|
Watching Garret get cut down does nothing to calm Ardisens already broken nerves, nor does seeing Cha-Ka engulfed beneath the water. As beads of sweat drip from the panicked enchanters brow he jams another bolt into his crossbow and raises it for a shot at the murderous monster.
Yet again, the bolt is nowhere near it's target.
|
The minotaur's axe whistles through the air, aimed at Nightrunner's head. However, the wolf is too quick for the massive yet slow weapon and lunges at the beast's throat. The bite is impressive and full of rage - a testimony of loyalty from one wolf to another from the same pack - and fells the minotaur. The hulking monstrosity falls on its knees, then face against the ground, lifeless. The Pathfinders' tenacity managed to bring the beast down, but at what cost?
|
Spluttering and coughing up torrents of water, Cha-Ka finally manages to pull himself to shore. He unsteadily gets to his feet and tries to charge off in the direction he thinks the minotaur was in. After a few very zig-zaggy feet, his vision clears enough to see the current situation. Seeing the fallen minotaur and his halfling companion nearby, he rushes towards Garret, attempting to drag him towards Ganju as quickly as he can.
|
|
You start catching your breath, healing yourselves as well as Janira when the halfling regains consciousness and greets you with a genuine smile. "I... the minortaur... is it dead? Thank you, all of you. If you hadn't arrived when you did... I dare not think what I would have become. I owe you my life! Master Shaine will hear my praises about your courage and devotion, be assured of that!" Then realizing slowly what has happened, her smile turns sour. "Garret, no! This can't be, oh please Desna, bring him back!" Her sobs turn to tears as she hugs the limp body of your fallen comrade. Sadly, Janira's plea remains unanswered.
After a time of mourning, Janira inquires about your plans. "I think we should return to Absalom and report to Master Shaine. Or maybe you'd wish to stay a little longer?"
|
|
Ardisen places a reassuring hand on Janiras shoulder, attempting the most reassuring smile he can manage for the moment.
"Garret gave his life protecting all of us, yourself including. He was a credit to halflings everywhere."
The enchanter pauses as he finishes his sentence, fully absorbing that his life was saved by the actions of one of the smallfolk. If a halfling such as Garret could make such a difference, he suspected Cheliax had the wrong idea in using such creatures as slaves. Of course, he wasn't about to turn all of Cheliax around, but if nothing else, Garrets heroism combined with Janira and Cutters actions had changed the wizards view on halflings significantly. Picking up his train of thought, Ardisen continued.
"I think it is time for us to go. We are all tired and worn down. We have information from inside the cave that we can bring back."
Ardisen turns his familiar smile back to the other Pathfinders, but his eyes betray some of the sadness he feels in asking his next question.
"Can one of you carry Garrets body? The least we can give him is a burial away from this place."
|
As Cutter is revived he surveys the battlefield. "No Garret, NO!" the halfling shouts. "You fool! I was the distraction!" tears form in his eyes and he grits his teeth in anger. Opening his hands and arms wide, the halfling looks to Cuan and approaches the wolf and his fallen companion in a peaceful but determined way. "Cuan my brother, my heart breaks for the loss of our friend Garret. Let us drink of the blood of our enemy, so we may honor Garret's sacrifice."
Cutter approaches the body of the minotaur and with the blade of one of his chakrams slices open the great beast's arm, allowing blood to poor freely to the ground. Nightrunner follows and begins to lap up some of the blood, and Cutter follows suit falling to all fours lapping up at the blood. After several long moments, Nightrunner and Cutter raise their heads to the sky and howl...and howl...and howl. After a moment the howling takes on the sound of the name of the fallen halfling, "Gaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrreetttttttt." Cutter then takes the massive axe from the fallen beast and loads it onto the back of Nightrunner's saddle. "I do not believe we have completed our mandate to explore yet."
In response to Ardisen's question, "Cuan will carry the body of his friend, it is only right." Cutter then carefully, solemnly arranges Garret into the saddle on Cuan's back retrieving the fallen halfling's lance and securing that on the wolf as well.
|
|
Ardisens eyes widen in surprise as he watches Cutter and his pet lapping up the minotaur blood. While no stranger to diabolism, a relatively common practice in Cheliax, the sight of a halfling drinking the blood of a filthy monster such as a minotaur, turns his stomach. Looking down at Janira, he tries to rationalise it to himself.
