With spells flying through his brain, the Aspis leader drops his spear just as he begins to regain his senses. With his wits back about him, he looks down in anger. Stepping out from the cluster of Pathfinders, he runs across to the other side of the room with incredible speed, then turns and calls out a curse at Dolamite, casting a spell upon the oread.
Seeing an opportunity, Denair reaches ahead again.
"Stop doing that!" She slaps the agent upside his head before double moving across.
And with a series of crushing blows, the Pathfinders obliterate the Aspis leader, sending up a chorus of cheers from the kobolds and the Golden Guardian!!
"Wow, we did it! We helped them all!" Denair is excited again. She runs in circles a few times before running up to the guardian. "Thank you for preserving this land. I know the kobolds aren't the same as the dwarves-" Denair watches them already bragging over who was the bravest and whom should be the guardian's champion- "But you should feel proud to have a home and a ward to protect. I know how that feels."
Denair stares at Meredith, and the leaves across her arms rustle, blown by a wind only apparent to her. I'm transforming again. Don't worry boss, I'll follow you to the ends of Golarion.
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Meredith looks to her fellow Pathfinders. "Heh, those Aspis never stood a chance, eh? Good riddance." Once everyone finishes their celebration, Meredith begins helping the Pathfinders collect Sharrowsmith's body.
"Crazy old fool. What were you thinking?" She looks upon his remains. "Wanderlust got the better of you." She looks at herself and reflexively feels one of the rosebuds on her head. "Then again, I'm running around the world doing Gods know what... What is my plan, here?" Denair wanders off, grabs the chew toy, and calls the basilisk over to pet it and play fetch. She makes sure to keep some of the lotion handy.
Later that day, Meredith notices she's been scratching her head more often- another rosebud? Now? She calls Denair over. "You want to climb, right? Then let's work on climbing. Squirrels have padded feet- helps fit their arms into the grooves. Remember how the Grippli did it? Maybe we can work on something like that."
Meredith watches Denair scramble up and down trees in vain. As the rosebud throbs upon her head, all she can think is: What is going on with me?
With Zaril Namoth and his Aspis Consortium expedition thwarted, the Golden Guardian and kobolds assist you in clearing the collapsed corridor of rubble. There you uncover the remains of Venture-Captain Nieford Sharrowsmith, which are badly damaged but identifiable thanks to his crushed wayfinder and other belongings. The kobolds allow you to extract the body and its possessions in peace, but afterward the small humanoids make it clear that you have overstayed your welcome and should leave.
As the kobolds raise of chorus of less than friendly requests for you to leave, the Golden Guardian interposes himself between you and the angry mob of reptilians. "Thank you, Pathfinders, for your help today. We have suffered some loss at your hands, but you proved yourselves to be noble of spirit in defending us from these other intruders. Please, take the fragment of the Sky Key you have recovered as thanks. Now please, go in peace, and we will resume our peaceful existence here. Goodbye."
At the Guardian's behest, you leave the ancient dwarven ruins and make the voyage back for Fort Bandu, then, after sharing news of your quest with Praetor Sylien, you board yet another river barge and make your way back down river to Nantambu, where you meet with Sharrowsmith's long-time associate, Aya Allahe. She listens to your recounting of your mission, and when she learns of Sharrowsmith’s death, she nods sadly and voices her thanks.
“Nantambu will not be the same without my friend Nieford Sharrowsmith. When he was younger, he traveled to all corners of the Mwangi Expanse and truly made the region his home, despite having been born hundreds of miles away in Avistan. He never truly lost his adventuring spirit, and as this lodge grew, he found his hours dedicated more and more to paperwork and less and less to exploring the lands’ rich history. I know his soul would take no offense at my saying he died as he would have wished—active, engaged, and in the field. I take solace in being able to provide him proper funerary rites.
“With his passing, Sharrowsmith’s Exports has no venture-captain, but I have corresponded with Nieford’s colleague Ambrus Valsin and agreed to act as the temporary manager of the lodge. After all, the full extent of the Pathfinders’ involvement in Nantambu has remained something of an open secret, and it would be an embarrassment for anyone but a friend or family member to take command of the business so soon after the owner’s death.”
“I dearly appreciate what you have done for the Society, for your venture-captain, and for me.”
Aya Allahe also examines the metal component you found in the Krihirik talisman. After a moment’s
study, she quickly stands, recovers a piece of stationary bearing five graphite illustrations, and slowly smiles. “This is remarkable,” she announces. “The shape of the talisman matches one of the drawings Ambrus Valsin sent me. What you have found is a piece of the Sky Key, the device even now the rest of the Society is at its wits’ end attempting to reassemble!” Then, with quiet affection, she murmurs to the Sky Key component, “Congratulations, Nieford. You and your agents have once again done what the rest of the Society could not—a fitting tribute, and a fine legacy.” She turns her gaze to the west as the sun sets upon the river, and, at least for now, there is peace in the Mwangi Expanse.