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Shellie, the halfling, her adrenaline flowing, hops out of the way of Adinomo's rapier.
Just then, a human man dressed in orange robes steps out from the other corner of the alcove. He silently walks up behind the hulking woman, lays his hand on her shoulder and utters some incomprehensible words. She, in turn, suddenly looks rejuvenated.
She, in her towering rage, turns her attention to the pint-size humanoid who has stepped up in front of her. She readily switches target and smashes her greatclub at Adinomo while his attention is on Shellie. The blow across Adinomo's chest is hard, cracking a number of ribs.
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"Oh? Hello. Did you know it is raining over your head? That's so sad.... Oh! Do you like rainbows? Faeria invokes the magic word "Skittles!" unleashing a wave of scintillating color into the big girl's face! "Taste the rainbow!"
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Both the tall hulking woman and robed man standing behind get caught in the waves of scintillating colors and fall unconscious on the floor.
The halfling, overwhelmed by fear of Capone, turns and flee towards the exit, wriggling away from Darven and Adinomo's attacks as she does so. The green robed man shouts out, "Shellie, where are you going!" Seeing his two other comrades collapsed on the floor, he starts to hightail out of there, too, but he releases another bolt of magic missile at Darven while he does so, hoping to slow down pursuit.
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Faeria looks dazedly at her finger tips following the trail of fade rainbows that trail them as she drags them through the air. Then realizing where she is she points them at the exit and utters another short phrase and just then a dozen or so silent but grim, ghosts of failed Star Stone aspirants slowly resolve into view floating inches off the floor.
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Darven swings his sword at the magic user, but his blade similarly bounces off some magical force. The magic user, finding himself threatened by Darven and Adinomo, takes one step back, raises a finger to point at Adinomo, and fires a bolt of pure magical force to slam into him.
Shellie the halfling screams in terror at the ghosts that have suddenly manifested at the only exit. She stabs her rapier unerringly into one of them, but her blade goes through. Still convinced that they are ghosts, she stands in front of them, alternately staring at them and back at Capone in fear.
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Shelby steps up to heal Adinomo, which although not by much, is very much welcomed. Adinomo coordinates with Darven to flank the magic user. Darven's unlucky streak continues, but Adinomo finally strikes true, piercing through the half-elf's magical protection deep into his chest. He collapses onto the floor, unconscious and bleeding out.
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Capone moves menacingly closer to the halfing, who screams again in horror seeing him approach. Faeria similarly advances towards her, pulling out a scroll of rainbow colors.
The half-elf bleeds out into the ground, sinking gradually into Pharasma's land.
The halfling, hemmed in on one side by her terror and the other side by ghosts that refuse to budge, flees towards Gobru's alcove.
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"Ooh, come back! I want to cast prismatic spray!" Cries Faeria jogging along awkwardly after her pouting. She reads aloud the words upon the scroll!
Then she looks up and sees that Adinomo has somehow crossed into the path of her deadly spell--The mad, impetuous fool! For such a large man he certainly moves quietly! She hauls the scroll to the left as the deadly, scintillating light, with strength and momentum all its own, erupts from it like a wave.
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A bright spray of colors washes over the halfling, but her overwhelming fear gives her the resolve to resist the effects of the spell. As the party close in on her, the unnatural fear imposed by Capone fades from her, but some lingering effects leaves her shaken when Capone confronts her.
Shellie throws down her rapier and raises her hands. "I surrender! I surrender!" she cries out. She glances at the half-elf bleeding out. "Please let me save my friends. You can have all our gear and items. Let us leave with our lives..." She obviously have heard rumours of murder-hoboing Pathfinders.
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Shellie edges over to the half-elf, kneeling by his side to try to staunch his wounds. She is, however, also unsuccessful.
Looking desperate, she moves her hand slowly to her pouch and looks to you for approval, before reaching into her pouch to draw out a potion. She pours the content down the half-elf's throat, who almost immediately wakes up sputtering. He groggily starts to reach towards his spell pouch, but the halfling quickly stops him and signals to your party with weapons drawn surrounding them. The magic user immdiately gets the picture.
Only then does Shellie turns to answer Adinomo, rather deflatedly. "The commotion you caused earlier at the Wounded Wisp. Word reached our superiors. I don't know what magic they used, but we were sent here to waylay you and take what you've found." She quickly adds on, "But not to take any lives! Our superiors do not wish to start a conflict with your Society!" She spits out bitterly, "Our lives are probably not worth it."
Between the two of them, they unload all their gold, items and gear, leaving them in a pile for your convenience. By then, the other two have woken up in a daze from Faeria's spell, and starts to struggle against their bonds. The halfling and half-elf quickly explain the situation to them.
That done, they look to the six of you for permission to leave with their tails between their legs.
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"I hope to meet you another time, without weapons drawn..."
