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With the skills of Raevin, even with a bit of fumbling around, Luurg's tools and Selima's magic, the make-shift bridge becomes sturdy enough to even support Luurg's heft. That done, the party slowly but surely crosses over the fissure.
Heryn waits patiently at the entrance of a chamber to the south, and once the party is across, she leads you into it. When you enter, you see racks of bottled wine and fine ale throughout the chamber. This appears to be where the Wounded Wisp keeps its supply of specialty wines and ales for important occasions. With the cobweb and dust, the chamber does not appear to be frequently used, but anyone with any knowledge can tell that the collection is indeed quite fine.
Heryn looks rather proud of the collection. "Impressive for a run-of-the-mill dive bar, isn't it? Over hundreds of years, Pathfinders have donated vintage wine and other alcoholic drinks they've collected from far flung locations. At least, those they didn't drink themselves. Turning to the racks, you then hear her mumbling to herself, "Hmm, I believe that Dreng would now be looking for the vintage from 4306. I wonder why though. It wasn't a particularly good year, and Kortos certainly doesn't produce good wine as it is." She then gestures to the party. "Come, this would go faster if we all chip in. Sorry, it's a bit untidy. We never really got round to organising all these. The one we are looking for should be from Kortos Vineyard, the year 4306." If it had not dawned upon you earlier, by now, you realise that Dreng had sent your team to fetch a bottle of wine.
After a couple of minutes, Feuerseele's sharp eyes spot the bottle in question, lying on a rack in a heavily cobwebbed corner. As he tries to extract the bottle, though, the bottle resists your pull, as if it was connected to something. You hear a faint click, and a section of the wine rack next to Ekanta suddenly slides back with a faint grinding sound to reveal a stone tunnel. Interestingly, an unflickering yellow light emanates from the tunnel.
"By Abadar, what is that?" Heryn exclaims in alarm.
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Luurg's eyes go wide as he sees the secret passage open up. He then rubs his belly as he goes into thought, a common occurrence. He starts pulling out other bottles to see how many passages there really are while at the same time admiring the bottles
"Maybe there's more than just one passage! Maybe a better one behind better booze!"
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Luurg's eyes go wide as he sees the secret passage open up. He then rubs his belly as he goes into thought, a common occurrence. He starts pulling out other bottles to see how many passages there really are while at the same time admiring the bottles
"Maybe there's more than just one passage! Maybe a better one behind better booze!"
Luurg discerns that the wine cellar contains quite a random collection of exclusive vintages, mixed together with wine that are no better than vinegar. It really appears if no one had seriously attempted to organise the place. Luurg's efforts, however, do not reveal any more passages.
"No, what are you doing? Put them back!" Heryn exclaims, her attention torn from the newly opened passage.
You eventually organise yourself to enter this passageway. The short tunnel opens up into a small but well-constructed stonework room. A sturdy silver chain jutting from the ceiling ends in a glowing orb that radiates yellow light across the rectangular room. A simple desk of polished wood, stacked with documents and scattered notes, shelters a pair of wooden chests against the south wall. Heryn stays back in the chamber, but peeks into the tunnel to see if there is anything of interest.
A series of cracks along the eastern and western walls form makeshift entrances into exposed caverns, which are completely in darkness.
Just as you move closer to the desk, none of you hear the faint chittering coming from the cracks, where a couple of hungry critters hide in ambush. That is until they burst forth, rushing at the party!
One of them attempts to crush Ekanta with both its claws, while jabbing its sting straight at him. Ekanta, however, deftly jumps out of the way for most of the attacks, but one claw manages to gash him at his side.
for
The other similarly attacks Wardex Jax, but its claws only connects with his armor, while the sting is easily deflected by his shield.
Heryn screams when she sees the monsters jump out. She retreats back across the makeshift bridge as quickly as it is safe to do so, but does not flee further, possibly waiting to assess the progress of the battle.
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Not wanting to put herself or Thirsty in the Ifrit sorcerer's way, she draws an acid flask and uses it as a focus to power up her acid splash. She points her finger and a glob of acid flies to impact the scorpion's carapace.
She holds Thirsty back until Feuerseele has acted and then sends him in after whatever is left standing, if anything.
