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As Link scribbles the word on the uncovered chalkboard, he suddenly hears a grinding noise to his right. A hidden door along the west side of the wall slides back. The party enters cautiously into what appears to be a natural stone cavern beyond the secret door
This cavern is dark but dim illumination emanates from the northeast from an alcove. Otherwise, the entire cavern is silent and empty. When you approach the alcove, you can see several desks arranged along the northern and eastern edges of this small stone alcove. Whereas the stonework leading to this chamber is rough, the walls in the alcove are polished. A single gem rests among the neatly filed papers on the desk, emitting a soft luminescence that brightens the small room.
Looking through the paperwork left behind, even the unschooled can tell that they are priceless collections of Pathfinder Society lore and information describing dozens of unexplored sites. Most are written in an Azlanti dialect, but appear further encrypted. This collection is clearly a goldmine of great scholarly importance, but understanding the true scope of the discovery would require several weeks of careful study by researchers at the Grand Lodge.
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"Seems to me that we found what we were looking for."
Link gives the gem a glance and doesn't notice it for anything.
"Should we take all this with us or let Dreng know what we found and let the higher ups sort this out? Either way I'm sure we'll get a pat on the back. I'm hoping we can mosey this party along since I've got to get gussied up to meet a pretty lady waitin' on me back at the Wisp."
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"These caves aren't natural! They must have been made by magic!" Adnan exclaims excitedly
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"Amazing." Katswiri follows her companions into the room, eyes taking in her surroundings and the treasure trove of pathfinder lore. "You're right, the walls in this cave, they are not natural. Perhaps Arkath used more than simple tools in his working of stone."
She pokes through the accumulated lore, taking a brief inventory before settling into a short meditative trance, her eyes blinking as she focuses and allows for divine inspiration to draw her attention to the specific properties of the gem.
"I think we should take all of this with us back to Dreng, and let the Grand Lodge begin the process of deciphering these texts. We should also make sure to take that gem; it is quite valuable, and we should be able to sell it for quite a sum if the society isn't interested in giving us a finder's fee for it. I would say at least 550 gold, and more for the light enchantment. That is no cantrip, or it would not have lasted all this time."
Katswiri begins to pack the documents away into her backpack, securing them for travel.
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"Five hundred and fifty!" Kronas says wide-eyed and in disbelief "Yoink" he says playfully as he snatches up the gem a pops it in his backpack "We did it, we did it... I can't wait to show all this off to the guys and gals at the lodge." he dances a little while watching Katswiri gather the documents and turns to Lincoln "You'll have plenty of time to make yourself look nice for the lady... Oh, I have some spare turquoise and vermilion feathers you could stick in your hair if you'd like! No offence, but you humans always have such dull hair."
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Other than the glowing gemstone, Katswiri does not detect anything else magical in the room or the cavern.
The party after uncovering Eylysia's secret stash of documents, joyously retrace their steps back out of the cavern and alcove of Plokkis. Little did they suspect, however, that there would be an amush waiting for them!
Neither Xander nor Talia notice two shadowy figures pressed against the walls on either side of the alcove exit. Just when Xander steps out, a shrill voice of the halfling dressed in red leather on his right calls out. "Greetings, from the Aspis Consortium!" With that, she stabs her rapier at Xander but the blade is turned away by his breastplate.
On his other side, a talk hulking woman in blue chainshirt roars in rage and swings down on Xander with her mighty greatclub, smashing mightily across his chest, breaking several ribs. "Hah! This is how you do it, Shellie!"
Before Xander manages to catch his footing, Shellie the halfling attempts to stick him with her rapier but it is once again turned away by his armor.
Just then, a half-elven man dressed in green robes step out of the nearby alcove. In a condescending tone, he speaks. "Shellie, perhaps you should go sharpen your blade. Don't waste time here." He waves his hand at Xander while uttering the words "මැජික් මිසයිල!" A sickly green bolt burst forth from his fingers, smashing into Xander's chest.
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A loud *boom* shatters the silence of the shrine as Lincoln's gun goes off. The bullet, however, smashes into the corner of alcove exit.
