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"Let me borrow that knife you found, Oleander. I'll try to cut them."
Talwin moves to accept the knife if offered
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Kuaizi drops his staff and immediately whips out a metal object from his robes. With the flick of his wrist, the object extends, revealing an exotic-looking whip of metal links. Swiftly, the monk tries to lasso his whip around the dart ropes, preventing them from retracting fully and holding them in place for Talwin to cut.
Yuki suggests the group cuts the wires to disable the trap.
Talwin takes the adamantine dagger from Oleander and gets ready to strike one the wires.
Oleander considers shooting the wires with her arrows.
Kuaizi lassos one of the wires, but get an electric shock for his trouble!
An additional dart shoots at the tengu monk, and it barely misses.
Oleander's arrows sever both exposed darts from their wires, leaving them inert and Kuaizi safe from further shock. The other two darts wait inside their ports, undoubtedly ready to shoot out again.
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Seeing Kuaizi get zapped with electricity, Aaziroth sets his lucerne hammer down and straps on his wooden shield. Drawing his long sword and holding up his shield in a defensive position, he slowly moves into range of the darts. "Let me see if I can help. The electricity shouldn't hurt me and if I can get the darts to stick in my shield, I can try to cut them."
Resistant to electricity, Aaziroth steps into the dart strike zone and the remaining darts shoot into his shield. The wires are easily cut by the aasimar and Oleander's arrows.
Examining the three bodies, you find 3 sets of masterwork studded leather armor, 6 daggers, 3 quarterstaffs, and 3 saps.
Investigating the chest reveals glowing blue script on the chest’s lid, which says: “The prize lies within! Test your mettle against ours!” The interior of the chest is empty except for a parchment note that reads: “Congratulations, you have passed the trial! This amulet is your prize; present it to Venture-Captain Valsin as proof of your success!” Broken links of chain lie around the perimeter of the chest.
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Talwin hands the dagger back to Oleander once Aaziroth hurries past him to disable the trap.
"keep this handy if we see more of those metal men."
After reading the notes:
"Well, if there was any doubt, now we know that something went very wrong here. That automaton, or whatever it was, must have been some sort of guardian awakened by these poor souls."
He looks around a bit.
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Other than the way you came, the only passage out of the room is the northern archway. Talwin finds two pairs of bloody footprints heading through that opening.
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Yuki seemed a bit disappointed that there was nothing left for them to get
"So someone beat us to it and now we we have to catch them?"
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"Aaaaahhh!!"
Kuaizi shakes a bit from the unexpected shock. "Thank you, Oleander-chan. That was shocking!" A few black feathers remain comically stuck out of place, even after the monk tries to lick and palm them back down.
The monk smiles at Yuki Tsune with compassion, "Yes, it appears bandits may have been here before us." He continues to all, "The other Pathfinders would not have been killed by their own traps." Looking down the blood tracked passage to the north, "Someone made it out alive."
"Namo amida Iro-shu." Kuaizi takes a slight bow, palms in prayer position, to respect the deceased.
After retrieving his whip and taking up his staff once more, "Yes, let us move on." Cautiously, he then heads through the northern archway, keeping his eyes and ears peeled.
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Yuki nods. Her ears now turning as she is nervous. But soon it goes away as she skips along with the party. Still waring her mask
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The group moves through the northern archway, with neither Aaziroth nor Kuaizi spotting any additional traps.
Twice as wide as it is long, this large, oval chamber is illuminated with a murky radiance by dimly glowing overhead crystals. The room is bare of furnishings, just an open space with a dozen semicircular alcoves around the perimeter. Mechanical horrors identical to that outside occupy a number of these alcoves, but none of the automatons seem active, and some have even fallen over. A door stands in the center of the northern wall.
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"I agree, Oleander, but I also don't want one of these things coming up behind us. We should make sure there aren't any traps that will bring them to life. Since you and Kuaizi have a better eye for details than me, maybe you can each take a side to search the alcoves. I'll stand ready to defend you if one wakes up."
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"Well, I been known to spot things on occasion myself. I'll also back you two up and keep my eyes open."
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"I don't remember " risk of death" being part of the mission. I thought as long as we were on the marked path that everything would be ok. . . somethings just not right about this hole thing.."
Arcen stops talking as he enters the larger room. fear runs down his back as he notices all the automatons around the room.
"ya oleander, this is not a fight we could win I think. let try and move on quicky."
Although perhaps the sight is quite unsettling, the large number of automaton's remain immobile and inert as a more thorough check of the room is performed. Nothing dangerous or useful is discovered after several minutes of examination.
Through the door, you find a flight of metal stairs that descends through a corridor sheathed in the same brick-red metal. The corridor seems in better repair than most, with no missing panels and functional overhead lighting. The stairs end at a door to the north, while two narrow arches open on either side of the hall.
Moving to the archways, you can see that both sides contain four metal bunkbeds and four footlocks. In the eastern barracks room, stand a male and a female. The male has strange blue glowing tattoos visible on his body and is wearing leather armor and carrying a crossbow he points at the party. There is a tin amulet hanging around his neck.