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Luurg recognises the cave scorpions for what they are and shouts out a warning about their stings, while moving into position. Jax chops down hard with his longsword, splitting wide open the exoskeleton of his foe, and dark red blood starts oozing out. Ekanta smashes twice with his staff on his, leaving deep cracks on the head and body, and likely significant internal damage. Selima calls into existence an orb of acid, which flies unerringly towards her target, while she holds back her cat. Both the scorpions are looking in quite dire straits.
The scorpion mindlessly continues its attack on Ekanta, the creature which hurt it so badly. Again, one of its claws slams into Ekanta’s stomach. Also this time, its sting strikes true piercing his shoulder, injecting poison into his system.
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for and Fort save DC 12 or poison
The other similarly attacks Wardex Jax, with one claw finding an opening, gashing his right arm.
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After their attacks, they instinctively skitters backwards into the cracks in the wall, leaving only their front exposed.
From outside the tunnels, you hear Heryn shouts out in concern, ”Should I go for help?”
Ekanta's staff crushes the scorpion practically into mush, and it is left twitching as its life blood oozes into the ground.
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Luurg will stab his knife at the 'buggie', careful not to ding it on the stone walls. But appears more concerned for keeping his dagger sharp then sticking the scorpion.
"Maybe you need to be the one to finish it off eh Jax?" His eyes then go wide as he sees the massive gout of flames spew from Feuerseele and he takes a step back in hopes of avoiding them.
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The fires bursting from Feuerseele's hands decimates the remaining scorpion.
Silence that falls upon the room after the short but fierce battle, broken when Heryn pops her head into room, and asks in concern, "Is everyone alright?"
With the vermins defeated, the you can properly examine the files on the desk. The papers chronicle the personal exploits of Selmius Foster, a famous Pathfinder whose name you recognize from your training as Pathfinder agents or from conversations with other Pathfinders, although you know little beyond that. From the notes left behind though, you can tell he was likely a founding member of the Pathfinders, i.e. about 400 hundred years ago. Most of Foster’s more infamous adventures appear here in varying amounts of detail, but it is evident there is another investigation he had been pursuing before he died: the lost records of a Society agent named Eylysia. Two pieces of notes especially, one by Selmius Foster himself, and one by what appears to be his assistant Adolphus, catches your attention and appears to be of significant importance.
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"Peeww, roasted buggies don't smell to great, I think that one's over cooked. Maybe the other is in better shape?" Luurg then proceeds to check out the other scorpion and give it a couple good stabs for good measure, then appears to be dissecting it or something along those lines.
Once Luurg has finished with the scorpion he'll listen in and browse over people's shoulders about the paper work. "Maybe we should take these upstairs and look through them with a bit of food and a cold one to help our heads think better. I found some nice booze in the other room that would be good for that."
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You can refer to this FAQ on poison use in PFS and how alchemists craft in PFS. These are what I understand, but please correct me if I'm wrong. You do not need poison use to craft poison, it just prevents you from accidentally poisoning yourself when crafting or applying it. You use craft(alchemy) and the DC is different for different poisons. As for collection of poison raw materials, in game it is largely for roleplaying purposes. In game mechanics, you would need to spend gold for the raw materials. Due to the time it takes, you can really only craft them between scenarios, until you get instant alchemy, that is.
Luurg winces as he sees Ekanta's wound. "I think I can see some of your guts Ekanta! You should suck them back in, they don't like being in the air like that. When mine do that I just eat a nice big apple and they go back to hidin' in my belly, they must really like apples... Maybe Heryn knows someone that can stitch you up a bit? Or maybe I can ask those half orcs upstairs?"
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Selima saunters up to Ekanta, drawing a red and black wand from her belt. "I think you will not object to this, but just in case..." She taps him with it before telling him what it is.
"We're fine, Heryn. Probably just tell folks we are shopping for a bottle of wine for our Venture Captain, should anyone ask."
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Not sure what we've decided, but Luurg would definitely like to go upstairs and have a quick pint with the pair of half orcs and see if they are also Pathfinders. He'll see if maybe he can try one of the 'lesser' bottles from down in the cellar here.