Talia tumbles past Xander and in between the towering human woman and the diminutive halfling. She easily dodges past the human, but with her attention too focused on her left, Shellie on her right catches her off guard and strikes with her rapier, piercing into her back.
Talia, gritting her teeth past the pain, launches her shuriken at the half-elf, striking him deep into his chest.
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Xander steps further out of the alcove, partly to get away from the flank, and also to give his party mates space to maneuver. He focuses his attention on the tall woman, calling on his divine powers to smite her. He then chops down on her with his greatsword, opening a wide gash across her side.
The woman in blue, pale with the sudden loss of blood, screams in rage at Xander. She steps up to close in on Talia but continues her attack on Xander. Her greatclub breaks more bones, but Xander miraculously remains standing.
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Kronas cringes at the beating Xander in receiving and jumps behind the nearest wall. Unable to think of an inspiring story he instead peaks around the corner and addresses the large woman with the club "Hey ragey Maisie! What do you call a rich elf? A Welfy!" He punctuates the awful joke with a clap of his hands, which releases the plume of feathers he had surreptitiously removed from his spell pouch moments before. He then ducks back behind the wall and draws his colourful whip.
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Adnan into the middle of the alcove. Only able to see the halfling and the laughing woman on the floor, he pulls out some fine sand and tosses it into their midst, while chanting some sleep inducing words. The woman's laughter keeps her awake, but the halfling collapses onto the floor, asleep.
Just as Shellie collapses on the floor, a human man in orange robes steps out of the alcove. Seeing two of his party mates injured, he summons a wave of divine energy washing through the area, healing them but somehow doesn't affect Talia or Xander.
The rejuvenated half-elf sends another bolt of magic bolt smashing into Talia, before he moves further away from the alcove.
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While Adnan starts casting the spell, the orange robed man steps out of the alcove to unleash healing magic to heal the half-elven mage and the laughing barbarian on the floor. Rejuvenated, the half-elven mage blasts Talia with a magic missile.
Surprised that Xander is still standing. Shellie the halfling continues her attack on him. Although she stabs him easily with her nimble attacks, without someone to flank with her, her attacks are not very effective.
Shortly after, Adnan's spell goes off and the halfling in red falls asleep and collapses to the floor.
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Adnan moves into the room, giggling, and then sends a fan of colors at the white robed man.
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Kronas goes pale as he sees another of his companions singed by a magic bolt, with a worried expression he turns to Katswiri "You help Talia... I've got the big guy." He then starts fumbling at the clinking bottles tied to his belt Which one was it?.
Finding the bottle he desperately needed, Kronas plucks it from his belt and regards the big woman who is starting recover from his joke "Now why don't you pick on someone your own size?" He says, shaking his whip and challenging her to a fight.
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Xander calls on the healing power of Iomedae to heal himself, and he takes a step towards Katswiri, who immediately lays a hand on him to heal him.
Finally feeling restored, Xander chops down on the woman laughing at his feet. The woman in the midst of her grotesque laughter, tries to roll away from the blow, but Xander's strike is true, and he opens a deep gash into her side. Her laughter ceases suddenly as she falls unconscious, bleeding out into the ground.
Kronas draws a healing potion and moves into position in case his teammates need healing, while Talia, feeling extremely groggy, stands unstable on her feet, waiting for healing. Unfortunately, none comes her way.
The orange robe man clearly wishes to save his teammate who is dying on the ground, but also fears stepping closer with your party gathered there. Instead, he releases another wave of healing burst, excluding Talia and Xander, before fleeing further away, hiding behind a pillar. Although this stops the bleeding, the barbarian remains unconscious.
Fearing the vicious attacks of the half-orc, the green robe magic user calls forth a bolt of magic and sends it flying at him, knocking Xander unconscious as his life starts to slip away. The half-elf then similarly also flees further away from the party.
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Kronas gasps as the big man falls. Taking a step towards Xander, he kneels down beside his unconscious form Hold on big fella! I've gotcha. Unstopping the cork with his teeth, he carefully pours the liquid into Xander's mouth, sparing a moment to glance at the halfling peacefully sleeping to his left.
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Katswiri steps over Xander and lays healing magic on Talia, restoring her life significantly.