Shellie turns and stares at Adinomo, wide-eyed. She suddenly blushes and turns to stare at the ground when she realises Adinomo's meaning. Digging her toes into the ground, she mutters, "Maybe... Wounded Wisp..." She then quickly turns and dashes out of the Shrine.
"Don't look so sad. The Pathfinders are a powerful entity. Perhaps one of you would think about joining us in the future, particularly the Dark Archives that collects and stores relics for study."
The half-elven looks down upon Capone with some respect, recalling the abject fear he had cast upon Shellie earlier. He waits for the rest of his party to move some distance away first though before he replies. "Perhaps so, if the most absolute novices like you could trounce us like that. I've heard of the Dark Archives. And your store of relics. I'll get in touch. My name is Evarion." Saying that, he turns and limps out, clutching his wounds tenderly.
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You gather up the loot and make your way back to the Grand Lodge. Unlike earlier, the streets are starting to get crowded again with people returning from the Starstone Cathedral. Talk on the street is primarily on Sir Reinhart's failure at the Test of the Starstone, many clearly still horrified by his attempt to vault the chasm on horseback, which ended with both him and the unfortunate mount falling into oblivion.
Back at the Grand Lodge, you find Venture-Captain Drandle Dreng in the sitting room. He has pulled an easy chair up by the fireplace and you find him lounging back with his bare feet practically inches from the roaring fire. He gets up and strides to you as soon as he sees you enter.
"That you took more than half a day to return with Heryn's wine suggests that you encountered some unexpected adventures. Come, share with an old man your stories for today!" Dreng beams at you.
As you describe to him the happenings of the day, Dreng's beaming smile gets wider and wider, first in anticipation, then in excitement, and finally in pride. He takes from you the stack of Eylysia's notes.
"Well done, my fellow Pathfinder!" he sings out in praise. "I had long suspected Selmius of hiding something in his beloved tavern but little did I suspect it would lead to the rumored notes of Eylysia!" He adds on gleefully, "And you took down the Aspis a peg or two in the process! I'll enjoy rubbing this in their faces the next time we meet!"
Flipping through the papers, he mutters excitedly, "This appears to be in some form of encrypted Azlanti. Will take us years to decipher everything!"
He then turns back to you. "As new Pathfinder, you have performed beyond expectations. Capone, Faeria, Shelby, I'll be speaking with Kreighton Shaine, the Master of Scrolls, to expedite your Confirmation. And the rest of you can be expecting more assignments soon. Good job! Please now, go have a well-deserved rest! Tell Heryn to put your drinks today on my tab!" He then turns back and starts scanning through the papers.
As you reach the door though, he suddenly calls you back. "Wait. Eylysia left behind a letter, in Azlanti but unencrypted. You might want to hear this." He then recites it to you.
To you who are now reading this,
I trust you are members of the Pathfinder Society, for the clues I have laid throughout the city would have only been uncovered by those familiar with its workings. If I was in error though, I can only ask for your assistance not to disturb the rest of the room, and to deliver this note to the Grand Lodge. The gem I have placed here would be sufficient compensation, I hope.
Within this room are numerous findings that I have put together from my years of travels and exploration. Findings that I did not report to the Pathfinder Society. That I have not done so would be deeply frowned upon by many Society members, and indeed a number suspects me of hoarding my discoveries. Including my dear old friend Selmius. I can only reiterate what I have been putting forth on numerous occasions. Uncovering of knowledge is a noble goal, and is an endeavour that I have dedicated my life to in the Pathfinder Society. However, I stand firm that some knowledge must remain secrets, at least for a time, as their uncovering would lead to untold damage to innocents. Herein are information that could topple kingdoms, disgrace the honored and disillusion the faithful. As such, I keep these secreted away here, in the hopes that they only come to light generations in the future. When the ones implicated have passed. When such information are no longer damning but would be mere curiosities.
If my attempts to hide them long enough are unsuccessful, I can only beseech you to look through the documents in fine detail first before submitting them. And I can only look to your conscience to decide whether releasing these information would do more harm than good.
And Selmius, I am truly sorry that my acts have driven a wedge into our friendship. With your untimely demise, I have lost the chance to explain my actions, and so I lay it down in this letter. I know you would never have agreed with my actions, so I can only seek your understanding. May you rest in peace.
- Eylysia, 4412
Dreng sighs deeply. "Yes, indeed. Knowledge can be dangerous in the wrong hands. And who knows if ours are the right ones. But with almost four hundred years from when Eylysia hid these away, I trust that the time is now right for them to come to light. Since you were instrumental into turning these up, I'll keep you informed if we find anything of interest."
He turns back to his papers, but suddenly looks up as remembering something. "But wait! Where's my wine?"
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Darven sheathes his blade and points towards the door.
"You better leave."
"But, we caught them shouldn't we get to keep a few?"
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He turns back to his papers, but suddenly looks up as remembering something. "But wait! Where's my wine?"...
"Oh!" Faeria turns to Adinomo and addresses his hair. "Did you ever pick up my dagger?"