"I guess everyone deals with grief differently?"
The enchanter shrugs at the comment of further exploration.
"I'm willing to venture back in, but don't say I didn't warn you that it may be more than we can handle now. Granted, we should explore, but it's prudent to also know our limits. However, I'm willing to defer to the majority."
|
|
Cha-Ka's eyes slowly drift down towards the ground as the full impact of the day's events settles in. His fingers start to tingle slightly before going numb, the feeling slowly spreading up his arms and through the rest of his body.
He's...gone. If only it hadn't been for the damn river! Maybe he'd still be here. A pang of guilt runs through the young tengu, doubling at his next thought. Or maybe that'd be me instead of him.
His eyes slowly raise to stare at the river. They slowly turn from an unfocused, vacant look to that of intense concentration.
Picking up a few rocks, he starts angrily hurling them and the blue torrent, swearing in Ancient Osiriani.
Having taken his pent up frustration out on his blue nemesis, Cha-Ka returns his attention to the rest of his companions. Hearing the debate about their next actions, he puts in his two coppers.
"I would be up for exploring more, but then..." he gives Garret's body a guilty, sideways glance. "I didn't exactly take the brunt of the last assault. I will do whatever Cutter and Janira feel up to."
|
with the silence settling now due to the massive foul beast being dead a frown caressed his features as the after effect of the fight showed itself. With those wounded back on their feet he made their way to each of them, stopping briefly at Garret and saying a soft prayer for the man's soul before returning to where the rest was. Upon hearing Cutter his voice and seeing his actions he merely shook his head for a brief second. "The halfling fought well and deserves to be returned to Absalom and to be returned to his lodge..." Turning to cutter for a moment he merely shrugged. "Yes, we haven't explored everything but do you think we can carry on into the caverns with the body of a fallen companion?" He would let cutter contemplate on the words before regarding Janira for a moment and then speaking. "Seeing as you have been here before, can you tell us if we need to explore more? And if so, can you take the body of Garret with you back to Absalom then?"
|
|
Following the general consensus, the party returns to Absalom and meets with Janira's mentor. Master Shaine welcomes you in his office in Skyreach, a tiny room swamped with books and scrolls of all kind. Janira accompanies you, but lets you do the talking - it is your Confirmation, after all.
In this hour of mourning, the ever-positive elf greets you: "Welcome, apprentices! I am glad that you returned safely from your expedition in the Kortos Mounts, though I understand your quest was marred by the loss of dear Garret. You have my sympathies, and we'll make sure his name is carved on the Wall of Names in our garden, alongside all Pathfinders who died in action. From what I've heard, you did nothing short of saving your mentor's life. Not a small feat! But you know as well as I do that hearsay is not what we Pathfinders are interested in, we need facts. So please report your findings now. Did anyone take notes?"
|
|
Still depressed from Garret's death and his inability to help (and admittedly a little put off by Master Shaine's upbeat demeanor, which he felt did not match the occassion), Cha-Ka silents moves towards him and drops a few sheets of paper on his desk. He then returns to his companions and crosses his arms across his chest. As he does so, he stares unblinkingly at the elf, his face an expressionless mask.
[insert date and time here: Day 1 morning]
Gillmen have been seen entering a hidden cave during a full moon. Others entering the caves have been unable to find where they went. It's believed this might be related to them entering when it wasn't a full moon. We need to figure out where they've gone and what they're up to. The caves are in the foothills of the Kortos "Mounts" [Mountains?] Oh, also, it'd probably be good to come back alive. And to make sure as many companions as possible come back alive. They could be useful for future explorations.
[Day 1: Evening]
First day of travel uneventful. Passed some seige towers. Heard a story about Yasmin bint Faroud sacrificing herself to save some just pathfinders. Set up watch (Cutter, me, Garret, Tenaka, Ganju)
[Day 2: Morning]
Morning of second day, attacked by spider swarms. They were unpleasant and not very tasty. Next time I'm in town I should acquire some tindertwings. And more oil. Or maybe alchemist's fire.