"Heryn do you know if the two half orcs upstairs are Pathfinders too? I'd like to go talk to them for a few minutes if they are. Would it be ok for me to share a bottle of one of these less good boozes from here with them to not be weird? Its rude to show up with no drinks and I'm sure they won't mind cheap wine.. I hope?"
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Heryn takes a few more curious looks into the room, before stepping back. "Sure, Lady Selima. But this room looks important. You might want to report this."
Turning to Luurg, she continues, "And yes, Master Luurg, the Boartusks twins have been Pathfinders for about 3 years now, although not particularly active ones. They ... hmm ... tend to be less subtle about things, so not that many commissions come their way. But oh, when they come, the two of them of very effective. They aren't really the wine drinking lot, you know. Buying them a few rounds of ale might be more up their alley."
With that, she turns and heads back upstairs.
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Heryn takes a few more curious looks into the room, before stepping back. "Sure, Lady Selima. But this room looks important. You might want to report this."
"Certainly, we'll be up in just a few. Have to make sure nothing else is threatening to come out of the woodwork first."
Selima brings Thirsty fully into the room and has him sniff around before they head back across the plank and back upstairs again, just to be on the safe side. That done, she nods in agreement. "Yes, Janira is quite knowledgeable and trustworthy. She has helped me with research before."
Once they return to the main floor of the bar, she asks Janira aside for a private conversation with her team. "You're quite well versed in all things Pathfinder related. Are you familiar with any of these names?" She shows her the second parchment, penned by Adolphus as it contained more of the relevant names and less of the specific details.
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Other than the simple furniture, the small room is quite spartan. The cracks in the walls from which scorpions emerged from do not appear to be part of the original construction, and were likely formed by the same earthquake the created the fissures outside. Through the uneven passages you catch the faint stench of sewage, and they likely lead to Absalom's sewers.
As the party progresses back up the stairs, Selima draws Janira to one of the side rooms. As soon as they enter, Janira quickly pipes up in concern. "Selima, is everything ok? Heryn came back up a while ago, and while I think she kept it well-hidden, I could tell she was flustered by something."
Janira takes the handout from Selima, and scans through it thoroughly, her eyes opening wider as she progresses down each line. Exclaiming quite excitedly, "Where did you get this? If it's authentic, why, it must be almost 400 years old! Did you find it in the cellar? What a discovery! Hmm, alright, let's see. Selmius Foster, I'm sure you've heard of him. One of the founding members of the Society. In fact, he used to frequent the Wounded Wisp, and even had his own room here between his frequent travels. He passed away tragically, though, in the unfortunate expedition to Bhopan island. Mauled to death by a pack of dog-men. Now which year was it again? I think it was 4328?"
Pausing here to take a quick breath, Janira continues, "Adolphus... that is his assistant. Became quite famous in his own right. Married Princess Ganjay, the Opal of Bhopan, and the two abscond with the royal treasury, which they later used to found the Nexus House Pathfinder lodge in Quantium. The story goes that he was devastated when his master was slain, and did what he could continue his legacy. Rumours are that he made a major donation to the Wounded Wisp, his master's favourite haunt. And he pushed for the creation of the Wall of Names to commemorate fallen Pathfinders in 4330, one of the first name being his master's."
Janira stops here to ponder. "Hmm, now this Eylysia. I can only think of one Eylysia who might be a contemporary of them. She was one of the early members of the Society, a well-travelled gnome but seemingly disappeared shortly after the masking of the Decemvirate in 4411. Not much is known about her though - not many of her records were left behind or found. But why would Selmius Foster be investigating her? Stories are told of their good friendship."
Turning back to the note again, Janira's brow furrows in confusion. "And why would she be adding names to the Wall? Hmm, no none of these names are familiar to me. Adolphus could be right - they might not be true Pathfinders. But then again, this is almost 400 hundred years ago, and many Pathfinders have fallen away the way. Hmm, that leaves Arkath. I'm sorry, I have not heard of him."
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As Selima is discussing some things with Janira, Luurg will order 3 cheap, tall ales and head over to meet the pair of half orcs that are busy fueling their bodies with alcohol.
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Between the time that the party descended to the cellar and returned, Luurg sees that there are now about a dozen of empty flagons on the table, but the Boartusk twins are still going strong, albeit eyes going somewhat blurry. They both look up at Luurg as he approaches, and grins broadly when they see the 3 flagons of ale he is holding.
