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"Jathune, it is unfortunate it had to come to this, but I can no longer assist you in your cruel crusades," Pamari says, looking down on the unconscious oread. She stands and turns to Sirettis. "The real Grave Treader? Strange. I thought this was her all along. A clever disguise, if not a little sneaky." She follows Sirettis back down the steps.
You head back to Grave Treader's tent, where she eagerly greets you and Pamari with a face full of relief. "Pamari! I knew you'd come to your senses. Well done, Pathfinders. What of Jathune?" She begins doling out a simple meal of bugbear beef and potatoes.
"Pathfinders, hm? They'd warned us the Pathfinders were coming to take the clockwork cipher," the ifrit says, gazing over the six of you. "Sold the idea quite easily to Voidstone."
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“Grave Treader” uses all the rope available to her to tie Jathune up. Before he wakes, she searches him for anything else that might help him escape and relieves him of the items. ”There, that should do. Now, let’s get him down the cliff. D, any chance you could give big boy here a lift down off the cliff so we can get him back to the authorities?”
When they return to Grave Treader’s tent with Pamari in tow, Gallix drops the disguise and reveals his true face. ”Ta-da! Sorry for the tricks. We knew it would take a familiar face to get close enough to Jathune to end it with minimal bloodshed. I’d say we did pretty good. Too bad about the cat, but you can’t really reason with animals right?”
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Following the group back to Voidstones tent, Van reverts to his natural form. "Voidstone is guilty of banditry if not var-crimes. Ve vill take him to the City of Brass."
Taking the sack off his spear head Van lets the Glyph of the Open Road fly again. "As you are the new leader of the Sundered Stone, ve vould like to negotiate protected travel of Society expeditions through the area in the immediate future. Ve have an major expedition planned and having the Sundered Stone on our side vould make this leg of the journey much safer for us and more profitable for you."
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Sirettis is surprised to see Jathune alive with naught more than a bruise.
I thought we were going to end his life.
<You can't rely on friends to your bidding of their own free will.?
Sirettis shakes her head.
No, I trust their judgement. Maybe I was too quick to judge.
<Please. You were quick to bring Pamari under control. And you haven't dismissed the magic yet.>
Sirettis realizes how easily she threw her Charm magic around during this trip. It was quite enjoyable, she and Pamari had much to discuss about the planes, in ways even Miss Poshkettle had not considered. Sirettis feared how Pamari would feel if the magic wore off and she felt betrayed or upset.
Or maybe Sirettis didn't want to lose a friend when she met the real Pamari.
After negotiations were complete, Sirettis gave Pamari a hug, told her that Grave Treader was a true friend. Sirettis slowly distanced herself at that point, making sure Pamari wouldn't grow too close before the magic wore off.
Sirettis let the magic wear off on its own, knowing she would be safe for a week.
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"Protected travel is the least I could offer after your assistance," Grave Treader replies, chewing on a chicken wing. "I am considering staying with the Sundered Stone. Pamari here and I will work to transform it into a legitimate mercenary group, perhaps with Reyshal's aid. Then again," she pauses. "I have also considered disbanding the group and going about my own way, either to continue my research, or to rejoin the Pathfinder Society. Whatever I decide, I do not want anything bad to happen to the bandits. Many of them were just trying to survive in a war-ravaged area."
Pamari gladly accepts Sirettis' hug, yet she feels a flash of disingenuity flicker through her mind as it struggles to get beyond the charm spell. Regardless, for now, she doesn't know any better.
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Van struggles internally regarding making a contract with a compulsed individual, but decided this is acceptable since the Grave Treader accepted the deal and is in sound mind.
Van compromises by spending the remaining time he can with Pamari, describing Voidstone's crimes, the necessity of the the deception, and the necessity of returning him to justice. How that what ever non-specific actions they took were for the greater good of preventing further instability and chaos.
As they depart Van comments. "That may or make not vork vith soothing Pamiri after the charm expires, but is the best chance of stability from here."
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Grave Treader, perhaps you would like to rejoin the pathfinder society? In our continuing quest to free Raginori, we will need strong allies on the four elemental planes. I would be willing to put in a word with our Venture Captains if you wish. You have knowledge of this plane, some of the citizens and even some information on the back channels that he Sociey would find very useful. What say you?
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"Ah yes, Sorrina Vestyr did request that you return to the Society, I'm sure that the Venture Captains will assist you with turning the Sundered Stone into a legitimate mercenary company, perhaps with a protection contract for our future expeditions in the Plane of Earth."
After seeing Rostram's attempt, Van gives it a day before presenting his own argument.
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Grave Treader sets her fork down, clearing her throat. "If the Pathfinder Society is so adamant on having me back, then it seems as if that is where I belong. I trust Sorrina will be able to look past my previous defection." She stands up and gathers her things.
"Pamari, what do you think?"
The ifrit shrugs, looking at her flaming fingernails. "The Society? Nah, not for me. I'll stay here to reform the Sundered Stones. They're going to need a new leader."
"I'll miss you, Pamari. You're the only one who managed to keep Voidstone in line all this time. Well, almost," Grave Treader winks. "Let's be off, shall we? I'd like to talk things out with Westyr."
As you depart the tent, Grave Treader pulls out the clockwork cipher. With a few twists of the gears and ten minutes of time, the clockwork creature comes stomping out of the cave. Grave Treader throws her foot on its side and hops atop the creature, smiling. "What? Did you think I was going to walk all the way there?"