Lirianne frowns at the unlocked door, quietly drawing her weapon and standing ready to provide covering fire for the martial types as they enter.
Svetlana leads the way into the pitch-black darkness of the manor.
The entrance hall of Miregold manor has a wooden floor, inlaid with a finely cut compass rose. A massive stuffed elk dominates the wall opposite the door, and two always create a symmetric entry deeper into the lodge. There's a curio-covered mantle which contains a squat granite statuette of a reclining person with a dog face. Under it, a large scrap of paper contain some writing.
A dark ink spells out the words To whom did this belong before it wound up in your vault? The first glimmer of light that falls upon the paper causes the ink to quickly fade.
Further into the lodge, the group finds a lounge, which features a trio of velvet-upholstered settees, each with an accompanying wooden end table. A long mantle displays several artifacts from across Garund and Casmaron, including a collection of antique blades. A nearby wet bar holds dozens of bottles from across Golarion. A decanter of expensive brandy sits open on the bar, slowly evaporating; next to it is another message, whose text quickly faded in the light of Elindriel spell: He spoke to us of alliance. He promised us his best intentions. Explorers, scholars, traders—these are pursuits we value, too.
To the north, a solid oak dining table sits in the center of a room, surrounded by high-backed chairs. Two cabinets display full sets of delicate Tian porcelain.
There's dried wine stains and several pieces of food on the rug beneath the table
Several pieces of porcelain are missing from the cabinet, and the legs of both the table and the chairs were recently dented. There's a piece of paper in place of one of the missing pieces: Who did you murder to claim this bauble?
In the south, a cozy sun porch harbors several pieces of light rattan furniture. On the low central table are half-finished drinks filled with watered-down, room-temperature liquor. There is no condensation on the glasses, so it’s likely the drinks were served with ice many hours ago and subsequently abandoned. Several playbills from the Cloisoi Theater lie strewn around the lounge. The cover of each playbill features a portrait of the Olivina Sharnau wearing a beggar costume, in her rendition of the "Orphan of Okeno".
Just underneath the playbill is another message He stole from the best of us. He stole from us the best of us.
Lirianne also notices the stains under the table. "Possibly," she agrees, "but if so, whoever won cleaned the rest of the place up, and staged this whole display," she gestures to encompass the seemingly abandoned glasses and the scattered playbills, "like set dressing for a stage play. But are we the audience, or is there someone watching us?"
Crossing to the bar, she picks out an interesting looking bottle, and pours herself a generous measure. "I don't like it," she announces, waving toward the note while downing the drink in one go, "This has 'being led into a trap' written all over it."
|
"I haven't realized it until now, but this affair may well be linked to another one that occured here years ago. It was one of my first assignments as a Pathfinder. We were summoned here by the Venture-Captain that held this very lodge at the time, a man named Skeldon Miregold. After a thorough investigation, we found out that Miregold was in league with Dark Folk, whom he then betrayed for his own benefit. We eventually stopped him, and he ultimately paid the price for this betrayal, but the dark folk may well still harbor resentment for these somber events."
Deeper inside the lodge is a kitchen, and its store room. The expansive and well-stocked kitchen is a mess. Pots, pans, and cooking utensils lie strewn across the countertops, crusted over with food residue. A rubbish bin sits along the wall, filled with several meals worth of food and a handful of porcelain shards. The food matches the stains found on the rug. Nailed to the door, another scrap of paper, as if to provide substance to Ouroboreia's speculation: Who did you abduct to earn our vengeance?
The pantry is in a state of disarray. It once contained shelves filled with dried foods, canned goods, and bags of root vegetables. However, something has torn several of the shelves off the walls, littering the floor with broken jars and wooden planks. A concealed door that the shelves once obscured now hangs open, revealing a stone staircase beyond. The way in which the debris is arrayed suggests someone broke down the door from inside the stairwell. Another scrap of paper lies on top of the wreckage: Who else’s blood must stain your hands before you are gone?
|
Elindriel finds more signs of a struggle in the dining room. "Some pieces of porcelain are missing, and the legs of the table and chairs are dented."