[Day 2: Afternoon]
We found the caves in question. But as soon as we did, a minotaur appeared. Janira lured the beast away after tossing us her bag full of shiny-shiny goodness. Although it would have been more shiny if there had been less sparkily magicks. Perhaps I should learn to sparkle? Ardisen's comment about this all being a test makes me wonder if part of this is a set up. But I suppose it doesn't really matter as long as the ruins are interesting enough.
Inside we've found a pit, 20ft deep and 10ft across that spans the width of the tunnel. Someone definitely made it, but it's a bit unclear why. Maybe just to discourage people from continuing onwards? Garret found a plank to cross the pit with. There was also a cloak of resistance +1 at the bottom of the pit. But no remains. Why would someone put a magical cloak at the bottom of a pit?
Further along were some pretty carvings on the wall. Apparently they were 4 of the twelve guises of Aroden, a dead god of humanity, from his holy text 'History and Future of Humanity'. The pictures were as follows
- A farmer plowing four lines in a field; ritual: imitate farmer in attempts to make land fertile
- Fisherman getting a large haul of fish to take back to Absalom; ritual: catch a fish with your bare hands
- Scholar writing on paper and preaching it to passersby; ritual: record a historical fact, axiom, or other wisdom on paper and place it in a place of knowledge
- Shepherd hearding animals out of crowded city to pastures; ritual: "herd" some kind of local animal.
Overly worn guises: artist, beggar, craftsman, hunter, merchant, soldier, tailer, thieft
[Day 2: Slightly later than above entry]
We then found a miniture city and a deaf gillman. Apparently this is a holy place for them as they come here on pilgrimishes. The rituals mentioned above seem to be related to the city. Garret completed the Shepherd ritual by hearding some white cave frogs and the Farmer one by "plowing" some lines into the ground, Tenaka the Fisherman by obvious method, and I completed the Scholar ritual (only fitting!) by enlightening the small city with Janira's story of Yasmin bint Faroud, the formation of stalagmites and stalactites, and a few sayings.
[Day 2: After the minotaur battle]
After that we took the West-most tunnel, where we were ambushed by some kobolds. Despite getting poisoned, we managed to defeat them without much difficulty. It was then that we heard Janira and sounds of battle. We of course immediately rushed to her aid. We ran into a type of fungus and a giant amoeba. We again made short work of the creatures as we hurried along.
Soon we burst out into the sunlight to see Janira in battle with the minotaur she had lured away. She wasn't doing that well, and before she had a chance to run towards us, the foul beast struck her down. The others rapidly rushed to her side while I, like some useless rock, was stuck trying to cross the river. Even that cleric with all his armor managed to get across!
We, or rather everybody except me, managed to save Janira, Garret sacrificing himself in the process. We almost lost Cutter as well, but thankfully Ganju was able to heal him in time. (Note to self: are minotaurs racist against halfings? Must research this further)
I think letting Janira lure it off by herself was a bad idea. It would have been better to all stick together to face the beast! Maybe if we had, Garret would still be alive. At the very least, Janira of all people shouldn't have been the bait. Garret or Cutter would have been better choices as they could undoubtedly outrun it on their steeds. But alas, we cannot change the past. We can only hope to learn from our mistakes and do better in the future. Hopefully that will be enough.
|
|
Ardisen steps forward, clearly glad to be back in Absalom and civilization. Having cleaned himself up and changed into his courtiers outfit, he already appears somewhat more like himself again. He steps forward and nods at Master Shaine respectfully, placing his notes before the Master of Scrolls.
"Firstly, I'd like to thank yourself, Janira and my fellow Pathfinders, for this opportunity. Whilst I am an academic individual, I must admit that much of what we discovered was outside of my field of study. However, exploration is as much a mental journey as it is a physical one, and I can say I have learned much in the past few days."
Ardisen gestures at the other Pathfinders and smiles.
"I could not have asked for a finer selection of agents to go on this journey with. Without their sacrifice, support and expertise, I doubt I would be standing here addressing yourself. While we all brought different skills, lifestyles and experience to the table, we were able to work together and make our way through most of the caves. However, it would be unfair to say that we were without our failings. Had we been more cautious and wiser with our use of resources, Garret may have survived the encounter with the minotaur."
