if unaccustomed to civilized gatherings. If he speaks at all, he speaks with a thick Varisian accent. He wears a holy symbol of Desna around his neck.
"So zhis is zhe place? Zhe name is Roland.."
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You spy a bareheaded, plain-featured female knight clad in black full plate *clank* into VC Heidmarch’s sitting room and attempt to sneak up behind the tall ranger. On her back an expertly crafted polearm is crossed with a sky metal falchion.
The young woman wears a gold cape featuring skilfully stitched appliqué of a fiery angel, a golden key, a wild rose and an antlered longbow.
If she reaches her mark, she lashes out with both hands to cover the Varisian’s eyes, before growling out in a deep tone of disguise:
"Roland, guess who? It isn't Eadie."
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The gnomish woman pivots to the fiendish gent - or rather, the serpentine being she is sitting on pivots in place, almost as though he were not actually quite resting on the ground.
"Insidion, isn't it? We meet again. We affiliated during that affair with the Aspis smuggling ring. Right here in Magnimar, in fact."
She turns and looks over the others with an appraising eye.
"As for the rest of you, I am she, Lucija Lal Rani - and this is my vizier, Naghamadi." She indicates the monstrous serpent she is sitting on, then holds her head up imperiously. "You may well be familiar with our reputations, if not our faces."
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Insidion's eyes, which had been slightly rolled back in his head, turn to focus on Lucija.
It takes him a moment to focus, but his maw turns into something akin to a smile.
"Yes. I remember you. You conducted yourself well. Our team will work well together," he says, but suddenly his voice changes to one not his own, "IF WE ARE HELLBENT ON DESTRUCTION."
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“Oh, very well thank-you, Roland.”
Eadie gives her friend a proper hug. “Just back from Numeria where according to some wolf-riding halfling Seeker we HADN’T retrieved a piece of the Sky Key.”
The warrior stands back with her hands on hips. “Apparently, we went all that way just to collect a rusty old pipe fitting for VC Smine.” *eye roll* “What a crock!”
“How about you, Roland?”
"Our team will work well together," he says, but suddenly his voice changes to one not his own, "IF WE ARE HELLBENT ON DESTRUCTION."
“PREACH IT, BROTHER!”
A gauntlet-less Eadie gives the dragon disciple two thumbs up, before rummaging around in her travel-stained backpack.
“Sounds like a nasty, sore throat you have there, Insidion. I’ve got a dose of soothe syrup if you want some.”
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A big garundi human walks into the briefing room. Below his flowing yellow robe you immediately notice the tell-tale shine of a mithril chainshirt. In one hand he carries a wooden staff, while he has a backpack in his other hand.
"Well met, I am Kintampo and was told to report here to Venture Captain Heidmarch and Miss Dralneen."
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“Hi, Kintampo! I’m Eadie.”
The young Pathfinder nods knowingly at the big man, before lifting the edge of the grubby, golden tasset hanging from her waist to reveal a Scarab Sages badge pinned to its underside.
“Did you attend the Scarab Crystalhue Party in Absalom last month, Kintampo?”
“Weren’t you the one who got drunk and tried to steer Tahonikepsu under the mistletoe, before vomiting all over the Sapphire Sage’s winged boots?”
Eadie frowns before lightly SLAPPING her own forehead. “No, wait. That was me!”
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Welcome Kintampo. I am Roland. You are in zhe right place. We are just awaiting zhe briefing.
Roland replies to Eadie's question.
I am not sure I would trust zhe halfling. I have seen her hanging around trying to gain Flaxseed's attention for some reason...free drinks most likely.
He pauses with a grin, and continues in a hushed voice as the briefing looks ready to start.
Besides, she has not worked in years due to her 'retirement' and is likely out of zhe touch with zhe whole skykey campaign.
Roland turns his attention to the venture-captains, finding it nice to be near his homeland for a change.
Eadie, have you been to Magnimar often? I remember traveling here as a child.
Zhis was always so big compared to Sandpoint, where I grew up.
Still nothing like Absalom.
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“Often, Roland? No, not really.”
Eadie’s looks upwards towards a corner of the mansion’s ceiling with a wan smile. “I’ll never forget the first time though.”
“I stepped off the boat from Korvosa wobbling about on my ‘sea-legs,’ still quite sick to my stomach. I then proceeded to spend my life savings on second-hand chain mail, a rusty greatsword and the cold iron morning star I still carry today.”
