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Venture-Captain Sheila Heidmarch glances out a window as the last wisps of twilight fade over the Fenwall Mountains. Turning from the sight, she runs her hand along the rustic cabin’s wall and stands beside an occupied wooden bed before addressing you.
“This,” the venture captain says, gesturing to the man thrashing around violently, straining against the bonds that lash him securely to the bed, “is our colleague, Kalkamedes. Every night for several weeks now, he has fallen into a deep slumber and tried to sleepwalk right out of his cottage. If not restrained, he marches straight north, eventually falling off a cliff or into a bog as if trying to get himself killed in an attempt to reach an unknown goal.” As though he were expressing disagreement, the man tied to the bed suddenly begins pumping his limbs even harder, the violent spasms threatening to smash the bed into splinters.
“There are those who have recently criticized the Pathfinders for our indifference to the plight of our fellow field agents. It’s time to show that’s not true. I want you to help Kalkamedes, whether he wants it or not. Several of our best spellcasters have attempted an extensive list of magical cures, but whatever sleepwalking curse or effect he’s under tenaciously resists our efforts. All we can do is keep him safe.” Heidmarch pats him with a degree of professional affection, and Kalkamedes rewards her by trying to swat her with his head.
“Kalkamedes’s friends are at their wits’ end, so we are going to attempt the only thing that we have not tried: we’re going to let him go tonight. That’s where you come in. I want you to follow him and keep him safe and in one piece. Let him get to wherever his addled brain thinks he needs to go so badly. Maybe, just maybe, if he gets there, you can find a way to help him. Maybe
you can determine who or what did this to him and find a way to undo it.” Heidmarch pulls out a serrated knife. “Now before I cut him free, does anyone have any questions or last minute preparations?”
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Brodey has a practical suggestion.
I recommend we put him in heavy armor. Whether he is proficient or not, it will help keep him alive against casual threats, but more importantly it will slow him down, allowing myself and Quaar to keep up with him, and outdistance him should he try to run. This would also allow Anara to keep up without resorting to her magic, which I assume is a limited resource given that she usually doesn't run as fast as she does in combat.
Should heavy armor be impractical, strapping a heavy backpack to him until he is clearly burdened should accomplish the same goal. Armor would be better, though. Even an inexpensive suit of Hide armor would help a lot over just plain clothing.
We should also work out our lightsources. I'm thinking of attaching a sunrod to him, so we can't lose track of him.
I have little that could be of any use, Sheila responds to Quarr's question, though I doubt that Kalkamedes would hold it against you if you searched his cabin for equipment.
Whenever he goes, Kalkamedes marches into the mountainous area north of here. These are wild lands: forests, bogs, cliffs. Not very safe for a sleepwalking man to walk into!
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Brodey will take 10 on perception for 15 looking for gear. He's assuming it would be somewhere convenient for use, not hidden, as this is the man's home.
Brodey's backpack of 62lb should be a good start. I can add 3 torches from my belt pouch to make it a round 65lb. Maybe we can load it up with firewood or something. If you-all have trail rations, canteens, similar it'll add some weight, but I suspect we'll be making the difference out of firewood or possibly even something like tying a table or chair to his back with rope.
How strong does he look anyway?
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As Brodey is arranging all his new purchases, Lunaea watches in hesitant silence. Sensing her gaze, he looks up and says "What?"
Lunaea sighs. "You're always so well prepared. I hate shopping! I never know what to buy. Everything looks interesting, and I'm not sure what anything costs!"
Brodey pulls her into the corner and they have a spirited discussion. He seems to be lecturing her about staying focused and being more prepared by actually buying the things she and the party might need. She appears by turns stubbornly resistant and fascinated with wonder at the things she could have.
Appearing to make up her mind, she hurries to the door and calls out to the party "Wait for me! I'll be right back!" and rushes out, hoping the shops haven't quite closed for the evening.
A little while later she reappears, her arms full of scrolls and a new wand. She immediately sets about tearing some of the scrolls into little bits and feeding them to her Nightingale, while secreting a few away in her scroll cases for later use.
Kalkamedes is a veteran Pathfinder, though his fame does not extend beyond southern Varisia. Although he is now semi-retired and only forwards the occasional report to the Decemvirate these days, his colleagues continue to respect him for his many prior accomplishments.
Late in his career, Kalkamedes developed an interest in lore of the ancient runelords and the rare heroes who dared to oppose the runelords’ tyranny. He relocated from Absalom to Varisia for the chance to further his study.
Quarr searches the cabin of the Pathfinder, and find a hidden lever in the back of the stove. It releases the catch to a hidden compartment concealed in the floor under a stack of water barrels. Inside, there's a metal chest, which is locked.
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Where there is a lock there is usually a key, at least in somebody's home. Did we find one? Failing that...I know I'm making assumptions here, but do either of you pick locks? <looking at Anara and Quarr>
Brodey could always get out the crowbar too, should it come to that. Mending or even Make Whole spells aren't too hard to find.
Quarr manages to pick the lock on the strongbox. Inside he finds a collection of adventuring gear: some bracers, a mud-spattered cloak, a glass flask, a gourd and an irregularly-shaped mithral flask with razor-sharp jigsaw-like edges. Also inside the chest is a blade, with a rippling creak running down the middle, clearly defective.
As the adventurers focus on the chest, a piece of paper flutters from out of the stove, containing a charcoal drawing of a building, a squat fortress underneath a full moon surrounded by clouds.
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Brodey looks with dissatisfaction on the assorted gear.
No armor. Well...as you have that wand of Mage Armor Lunaea, perhaps I could strap my breastplate on the fellow. With my shield equipped it all evens out compared to using a two-handed weapon, and it'd keep him less mobile and me more mobile, which may matter in this situation.
