With an angry snarl, Amiri kicks the soup tureen out from under her feet, and takes another angry swing at the kobold that just scratched her.
, for damage.
, for an additional damage.
She then turns her attention towards the one behind her.
Honaire will attempt to crush the uninjured kobold before him
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Amiri dispatches the yellow revolutionaire by literally cutting him in half while Valeros misses his opponent and Honaire wounds but doesn't kill the konold he's materialized behind...
->
->
Round 2 - Bold may post
Valeros 10/16hp
Honaire
Amiri 09/15hp
Kobold (blue) shaken 4 rounds
Kobold (green)
Kobold (yellow)
Erasmus
Megalister
Estra
Meligaster thrusts his hand onto Valeros' leg, implanting a bit of his psychic power into the larger man. "There. This should help to keep you safe."
Estra walks briskly over towards the melee and snorts slightly at the ineffectiveness of the kobolds.
If you're willing to talk we'll let you go. There's no need to keep yelling and swinging your weapons around. Don't be dolts.
Amiri circles around the last remaining kobold, her eyes still seeing red.
"You want freedom?" She snarls, as he brings her massive sword around and lifts it above her head.
"I can give you freedom." And with that, she brings it down in a massive overhand chop.
, for damage.
Honaire salutes Amiri, A blow well struck.
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As Amiri reduces the last kobold to minced meat an uneasy silence falls over Alcasti farm.
You search the bed chamber you find a veritable throve of trinkets and other memorabilia hidden under the bed, probably what the kobolds considered their treasure chest after looting the farm of everything they considered valuable. Among the stuff you find there's a few items standing out: a set of silverware printed with a pegasus motif, a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles, a snuffbox with a gilded scarab attached to the lid, and a magic figurine of an alabaster pegasus with a golden bridle. One of the pegasus’s wings has broken off.
Getting back to the entrance you search again the documents the kobolds were using to kindle the fireplace. After an hour or so of sifting through the mess you find a dozen letters to and from the Countess Honaria Alcasti, as well as a leather-bound notebook detailing her experiences leading a battalion in the Even-Tongued Conquest.
The records provide detailed information about Honaria’s leadership, depicting her as a skillful leader with a brilliant command of tactics, and also reference her repeated inability to receive sufficient resources during some of her campaigns.
After this discovery there's little reason for you to stay in Andoran any longer so you travel back to Oppara where Remaio greets you warmly. Over drinks, he inquires about Vereena’s health and lifestyle and you have to give him the sad news about he demise. Remaio is crestfallen at learning this and spends the rest of the evening discussing plans to host a proper burial and memorial service for her as soon as possible.
Towards midnight he takes his leave and recommends you rest.
In a couple of days another missive is delivered to you. Seems like Remaio has got another lead for you to investigate, this time at the foot of the World’s Edge Mountains, an ice-swept mountain range by Taldor’s eastern border.
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For your next mission you need to travel to north eastern Taldor, where Remaio has located the lost remains of the Alcasti's mausoleum. This time your employer wants you to retrieve Honaria’s many decorations and honors from her burial chamber.
You find the long journey through the foothills of the World’s Edge Mountains uncannily desolate, and a lonely pall hangs over the entire trip. Then you reach the entrance of the Alcasti's mausoleum. A white marble tomb emerges from the shadow of a low mountain. Two composite columns frame the tomb’s tarnished silver door with cracked hinges. The rain-streaked relief of a pegasus head sits in place of a keyhole.
Amiri frowns at the door, and the entire mausoleum.
"The dead don't need such fancy trappings." She mutters
"So we just pour the water on it?" She asks, dubiously, as she examines the silver door.
Upon reaching the doors Estra calls forth Honaire in solid form.
Well, what are we waiting for?
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As Valeros pours the water a keyhole appears in the pegasus’s forehead and the fighter uses Remaio’s key to get the mausoleum's door to open.
As you enter the Alcasti family tomb the air feels humid, carrying a mouldy smell. After descending a brief flight of steps you enter what looks like a tiny antechamber. In the middle of it you see a large granite tablet covered with names and dates stands in the center of this small room a corridor leading to a dead endon your left and a marble door on your right.
Amiri frowns as they enter the tomb, but keeps alert.