The enchanter trails off for a moment, gathering his thoughts.
"You tasked us with exploring the caves, and learning what the gillmen were doing there. We encountered a gillman named Uori within, using the caves as a place of peace and meditation. He implied that the caves are holy to the gillmen, and that they make a pilgrimage to it's sacred pools to 'listen to the waves'. I briefly joined him in his meditation, and can attest that it was certainly relaxing. Uori believes that his brothers that have visited the place have not returned, likely due to encountering several undesirable creatures that had occupied the cave. Those creatures are detailed in my notes."
The young wizard gestures to his notes, catching his breath.
"The caves themselves seem to have once been dedicated to Aroden. They displayed several signs of his worship, including a small replica of this very city and wall carvings. Much like Aroden himself, the power in the caves has faded, but I believe there is still cultural value there. I believe we cleared most of the unwanted creatures from the caves, but there was still one wing we were unfit to explore after our encounter with the minotaur. I would recommend that the caves are cleared of any remaining creatures, catalogued in full and the gillmen given access to maintain their pilgrimage."
With a final bow, Ardisen steps back, allowing the Master of Scroll to review his notes and absorb the information presented.
-We have been tasked with discovering the purpose of a cave on the Isle of Kortos, and learning what interest the gillmen have in these caves.
-My fellow Pathfinders are Ganju Nuhmari (priest of Irori), Garret Shadowcaller (mounted halfling), Cutter Wolfrider (see Garret), Tenaka (half elf hunter) and Cha-Ka (tengu combatant). We are being led by Janira, our halfling guide.
-The majority of our journey was uneventful, Janira shared her knowledge of the area to pass the time.
-During our second day of travel we were waylaid by swarms of spiders. These horrible creatures proved difficult to kill but thanks to Janiras guidance we were able to disperse them with fire.
-Our arrival to the caves was interrupted by an attack by a frenzied minotaur. We were never able to learn the reason for the minotaurs attack or why it was outside the caves. Regardless, it was lured off by Janira and we were left to explore the caves alone.
-Inside the caves we had to traverse a pit, beyond which we located a room dedicated to Aroden. As well as a model of Absalom, there was also details of rituals to Aroden. It was here that we also encountered Uori, a gillman who told us that the sacred pools here draw gillmen pilgrims here to meditate. The gillmen have not been returning due to creatures further within the cave, and possibly due to the minotaur outside. While I spoke to Uori, my fellow Pathfinders completed four detailed rituals to Aroden. I cannot be sure, but I would swear there was a latent divine presence within those caves.
-Following our discussion with Uori and completion of the rituals of the Farmer, the Fisherman, the Scholar and the Shephard, we ventured deeper into the dungeon. Are exploration revealed the presence of both kobolds and two ooze creatures. Thankfully my fellow Pathfinders dispatched the creatures with ease.
-After our encounter with the ooze, we heard Janira outside engaging the minotaur. We rushed out to help her and in our haste spread out too quickly. The minotaur proved a vicious and unrelenting opponent, almost killing Cutter and Janira and sadly slaying Garret Shadowcaller. Luckily we prevailed.
-With the information we had gathered, and in light of Garrets death, we elected not to explore any further as we had been weakened by our encountered and had amassed information that required reporting.
|
|
After inspecting the last notes from Ardisen and Cha-Ka for a long time, Master Shaine suddenly looks up to you and beams a bright smile.
"You have made us all proud today! Not only have you ventured where no one had before, but you embodied the very values we have been trying to teach you during these three years in the Grand Lodge. Cooperation, as you recently discovered, is paramount to our work as Pathfinders. Without the support of others we cannot strive, much less survive. But enough lectures, you have proven that you are past this point and are able to learn on your own. Today, I am proud to name you Pathfinders in your own right. Congratulations!"
The elven master opens a lacquered wooden box as he speaks those words, and present you with your very own wayfinders, engraved with your name and today's date - 1 Desnus 4714. May this day remain forever engraved in your memories!