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From the moment the elf began his ill-fated walk, he was a dead-elf walking. Frankie's hidden knife flashed across the back of the man's leg and severed a major artery, but still the elf walked. Meredith, her fury finally giving her the focus she needed to contribute, slammed the elf hard in the back, crushing several of his ribs and puncturing his lungs, but still the elf walked. The elf finally began to stagger as Denair and Saritirnen launched attacks at him, causing their attacks to go high and wide of their marks, but as the former archer finally stopped in front of the one who had commanded his death march, Zavubak mutters a menacing final word for the elf to carry to his grave. The half-orcs claws once again tore through flesh, finally dropping the elf to the marble floor, where he bled out and died.
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With the assailants dead, Denair immediately runs up to Meredith and hugs her tightly. "Calm down, Boss. It's over. No need to get worked up."
The words whistle through the air like a breeze against a field of grass. Meredith wants to bash the elf's head in again when her eyes focus on Frankie, covered in blood. She falls to one knee, catching her breath.
"What...what was all of that? I could barely control myself... Frankie, you alright? I thought I saw you crushed against a pillar and Denair filled with arrows and I... I freaked out."
Her arms shrivel back to normal size as the vines fall off. She takes one look at her blood-covered mace, despite it catching nothing but air and tile for most of the conflict- and throws it aside. "The bandits did a number on our village. They killed a lot. Captured the able-bodied to sell as slaves. Burned our fields out of spite. And everyone depended on me. It made me so mad. I guess that rage is still deep down inside..." Meredith stays sitting on the floor for a bit.
Denair pipes up. "We should get these papers back to the Venture-Captain, right? These four were willing to throw their lives away. It must be important." She uses her magic to clean the blood off people while they prepare to leave.
A few quick minutes of searching reveals several magical auras emanating from various items the attackers had on them. Each of them carried a potion of cure light wounds, and the caster also held two scrolls which you divine casters are soon able to identify as scrolls of shield of faith and sanctuary. One of the brutes still has a thunderstone tucked into a pocket, but the rest of their gear is decidedly mundane.
Unfortunately, none of them has any sort of note explaining who they were or what they were doing, though you do once again notice that each of them is wearing a bronze badge bearing the image of a serpent somewhere on their person. Perhaps that has some relation to their affiliations.
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Zav relaxes and lets his claws recede, then nearly falls to the ground as the weight of his armor doubles. He huffs as he walks over to Meredith. "These bandits - did you ever figure out who they were? Your past doesn't sound very different from mine, especially when you mention slavery." He clears his throat. "A bronze badge with a serpent means they were Aspi agents. Typical. Come on, let's get back to the Venture-Captain."
After surviving the ambush and dispatching your attackers, you are able to leave the Shrine of the Failed and deliver Eylysia’s cache to the Grand Lodge. The crowd gathered around the Starstone Cathedral has disbanded, and many of the locals are still horrified following Sir Reinhart’s attempt to vault the chasm on horseback, which ended with a fall into oblivion.
Upon arriving back at the Grand Lodge, Drandle Dreng personally thanks you for your successful investigation, indicating his interest in their future careers as Pathfinders. ”You lot did a fine job of finding this information! From what I hear you made some interesting friends along the way, too.” His face grows grave for a moment before continuing more quietly, ”Seems you made a few enemies as well, but that can hardly be avoided when you get ambushed by a bunch of Aspis agents. You see, the Aspis Consortium maintains agents in Absalom to monitor the Pathfinder Society’s comings and goings, and your investigation came to the attention of several Aspis operatives. Seems that they paid a diviner to predict your destination, and they showed up to rob you of your hard work on your way out.”
The venture captain stands from his seat behind his desk and steps around to stand in front of you. [b]”Well, whatever you might have considered yourselves up to this point, after today, I’d say you’re all well on your way to becoming full-fledged Pathfinders. If any of you have yet to pass your Confirmation, I’ll speak with Kreighton Shaine about expediting that process for you. You’ve done a great service for the Society today. Thank you.”[b] With those words, the Drandle Dreng dismisses you from his office. A few days later, a courier arrives with a letter for each of you, updating you on the results of your investigation.
Whether or not you began your investigation with the intention of becoming Pathfinders, you have all earned the Society’s respect, and it all began with what happened in the Wounded Wisp!
Scenario Complete!!!
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Meredith turns to Zavubak. "I guess we all have ways of channeling our anger. Let's make sure we're productive with it." She laughs. "Let's get some drinks down at the Wounded Wisp. We should have one heck of a story ready."
She turns to the young boy, oblivious to his true nature. "Hey Frankie. I don't know when your mother will return. But.. you can hang out with me and Denair as long as you want to, alright?"
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Meredith sits in the open fields surrounding Absalom when a man walks up to her and hands a letter. She reads it thoroughly and chuckles. "Huh, there's always a new adventure, huh?" Meredith scratches the back of her head and winces in pain- she feels a rosebud closer to her right ear. "More of those things?"
Denair walks up to her. "Boss. I told you before. You're going to wake up, soon. You told me to make sure you were ready." Meredith gives her a ponderous look. Maybe she didn't know her own nature...
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As the Elven bowman makes his deathmarch away from Frankie he digs his blade deep into the back of his leg, spraying even more blood across his blonde hair, with every step another weapon lashes out at him, and more blood, until down he goes.
Frankie stands there, wiping the blood from his eyes and face, in some sort of shock.
Meredith asks him if he's ok, he looks at her and blinks a few times, still wiping blood away until Denair cleans if from him. Soon after he snaps out of it "I'm ok. Can we have waffles now please?"
"Hey Frankie. I don't know when your mother will return. But.. you can hang out with me and Denair as long as you want to, alright?"
Frankie looks up and smiles at the woman. "I'd like that very much! Lets go get some cocoa! And maybe some more waffles!"
Denair seems pretty chipper most of the time. She mostly drinks water. But one thing she doesn't like- Maple Syrup. She stays far away (or maybe she hid, it's hard to tell sometimes) whenever Frankie pours it on. She's even more upset when Meredith enjoys it!