She glances at the names on the tablet, "So the lady that's caused all this trouble should be listed here somewhere, right?" She muses, looking to see if Honaria is indeed named there.
After a moment she shrugs, and looks towards the hallway and the door.
"So which way?"
Estra is suspicious of the dead end, Honaire, do be a dear and poke your head through that wall if you would.
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The examining of the granite tablet provides a chronological record of the Alcastis buried within the tomb. About halfway down the stone the list stops, ending with “Honaria Alcasti, 4049 ar–4123 ar.
Honaire confirms that there's nothing but stone behind the wall at the end of the northern corridor's so Amiri sets the door leading south open.
You are greeted by the statue of a soaring pegasus rises above the pool of stagnant water in the center of much bigger room than teh antechamber you just left.
Amiri wanders into the next room with Valeros, eyes alert, but not too worried about trouble.
"The list had Honaria the last person buried here." She says, absently. "So where've they been burying all the family members since?"
She doesn't seem overly interested in the answer, just musing as she goes, to break the tension.
"Doesn't look like anyone's been here, dead or alive, since then." She adds, looking at the fountain of stagnant water.
They may have decided to leave this place to Honaria herself. Despite what has happened to her family, she was clearly a force to be reckoned with.
Estra and Honaire examine the pool, and particularly the statue.
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You search the room for clues or hints of a trap but can't find anything so you move forward opening the door leading north and finding yourself before a long corridor...
Somber statues of Alcastis past line this hallway, their hands broken apart and lying at their feet. A pile of shattered rubble lies strewn across the floor, the stone pierced through with abandoned spears and swords. The air is thick with dust and neglect.
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Erasmus moves over to peer down the hall.
"Something happened some time ago, but it doesn't look like anyone's been here in quite a long time."
After a pause, he says, "Unless it's necromancers. Necromancers in a tomb and risen dead would make sense."
He cautiously moves down the hall, trying to be wary of trip wires and pressure plates.
Someone seems unhappy with what these Alcastis have done. I can't think of a reason the hands would all break on their own...
"Doesn't explain why they left all their weapons laying around." Amiri mutters, with a slight frown.
"No bodies to go with them." She ponders Erasmus' comments on necromancers, and frowns a little more as she follows the man down the hallway.
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Estra and Amiri notice distinct features in the shape of the stone, such as a paw and an ear, that suggest that it was once part of a statue of a dog.They are sure all of the weapons came from the hands of the Alcasti statues. Spears from the statues on the south wall, and swords from the statues on the north wall. These are Alcasti weapons for sure as all of them bear a pegasus crest. Amiri and Estra count 3 longswords and 4 spears.
The 2 women also hear scraping and crackling noises through the door to the next room.
"Someone didn't like the statuary." Amiri observes, with a shrug.
She then hesitates a moment, and nods down the hallway to the far door. "Something's moving through there."
She finally uses that as her cue to pull her own sword out, as she heads to that far door with Erasmus.
Stay corporeal for now, Honaire. I think we might need you to be more solid for whatever's behind there.
"You're just not paranoid enough." Amiri replies, with a grim chuckle.
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Cutiously Erasmus gets the door open, at first glance the room seems empty: stairways lead up to a marble dais, where rotted wooden offerings lie in splinters. The tiles of the floor are scorched black, and the smell of magical ozone fills the air. A sickly pale glow sputters amid a pile of debris, illuminating a shattered sword upon the ground. In the chamber’s walls, rows of niches bear ceramic urns labeled with bronze plaques. A repetitive grinding sound echoes through the chamber, erratic and yet unceasing.
Then Erasmus notices what looks like some sort of dog construct made of metal and broken stone moving towards him!
Round 1 - Bold may post
Valeros
Amiri
Estra
Erasmus
Honaire
???
Estra and Honaire rush into the room, Estra first shrouding Honaire in a shield of force.
Honaire stands near the stairs, daring the guardian to approach him.
Amiri moves into the room, and over to the far stairs, and up the steps.
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By looking at the misshapen construct Estra feels sure it is magically unstable and likely to explode.
The construct takes a step towards Amiri but doesn't cover the full distance... yet.
Meanwhile... the stone hands cut off the statues in the previous aisle animate!
Round 2 - Bold may post
Valeros
Amiri
Estra
Erasmus
Honaire
Guardian
Hand (red)
Hand (green)
Hand (blue)