“I trudged through the Alabaster District and up to the gates of Heidmarch Manor, with a Pathfinder Society flyer in my hand and butterflies in my tummy.”
Eadie grimaces. “If Lady Heidmarch had turned me away I don’t know what I would have done.”
“But she didn’t. And after a bath and decent meal in the kitchens, me and three others were sent north to spy on the antics of a group of beach goblins as an entrance test, before I was shipped off to Absalom for training as an Initiate.”
The warrior scratches her head. “I don’t exactly know how far north we travelled, Roland. But I don’t remember passing through a village called... Sandpoint, was it? Does much ever happen there?”
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"Unfortunately not Eadie, I was here in Magnimar to deal with an incident at the Golemworks. We celebrated Crystalhue here, we had a great fire outside on the grounds and gave our gifts there."
Kintampo turns to Roland "Absalom is huge isn't it? I feel tiny everytime I go there, as if my life is insignificant."
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“I didn’t know there was a Golemworks in Magnimar, Kintampo.”
Eadie looks surprised. “I’ve conducted Pathfinder business with the Ardoc family in Kaer Maga and just assumed they were the only commercial golem-makers in Varisia.”
“I took to the streets pretending to be pregnant and proclaiming one of the Ardoc brothers as the father, in an attempt to track them down.”
Eadie rubs her nose as she remembers the outcome. “Nearly earned myself a shiv in the side for my trouble.”
“Though a passing dwarf gave me a beautifully crafted wooden horse as a gift for ‘my baby.’”
She smiles. “The kindness of strangers – even in a place like Kaer Maga! It’s enough to restore your faith in humanity – or dwarf-anity at least.”
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Nodding grimly the disheveled man bows curtly to the two women before departing, and the two women enter the room, with lady Dralneen inconspicuously closing the doors. "Greetings, Pathfinders," begins Venture-captain Heidmarch in her deep, husly voice. "We have an important mission for you inside Cheliax. Several days ago, we received word that the Hellknights of the Order of the Gate issued a call for aid at the Menador Gap." A small smile appears on her face at those words, and there is a small pause before she continues. "Apparently Chelish forces are spread thin these days. Imagine their surprise when we volunteered to help."
"As I’m sure you know," cuts in Zarta in her own modulated honeyed tone, "the Society has enjoyed few opportunities to explore Cheliax since the shuttering of the Delvehaven lodge in Westcrown decades ago. Luckily, we still had a Pathfinder agent in the country, an eccentric man by the name of Olandil. He had been gathering and protecting Pathfinder Society records and creating a journal of historically valuable sites within Cheliax that remain unexplored. For
years, an embargo trapped Olandil in the port town of Pezzack, but a group of your fellow agents recently arranged for his escape. In a rather peculiar boat if I read the reports correctly. Anyway, as it happens, one of the sites in Olandil’s journal lies close to
the Menador Gap. Called The Temple of the Sky, this site supposedly contains a host of magical pillars that hold ancient knowledge. I’m sure you’ll agree that such knowledge is best kept safe within the Dark Archives, which is why we would like you to obtain a transcription of each pillar."
She turns back towards lady Heidmarch, who motions for her to continue.
"Equally important to recovering these tablets," Zarta goes on "is your mission to aid the Hellknights in securing the Menador Mountains. The details are vague, but we are told that the diviners of their order determined that a chaotic catastrophe is brewing somewhere in the peaks, and we suspect orcs are involved. Pathfinders, myself included, have come into conflict with Hellknights in the past, but they are still useful allies who share a number of our goals. Helping eliminate the threat will strengthen our alliance and ensure Hellknight aid in the future."
The venture-captain nods before adding, "I have arranged for a teleport spell to take you directly to the Hellknight expedition. Hellknights are not known for their patience. Please make your necessary preparations and return here as soon as possible."
lictor at the top and the trainees, known as armigers, at the bottom.
Most Hellknights simply use the title Hellknight, though spellcasters instead use the title signifer.
its narrowest point is a fortress called Menador Keep, where Chelish authorities heavily tax all traffic through the mountains.
to interfere with trade.
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"Hellknights," Lucija says disdainfully. "Dull-eyed, wedge-headed pack-dogs who would sooner serve in Hell than rule in Heaven - and think all others should delight in shackles as they do, to boot." She pauses, considering. "Of course, their owing us a favor could be useful in myriad ways."