Xander's wound stop bleeding on their own, just as Kronas pours a vial of healing potion into him, bringing him back to consciousness.
Link fires at the half-elf mage, but he just manages to dodge out of the way. Looks like his date would need to wait a bit longer.
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While Adnan presses himself against a pillar to start casting a spell, Talia, being rejuvenated by Katswiri, dashes up towards the half-elf and throws her shuriken at him. It flies effortlessly through his magical defences, slicing into his shoulder.
The orange robed man steps around the pillar to get within range of his teammates and releases another wave of healing magic. The wounds on the half-elven magic user heal completely, and you hear a groan emerge from the tall woman lying on the ground, who although restored to consciousness, looks extremely groggy and tired. The healer, looking desperate, pulls out a morningstar.
The half-elven mage, originally intending to target Adnan to stop his spellcasting, sees Talia charging at him. Frightened by her, he transfers his target to her instead, releasing yet another bolt of force at her, before fleeing further towards the exit.
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Xander's vision clears as he recognizes his surrounds and his view point being on his back a familiar position from his time training with the vastly more experienced paladins of the order.
"Just another day in service to Iomedae, thanks to whoever healed me by the way, I owe you one."
Xander slams his hand against his breast plate twice and a small glow enters Xanders body healing his wounds.
Xander then stands up and seeing his sword laying on the ground snaps it to his hand with a quick jerk of the weapon cord.
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Katswiri heals Xander even further, while Xander collects his weapon while getting up on his feet. Talia continues chasing down the magic user, throwing yet another shuriken at him, but this time he manages to dodge out of the way.
The tall woman, seeing herself surrounded, grabs her weapon that she had dropped on the floor, provoking attacks from Katswiri and Xander. She swings her greatclub at Xander whilst lying on the floor. However, from her awkward position, it clangs harmlessly against his shinguard. She falls unconscious from the exertion immediately after.
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With a sigh of relief at seeing Xander back on his feet, Kronas turns his attention to the man throwing magic bolts at Talia. After a quick wink and a pat on the back for Lincoln, he starts scampering towards the magic user, "Do you know what happens to people who bring magic to a gunfight? Well, let me enlighten you..." and starts to retell the story of a gunfighter who, when ambushed by mages, perforated his would-be assailants with a multitude of bullets.
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The tall woman, seeing herself surrounded, grabs her weapon that she had dropped on the floor, provoking attacks from Katswiri and Xander. She swings her greatclub at Xander whilst lying on the floor. However, from her awkward position, it clangs harmlessly against his shinguard. She falls unconscious from the exertion immediately after.
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Both Katswiri and Xander's weapons smashes into the woamn lying on the ground, and again she falls unconscious from the wounds. She looks like she is on the verge of death.
Adnan unleashes his spell on the half-elf but the effects washes over him, leaving him completely unharmed.
The orange robed is not so fortunate, and is knocked unconscious by Adnan's spell.
The half-elf mage, seeing the woman collapse again with horrific wounds, shouts out, "Bobbi!" He stops in his tracks and raises his hand high in the hair. "I surrender, but please, let me save my friend! You can have all our things. Just let me save her!" He makes ready to start moving towards Bobbi.
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"I, at least, accept. Get over here and help her before she bleeds out. Hurry, and don't try anything if you want to live!" Katswiri strides purposefully over towards the sleeping cleric. "I'm going to wake him up, and see if he is willing to earn some goodwill by healing all of us. Xander, Talia, can you restrain the halfling and watch the half-elf?"
Katswiri will swiftly pat down the cleric for weapons, and take any she finds, then kick him in the ribs to wake him up.
"You, get up. We've got wounded, but your friends are defeated and the woman is near death. You want to earn some good will for what happens next, you're going to heal everyone here who is wounded. Got that?"
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"Consider it done Katswiri"
Xander watches the half elf as Katswiri wakes the cleric his sword resting across his shoulders in the ready for combat position but not doing anything else aggressive posture wise.
"Hopefully that one can be saved, I have enough blood on my hands already from foes who did not need to die, and I grieve for each one that is slain that does not need to be."