The female twin exclaims loudly, in somewhat broken Common, "Sit, sit! Space always for more ale! Haha! And new friends, too! I Shrade, and he Garl. We be the Boartusk twins!"
The other continues, in a deep rumbling voice, "Yes, we Pathfinders. Hmm, 3 years now? We good at smashing things. Ambrus say that not always good. He say Pathfinders need 'sub-tle-ty' too." Here, Garl looks somewhat crestfallen. Continuing, "We spend most time here. Heryn gives us good discount!" At the thought of cheap alcohol, Garl cheers up again.
Shrade looks at the various colorful fruits hanging off Luurg, and pokes one of them suspiciously. "What that?"
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Luurg will sweep the empty flagons off to the side to make some space then sit down heavily in whatever chair looks to be stoutest. He'll switch to common as they seem to prefer it. "Chairs make me nervous, sometimes little people make chairs that break when big people sit in them, I think they jealous of us big people."
He then slides an ale over to each of them and continues "These are fruits. That one there is 'dragon fruit' or as I call it, boom boom fruit. This one here He knocks on the side of it, giving a hard hollow sound That one coconut, good for drinking, make good hard waterskin. These red and green ones apples, good for putting guts back into belly. Dees yellow ones are naners. They can make arms long like monkey..." He continues describing about half a dozen different fruits hanging off his belts and bandoleers, but the most numerous seem to be the dragon fruits and apples.
"So why you guys called twins if you don't look the same?"
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Shrade continues poking at the mysterious fruits suspiciously, and comments disdainfully, "Hmm, looks healthy."
"So why you guys called twins if you don't look the same?"
At that, Garl and Shrade turned to each other, looking somewhat perplexed, before turning back to Luurg and speaking almost exactly together, "What you mean? We look same same."
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Luurg rubs his belly in thought again as they swear about their resemblance to each other. "Well it was very good meeting you two but I think my group wants to go now, I guess we have things to do that doesn't include drinking." He looks down at the empty flagons dejectedly. "Thanks for the beer, let me know if you need a guide outside the city, I'm a good guide!"
With that Luurg will slide himself up out of the chair and head to the bar. "Garl and Shrade ask for more ales and to put everything on der tab. Good beer, danks Heryn." Luurg will promptly retrieve the rest of his things from the teen at the door and head out into the weather, not waiting for his group if they dally.
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As Luurg stands up to the leave at the bidding of his party, Garl switches to orcish. ”Well-met, Master Luurg. I see you’re are engaged in Pathfinder business, so we won’t hold you to join our drinking game. We’ll still be here for some time, so if you need any help, just holler!” Shrade adds on, with a broad grin, ”Yeah, we are good at smashing things, creating distrations, and generally creating chaos.” She adds on, now with some concern, ”And be careful about fruits. Too healthy. Raw red meat is better!”
Details left by Selmius Foster indicate the location of Arkath’s burial site: a plot of land in Eastgate operated by the faith of Pharasma, the Lady of Graves. The drizzle continues as the party approaches, an appropriate complement to the location. A fence surrounds the graveyard, and the party enters via the wide open gates to the east. A number of stone mausoleums borders the necropolis, while countless graves that dot the grounds. You can tell that the graveyard was once well-maintained but in recent years, the mausoleums and graveyards are starting to become dilapidated.
Looking at the gravestones, you notice that most, if not all, of the deceased were interred a few hundred years ago. That the grounds are largely deserted is not surprising – the friends and relatives of those buried here are likely themselves long deceased. The only person present is a dark-haired lady dressed in fine black robes slowly pacing the grounds, her hood drawn up against the rain. She does not appear to be paying respects to the deceased, and instead appear to be on patrol. She glances at the party as you enter, but she does not immediately approach you.
After a quick tour round the necropolis, you find the northernmost mausoleum belonging to Arkath. By then, the attendant see your interest and paces over to you. Although she speaks politely in a slow measured fashion, there is a tinge of disinterest in her voice. “Good day, lady and gentlemen. I am Hadriana, priestess of Pharasma, attendant of this necropolis. Do you require any resistance?”