At Ouroboreia's revelation, Elindriel nods. "This may well be retribution for those acts, and well-deserved. Still, how might that be connected to our missing actress?"
"We definitely need to see what's down there," she says, indicating the formerly-concealed door. "However, I'd just as soon confirm the upstairs is clear before we see where this assault appears to have begun."
Hagnar drinks two potions as they climb the staircase, preparing himself for whatever lies ahead...
In the dark of night, the group makes it up the stairs, guided by the light of Elindriel. The spark casts long shadows on the conference room above, which holds a large table and several chair.
Suddenly, the silence is broken by a blood-curdling baying , as Elindirel light is suppressed, shrouding the room in a pitch-black darkness
Svetlana sees normally: the room contains a number of dark, shady figure as well as two hounds.
---
Ouroboreia
Elindriel
Ceobryrn
---
Dark Folk
Dark Folk
Dark Folk
Hound
Hound
---
Svetlana
Lirianne
Hagnar
---
|
|
"Tentacles of the void, seize these dark spawn!"
Ouroboreia casts black tentacles at the back of the room. The rubbery tentacles immediately start seizing the Pathfinders' opponents.
Elindriel panics and runs back down. As Svetlana taunts the dark folk, Ouroboreia acts quickly and traps the whole enemy troupe with black tentacles.
---
Ouroboreia
Elindriel
Ceobryrn
---
Dark Folk (10)
Dark Folk (10)
Dark Folk (10)
Hound (10)
Hound (10)
---
Svetlana
Lirianne
Hagnar
---
Hagnar resists the animal's horrid sounds, but is caught a bit flat-footed by their sudden appearance!
Ceobryrn and Lokie exit stage down, while the dark folk struggle against the tentacles
The dark folk struggle against the black mass, but the baying hounds manage to break free and exit the carpet of wriggling appendages.
---
Svetlana
Lirianne
Hagnar
Ouroboreia
Elindriel
Ceobryrn
---
Dark Folk (10)
Dark Folk (10)
Dark Folk (10)
Hound (10)
Hound (10)
---
---
Ouroboreia summons a star, that brightly illuminates the hounds, and dazes one of them. Svetlana makes good use of the illumination. Though the brightness blinds her at first, her second strike rings true, slashing the hound and ripping open its dark hide.
---
Svetlana
Lirianne
Hagnar
Ouroboreia
Elindriel
Ceobryrn
---
Dark Folk (19)
Dark Folk (19)
Dark Folk (19)
Hound (35)
Hound (10, dazed)
---
---
Hagnar moves up, drawing his +1 swordcane as he does, and strikes at the same hound Svetlana just served a large, steaming cup of Chelish ale to...
Lirianne is having none of this, and runs away.
Hagnar stabs at the hound, and only barely misses, while Lirianne runs out in panic.
Lirianne recovers from her frightened state quite quickly, while Elindriel and Ceobryrn are still in a complete state of fear.
The dark folk struggle, and one of them manages to break free from the tentacles' hold, only to see its options for escape limited. It move up past the hound, up to Hagnar. ()
The other round bites at Svetlana, grabbing her leg and trying to pull her to the ground. With a loud crash, she hits the floor. The dog then slap its tail, which is more painful than imagined.
---
Svetlana
Lirianne (recover from panic)
Hagnar
Ouroboreia
Elindriel (Panic,1)
Ceobryrn (Panic,1)
---
Dark Folk (19, grappled)
Dark Folk (19)
Dark Folk (19, grappled)
Hound (35)
Hound (10)
---
---
|
|
Ouroboreia opens a gate to another world and ushers in a lantern archon, which starts emitting an aura of menace to weaken the neary foes.