"Regardless, I'm familiar with the Menador Gap. It is where the Menador Mountains open to access the Ravounel Forest - the only place in that chain, and the Chelaxians exploit that to viciously tax all travelers. They may justify it by claiming that such taxes go to serve the benefit of travelers, but if that is so, they do a miserable job of it. The pass is quite dangerous for common folk, and shall be an adequate challenge for us - I understand that those slopes that do not contain nascent landslides are richly adorned with manticores, wyverns, and chimera."
"We should ensure we are prepared for their venoms, then" Chimes in the serpentine entity.
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Insidion listens as Lucija explains more about their destination.
He had heard similar things.
"Hell's influence is great there, indeed. Then again, its influence BURNS EVERYWHERE!" Again, his voice changes to something not his own for just a few words, then returns to normal.
"Lots of poisonous creatures, then. I'll buy an antitoxin before we go."
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“So we’ve gotta play nicely with the Hellknights?”
The corners of Eadie’s mouth droop in disappointment. “OK.”
“Thank-you for the info, Lucija. I will also buy another vial of antitoxin and some paper and charcoal to take the pillar inscriptions.”
“Hmm … wyverns, chimera and manticores all fly. We probably need a way to counter flying critters too.”
“I already have a potion of lesser restoration and a scroll containing five copies of the spell, which I am happy to share with the group. However, unless we have a divine caster we will be relying on UMD to make the scroll work.”
“Is it OK if I borrow a tap of someone’s shield wand before a big fight?”
“The Temple of the Sky …”
“Paracountess, do we know anything about this ‘Sky Temple’, like which deity... or Demon Lord it’s associated with? Maybe it’s a dwarven Sky Citadel? Anything?”
Eadie arches her neck backwards as she thinks, before her gaze returns to Sheila Heidmarch. “So in a nutshell, the mission is to obtain a transcription of each pillar in the ‘Sky Temple’ and help the Hellknights secure the Mountain Pass against the orcs or whatevs. Right, My Lady?”
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"In a nutshell" nods Zarta as she sashays towards Eadie. "That shouldn't prove too difficult, especially to big, strong Pathfinder agents" she adds with a smirk, lightly tracing the contour of the fighter's armored bicep as she turns her attention to the tiefling and the promethean-flanked gnome. "Please do try to play nice with the Hellknights. Ultimate loyalty such as theirs can be an asset in the long run" she comments with a playful smirk.
Venture-captain Heidmarch sighs at lady Dralneen's antics before answering Kintampo directly. "We do not know much of the location except that it is at the foot of the area of concern to the Hellknights. We have been told that they will be waiting for our agents there."
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“Yeah, I don’t like devils … or kytons or undead dragons AND ‘specially NOT spiders! *BLECH*
As the Paracountess approaches, Eadie ❄freezes❄ like a rabbit all-a-tremble under the gaze of a python. Her eyes flit rapidly left-and-right as Zarta touches her arm.
“Please do try to play nice with the Hellknights.”
“Kkkkkkk…”
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"No." The warrior shakes her head. "I was hoping someone might be able to pre-cast it on me as a pre-condition – like just prior to going into the final altar room of the Sky Temple or like the inner cave of a chimera’s den."
Eadie *shrugs* “Most fights don’t last longer than a minute, so I think the duration is OK.”
“BUT I certainly wouldn’t want someone taking time during combat to cast shield on me. I was more thinking of it as a pre-combat thing but only under very specific circumstances, Kintampo.”
“Is that OK?”
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“D’oh! So that’s why Amenopheus suggested I store that spell in a vibrant purple ioun stone.”
Eadie slaps her forehead again. “I thought that he thought the violet of the stone would match my cloak or something.”
“Thank-you, Kintampo. I nearly bought a wand of the spell.”
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“Mmmm …” Eadie’s relationship with the Sapphire Sage is complex, compounded by the guilt she feels for voting Diamond Sage for Faction head.
“He’s OK. But he like gets grumpy with me, like over NOTHING! Like, I didn’t mean to drop his winning lottery ticket beside that ravenous goat.”
“And he like says I like say ‘like’ waaaaay like too much!”
Eadie’s face is flushed but she calms down soon enough. “But to answer your question, Kintampo, I want to upgrade my cloak of resistance first, but it’s next on the list after that.”
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After the briefing, and fashionably late, a young man swaggers into the room. He is handsome, in a roguish way, and he wears a chainshirt. From his belt hangs an odd, slightly curved sword.
As soon as he sees Dralneen, a sly smile spreads across his face, the memory of an interesting night spent at the Chelish embassy in Absalom some years ago suddenly brought to the forefront of his mind.