Lunaea shows off her improving knowledge on the topic of magics: the bracers are bracers of armor +1, the cloak a cloak of resistance +1, the potions she is familiar with are an elixir of swimming and a potion of cure light wounds. Neither Lunaea, nor Quarr manage to get a grip on the last potion. The flask can double as a dagger with those sharp edges, though.
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Brodey continues to look dissatisfied at the items.
He must have had a reason to use an expensive set of bracers instead of a 5gp suit of padded armor. If he comes to himself in a tight spot he might not thank us for putting him in armor, but mere burden is less likely to be a problem. I think...put him in his adventuring gear, load him up until he moves slowly, attach him to me with a rope. As for the potions, well, I think we all can use our wands for healing, so I'm inclined to put that potion on him as well, just in case he comes to himself and needs it. I don't really know what to do with the other items but I'm still inclined to just let him have them, in case he instinctively knows to use them somehow.
As the mage armor spell is better than those bracers, maybe Lunaea can tap him with the wand if we're entering an area that seems hazardous. That should balance the desire to protect against draining the wand for no reason.
Brodey then looks at Lunaea
For this mission I have to put the Society goal over my assignment as your bodyguard. Obviously I intend to protect both of you, but if I have to choose, you'll need to rescue yourself, because he'll be my top priority. And anyway....
Brodey uncharacteristically looks directly at Lunaea. There is however nothing at all in his posture or body language that indicates romantic or physical attraction in spite of his unusually intimate gaze. He's talking as one colleague to another.
I'm not entirely sure I'm really needed as a physical bodyguard anymore. You've handled yourself well in life and death situations. I'd like to still work with you, but more as a mutual thing. Maybe I can teach you a bit about how to use your powers to protect others and you can teach me more about how you see the world, how you learn by experiencing it. I think our talents and tendencies complement, even though there isn't much overlap. I'd be very interested to see what we'd become, over time.
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For once, Lunaea is speechless and the one who's a little embarrassed - this is the most she's heard Brodey say at one time, ever, and she's not used to personal compliments or even close interactions with others. Working in a group has definitely changed her. She's proud of how Brodey seems to have grown into his confidence as well.
Finally finding her voice, she smiles to break the tension and says, "Does this mean you'll call me Lunaea now instead of Miss?"
"Of course I agree that Kalkemedes should be your first priority - and I'll do my best to protect you both, as well as everyone here. I'd like to think that's my main role during combat, as well as befuddling the enemy" here she winks.
"And I'm looking forward to our future adventures together!"
To deflect attention from what is actually a very meaningful conversation, she then turns around and includes everyone, "Well, what do you think? Are we ready to cut him loose and see where he leads?"
As an afterthought, she adds, "And maybe we should bring that strange jagged vial and broken weapon, too. You never know but that they might be important parts of whatever is going on here."
Kalkamedes is put in his adventuring gear, an dloaded with a heavy backpack. He looks strained, it's almost terrible to watch - huffing and puffing. Still, it takes quite a bit of load to weigh him down.
As soon as Kalkamedes is released from his bonds, he starts walking - slowly, strained, like a packing mule, slugging forward - out of the cabin, in a northwesternly direction. The road is rough and uneven, with large stones sticking out.
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"Does this mean you'll call me Lunaea now instead of Miss?"
Brodey flicks a small smile and looks away. If you act like the Miss Lunaea I was hired to guard, I might forget myself and revert. But yes, I'll make the effort to remember.
Brodey positions himself next to the sleepwalker, the rope in a loose coil at his hip (so it isn't dragging if we stay together, but it will pull off easily if either of us move away, up to 20'. He's got the Lucern Hammer out, eyes flicking around warily.
Kalkamedes stumbles and bumbles through the the first outcroppings of the forest, over a rocky road. Slowly, slowly, with Brodey at his side he moves, step, snore, step. He moves ever so slowly under the weight of the heavy pack. After as little as half an hour of walking, he stumps his foot on a stone, spraining his ankle.
Kalkamedes path continues into ever denser forest. After a while, he simply goes off-trail, straight through thick patches of bushes and foliage.
Brodey heals the slumbering Pathfinder with his wand, and the swelling in the ankle seems to stop. Marching on, Lunaea suddenly identified the bush straight ahead as razor bramble. Kalkamedes doesn't seem to notice, and is headed right for it.
Lunaea identifies the razor bramble bush, and quickly signal Brodey, who manages to drag the sleeping pathfinder out of the way of the danger.
Someone has moved through these bushes about a week or so ago.
Kalkamedes marches on and on, snoring. After another hour, he abruptly turns west, and moves straight for a watery bog, a standing pool filled with water from recent rainfall.
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A hazard like the bog is one reason Brodey didn't armor our friend, but it occurs to me we're still imposing a -6 ACP from heavy burden. Oops.
Brodey gets out his potion of Touch of the Sea. He's sensing that he might need a swim speed in the near future.
If one of you could help Kalkamedes drink his elixir of swimming this might go a lot better
Kalkamedes seems disinclined to swim at all, showing no reaction to the water as he makes his first steps in. Snoring loudly, it is also quite impossible to force in any potion, unless he would be overpowered in some way.
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You're right Lunaea, I should take the elixir to make sure I swim strongly enough to pull him. It'll be a long tow so I don't think guidance will help. Concentrate on making sure you, Quaar and Anara don't get left too far behind swimming or skirting this pond.
Brodey also drops his Lucern hammer for this exercise. Hopefully Lunaea will pick it up and hand it to him later.
Brodey will drink the elixir and try to tow our friend past the barrier, with Anara and Quaar swimming alongside, helping keep his head out of water.
The bog is perhaps not extremely far from end to end, but walking around it - while possible - takes considerably longer.