LG Small outsider (archon, extraplanar, good, lawful)
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +4
Aura aura of menace (20 ft., DC 13)
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 15 (+4 natural, +1 size)
hp 17 (2d10+6)
Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +0; +4 vs. poison
DR 10/evil; Immune electricity, petrification
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed fly 60 ft. (perfect)
Special Attacks 2 light rays, +3 range touch (1d6)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3rd; concentration +3)
. . At will—aid, continual flame, detect evil, greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 5, Dex 11, Con 16, Int 6, Wis 11, Cha 10
Base Atk +2; CMB -2; CMD 8
Feats Improved Initiative, Diehard
Skills Diplomacy +5, Fly +14, Knowledge (planes) +3, Perception +4, Sense Motive +5
Languages Celestial, Draconic, Infernal; truespeech
SQ gestalt
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Aura of Menace (20 ft., DC 13) (Su) Hostile creatures must save or take a -2 to attacks, AC, and saves for 24 hours.
Damage Reduction (10/evil) You have Damage Reduction against all except Evil attacks.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Flight (60 feet, Perfect) You can fly!
Gestalt (Su) Nine lantern archons can fuse together as a full-round action, becoming a single Large entity that is more powerful than the individual archons that make up its parts. Looking like a whirlwind of dancing firefly lights, the gestalt has all the powers
Immunity to Electricity You are immune to electricity damage.
Immunity to Petrification You are immune to Petrification.
Light Ray (Ex) A lantern archon can fire beams of light to damage foes. These light rays have a maximum range of 30 feet. This attack overcomes damage reduction of any type.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Poison Resistance +4 (Ex) You have the listed resistance to poison.
Truespeech (Su) Speak with any creature that has a language.
Hagnar calls out helpful pointers to Svetlana and Ouroboreia about the weaknesses of these creatures, then stabs at it again.
The tentacles slowly strangle the two remaining dark folk. An archon appears, casting an aura of menace over the dark creature. Svetlana hack at the hound, ripping open its undersize, but not quite killing it, but Hagnar soon changes that: as the hound recoils from the slash, he stabs it in the heart, killing it instantly.
The dark folk first slashes at Ourboreia when the opportunity arises, while the hound stands around, dazed, and the other two dark folk struggle against the tentacles.
---
Svetlana
Lirianne (recover from panic)
Hagnar
Ouroboreia
Elindriel (Panic,1)
Ceobryrn (Panic,1)
---
Dark Folk (28, grappled, -2 ac, saves, att)
Dark Folk (19, -2 ac, saves, att)
Dark Folk (28, grappled)
Hound (10, dazed)
---
---
For the hounds: these are shadow mastiff. Their baying causes fear, they've got a special defense that allows then to get concealment in low-light conditions.
The tentacles lose their grip on the dark folk, as the lantern archon hits one of them with a ray of light.
---
Svetlana
Lirianne (recover from panic)
Hagnar
Ouroboreia
Elindriel (Panic,1)
Ceobryrn (Panic,1)
---
Dark Folk (30, grappled, -2 ac, saves, att)
Dark Folk (19, -2 ac, saves, att)
Dark Folk (28, grappled)
Hound (13, dazed)
---
As the dark creature escapes the tentacles and moves into melee with Hagnar, he watches it come - how it moves, the way it holds its weapon. Studying it gives him insights on how to attack it, and he strikes quickly when it leaves an opening after a swing!
Hagnar sees the subtle off-balance movement of the dark folk, which leaves the folk poorly defended the moment it strike. Without mercy, Hagnar punishes this oversight by stabbing with his cane.
---
Svetlana
Lirianne (recovered from panic)
Hagnar
Ouroboreia
Elindriel (Panic,1)
Ceobryrn (Panic,1)
---
Dark Folk - Red (30, -2 ac, saves, att)
Dark Folk - Blue(27, -2 ac, saves, att)
Dark Folk - White (28)
Hound (13, dazed)
---
Svetlana gets up and strike, but not before the dark folk has gotten its own swing in.
Her own strike is just slightly too careful - if only she had taken the cue from Hagnar!
---
Svetlana
Lirianne (recovered from panic)
Hagnar
Ouroboreia
Elindriel (Panic,1)
Ceobryrn (Panic,1)
---
Dark Folk - Red (30, -2 ac, saves, att)
Dark Folk - Blue(27, -2 ac, saves, att)
Dark Folk - White (28)
Hound (13, dazed)
---
Recovering her composure, Lirianne draws her pistol and fires at the remaining hound.