Without taking his eyes off the paracountess, he adresses the assembled Pathfinders.
"Judging by the amount of weapons and armor in the room, I'd guess I haven't been called back from Kaer Maga for a social call... So, whats on the agenda today?"
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“Welcome, Pathfinder!” Eadie sings out enthusiastically, though she crosses her arms looking unenthused at the Swordlord’s enquiry.
“So, whats on the agenda today?”
“Taking orders from Hellknights, I’d wager.”
She equips her black enamelled gauntlets and flexes her fingers. “They’d better not ask me to make them a sammich.”
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As venture-captain Heidmarch nods past the late agent to both a scroll and wand bearing pathfinder who looks less like a field agent and more like a merchant and a waiting longcoat-wearing tiefling with red skin and neatly braided hair, Zatra Dralneen laughs. "I am certain sandwich-making will be the least of their desires. Now that my dearest agent Lebeda has arrived, I believe that we can finally get you to your location."
The agent, having provisioned you with the minor items you desire, leaves you to your business as the tiefling wordlessly motions you towards the center of the room, where he ensures you all grab onto him. "Alright chameks. Ah certainly hope you're ready for this" he drawls with a cocky smile. And with a flash, the lodge disappears and you find yourself in a small clearing in the middle of a field of boulders and hoary trees. In the not-to-far distance both to the west and the east, a series of high peaks rise, blocking your view. To the north, the ground slants sharply upward and leads into mountainous peaks of jagged rocks. Roiling black clouds are gathered behind the peaks all around, but rather than a storm, the region echoes with hushed quiet.
The tiefling bows with a self-satisfied smile before casting another spell and disappearing from sight. From your right, the clicking of mail and plate warns you that you aren't alone. Ten hellknights in plate or red robes emerge from the ambush they were laying. One of them, a hint of raven black hair sticking out from her mask approaches you. "Pathfinders" she says in a piercing voice in a manner of greetings. "My name is Signifer Karva and I am in charge of this expedition. The Order of the Gate doesn’t often work with your organization. Under different circumstances, we could have even been enemies. But today that is not so—we share the common purpose of restoring order to this region. Know that at my command, my Hellknights will sacrifice their lives to accomplish this mission, and I expect no less from you. If you truly wish to return home safely, obey my commands and heed your duties" she finishes, giving each and every one of you a good hard look (or so you think).
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All this talk of sandwiches is making me hungry!
Eadie drops her great-helm over her mousey hair until her face disappears from sight. She then leans closer to the staff magus. *Psst* “Kintampo, what’s a chamek?”
✨✫✭
Eadie snaps to attention before raising the visor of her great-helm with her right hand in salute to the Hellknight officer.
“SER! Agent Navhelan reports, Ser!”
The warrior then draws her falchion for inspection, balancing its blade on both her palms, which are held out before her facing up. “SER! This agent will prove she is mindful to her duty, Ser!”
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Prior to the jaunt across Avistan, Miklos fastens a small token to his belt.
As the signifer hails them, Miklos puts on his most "genuine" smile.
"Well met, Signifer Karva! I'm glad our organizations can have a chance to work together. As my brusk, Garundi colleague rightly asks, how may we be of service in your hour of need?"
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Signifier Karva nods, her face hidden behind the swirling vortex of her mask. However, her body language seems to soften slightly, as does that of the remaining Hellknights who assembled in rows of three facing towards the mountains. "I would have you fight diligently against the agents of chaos, head my commands and stay true to your word, Pathfinder; in this existence one can only hope for the latter" she replies a little less dryly than you would otherwise have expected.
"We head into the mountains, a two-day march from here to Severed Hand controlled lands. We believe that their little tribe is working in concert with some planar beast or undead creature. Our diviners received disturbing visions of orcs screaming out in pain as strange runes were carved into their skin, piles of skulls collapsing as mounds of wriggling worms burrowed their way up through them. Worse yet is the taint of chaos that seeped through these visions, growing ever-stronger. That is what we were sent to investigate" she finishes grimly. "Any further questions?" she asks in a tone that gives off no malice nor impatience.
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“SER! This agent only needs to know one thing:”
Eadie’s right leg lunges backward as she uses her left hand to slap her blade’s point vertically, dropping her right hand holding the grip, to windmill the weapon behind her back and high over her head where both gauntlets reunite on the hilt.
“Where they are. SER!”