The woman is dressed in studded leather and is wielding a quarterstaff. She also appears somewhat injured.
"What are you doing here?" The male asks in a flat tone.
"Get lost or we're going to mess you up!" The woman threatens with a cough.
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"Easy now... just wanted to make sure? Do you have a half orc friend? We saw back there a while ago. I can go fetch him if you give us some time? We dont want to cause trouble"
She gives them an open smile
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Kuaizi holds up a taloned palm, gesturing to the man to be calm and lower his weapon. He keeps his staff in his other hand lowered, but ready to swing without hesitation should diplomacy fail. "We mean no harm, honorable sir and madam! We were here to train, but training has turned into investigation of what has happened here. I am Kuaizi Wu, and you are?"
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Oleander looks at the missile weapon pointed in the parties direction with a sneer.
"There were three other bodies that these two left behind as well."
She keeps her bow ready as she asks.
"What happened? We're not here to hurt you." her eyes lock on the amulet around the mans neck, but she says nothing about it for the moment.
"Did it kill your Eidolon too?" she asks.
"To the 9th circle of hell with that coward Harlo, he ran away when we needed him the most!" The woman spits out with a sneer, obviously angry with her former companion.
"I do not know what an Eidolon is." The male replies, his demeanor still quite calm, "I am Meleren and she is Shechera. As you probably can see, we are what is left of the Blood-Red Raider's band that was exploring these ruins."
Shechera shoots Meleren a glare as he reveals this information, but it quickly passes as she groans in pain again. "I could use some healing, as long as it's not some kind of trick."
Still holding his crossbow, Meleren points it towards the wall, "Perhaps we could use some assistance."
Member of the Silver Crusade quickly realize that showing this bandits the error of their ways would be in line with the goals Ollysta Zadrian outlined for this year. If you assist them and provide good examples, perhaps you can turn them from their current dark paths in life.
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Talwin moves forward, spear in one hand, wand in the other. He taps the woman's shoulder gently.
"There now. Hopefully that makes a bit of difference. Tell me, how does the life of a raider treat you generally?"
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Oleander lowers her bow.
"Was Harlo a half orc? If so, well, I think he has already ventured into the hells."
She does her best to smile and show she is friendly.
"We'll keep you safe, don't worry. We dealt with the ...thing.. that killed your friends."
She looks around. "Do you want us to escort you out?"
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The monk takes a formal bow to his new acquaintances, "Well met, Shecha-chan and Meleren-san." He then stands by Shechera as Talwin administers his healing wand.
In support of Talwin's query, the monk perks up. Seeing the opportunity to change these misguided bandits to a righteous path, he chimes in after they respond. He holds an index finger pointed upwards as he recites from memory, "'Ever grows the glory of him who is energetic, mindful and pure in conduct, discerning and self-controlled, righteous and heedful.' Thus said Lord Iro-shu, the Enlightened One."
Shechera sighs with some relief as Talwin heals her, but she's still somewhat injured. "Being a bandit is all I know, I've never been good for anything else." She replies, the sneer on her lips returning.
"The Blood-Red Raiders took me in when I had no one else. It is good to be of use to someone and still have my freedom." Meleren reveals matter-of-factly, "Yes, Harlo is a half-orc. It would appear his plan to run away failed. Shechera and I would like to discover the meaning of all these oddities, so we would prefer to join with your group. There is safety in numbers after all."
The woman nods her head in reluctant agreement.
Both bandits merely seem nonplussed by Kuaizi's prayer.
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"As Kuaizi stated earlier, the traps and puzzles were set up as a training exercise for us. We are Pathfinders. We explore the lands in search of knowledge which we report back to headquarters here in Absalom. While we come from many different backgrounds, we all cooperate with one another to fulfill our duties," Aaziroth adds. "We would gladly help you to safety."
"We saw other people coming down in these tunnels, we thought they were another gang of bandits, but I guess from what you're telling us, they were Pathfinders." Shechera explains with a sigh, "We thought they were hiding loot, but I guess it was just the obstacle course. Stab my eyes, it all makes sense now!"
Meleren elaborates, "Other than the traps, the only adversary we faced was that metal monster in the archway room. After it slayed half our party and our leader ran away, Shechera and I retreated in here to regroup."
He blinks slowly and becomes introspective, "It's strange, ever since I've entered this place, I've had an odd feeling of being pulled here. I cannot explain it."
"As far as I know, the ones who set up the traps have already left." Shechera replies to Kuaizi.
Meleren then answers Oleander's question, "I feel a strange sensation to move forward, I cannot properly explain it. It may even be related to the metal monsters waking up. I am not sure."
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Talwin speaks to the pair.
"I certainly agree that feeling valued and accepted is important. I must say that the Society and the Church of Abadar have both provided such for me. I'm not sure what is best for you, but perhaps there could be other options for you to consider now."
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"Agreed, Talwin. Having recently finished my training with the Society, which gave me much knowledge, I am looking forward to travelling in service to both the Society and Iomedae. There are always alternatives. Sometimes you just need a little direction," Aaziroth adds. "Do either of you know what is through the door?"