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Rook explains most of his knowledge was acquired through research of effective weapons against them. She is the first spiritualist that he has met in person...at least knowingly.
As they draw near the state of the Arboretum causes an pained expression to take over his face.
"It has done more than just started to pour acid...and likely ruin most of the reagents I wanted to get my hands on! Those showers would have had an effect on the plant-life there. A dangerous effect. There might be a market for killer venus fly-traps, at least." Rook says in a low growl.
The search around the grounds triggers a few memories for Danicka. She remembers reading that the Arboretum Arcanis was once a haven of exotic trees, bushes, and flowers from all over Golarion. The enigmatic wizard Beldrin built the Arboretum in ages past, covering it with a crystal dome that let through light while keeping everything inside safe. Inside the dome, each greenhouse had its own magical temperature and moisture controls, and was watered by artificial clouds that rained only at night. However, ,ost of the Arboretum now lies in ruins and is inaccessible. The crystal dome is cracked, with a large central portion missing at its apex. Vines have grown through the cracks in the dome, so thick in places that you wonder if they are actually holding the only thing holding the structure together. Among the rubble of the many greenhouses, Yaiho finally finds an entrance clear of debris and shows the rest of the group.
J. looks at the dilapidated entrance and ominous purple lightning overhead and lets out a nervous laugh, "Well, on the plus side, I don't think anyone will have been looking around here since the quake. You're notes are sure to be safe, Grishan." Grishan smiles at J. then turns towards Arin. "I can have a quick look, but it hurts to move too far away from J. for too long. Wish me luck!" With that, he turns towards the door and walks straight through. A few moments later his head pokes through the door again. "It looks clear and dry for now, but it's quite dark and only gets darker the further I go." With the all clear from the phantom, you make your way in.
The foyer of the Arboretum Arcanis is in shambles. Debris and dead or dying plant matter cover the mosaic-tiled floor. A gnarled black thorn tree still clings to life in a giant masonry planter. Two massive skylights in the ceiling afford a view of low-hanging, purple and black clouds above; the crystal dome is completely obscured. Piles of rubble obscure most of what once may have been doorways, but a door to the west is free from debris.
As you look around, you are surprised to find one of the roots suddenly detach itself from the large tree and step forward. The creature appears like a short, gnarled, gnome-like figure with a beard of green mold, an oversized, misshapen and bulbous head, and long, branched fingers. As he bows low, you see that on his back he has numerous small sack-like growths about the size of a child's fist. "Greetings!" It says in perfect common, "Welcome to the Arboretum Arcanis. Home of some of the most astonishing samples of plant-life in all of Golarion. I am Majordomo Pip." He steps towards the door to the west and says. "If you wish to explore further, you must pay a small fee for the privilege of visiting the garden. I require a small portion of blood from each visitor... for ongoing research. In exchange, I promise to act as guide and lead you to the Master Gardener, who will undoubtedly be able to help you with all of your reasons for being here, whatever they may be."
The tiny plant looks on expectantly.
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Brock glares at the horrid plant thing () and grumbles, "You ain't getting any of my blood without a fight."
Shuddering at what, "experiments" such a thing might perform with his blood. He was no wizard but had learned over the years that giving your blood to creepy things was bad .
"Might there be another mode of admission we can accommodate you with?" Brock trys sugar over the stick, using his winning smile.
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"I'm afraid the price of admission is non-negotiable." Majordomo Pip replies, raising a finger. "It is only a small drop I require, you will hardly feel a thing." He smiles a creepy looking smile as his finger transforms into a thin, translucent, syringe-like tube with a needle-sharp tip. "Just a small prick."
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Before heading into the Arboretum, Danicka passes J. her umbrella. "Use this inside. It won't help much against acid, but it's better than nothing."
Then she heads into the building with the others.
At the sight of the grotesque thing, Danicka lets out a shriek. "EEEEEEK!"
"You're a... a mandragora!" she stammers, looking very pale. "I'm s-s-sorry, Pip, but your offer won't b-b-be accepted. Your kind do have a foul reputation..." Despite knowing it's evil, Danicka does feel sorry for it. After a moment she asks, "What would you do with it?"
Knowing her friends will likely kill the little thing, Danicka squeaks out an offer, "What if I..." She shrinks in on herself nervously...
This could be a very bad idea...
Blushing brightly, Danicka clears her throat and continues a little clearer, "What if I give you a drop of my own blood for each of us, and the others don't give any blood at all..? Would that satisfy your toll?"
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Forrest offers his hand for pricking by the odd little plant, then pulls it back slightly when Brock is so vehemently against the idea. When Danicka confirms that the plant is from an evil race, he pulls it back entirely. "Ya... what do you want with the blood?" He glowers at the plant-thing, unhappy that he was almost duped. If it's answer includes 'mindscape', he's a goner." He rattles his rapier in it's sheathe, ready for anything.
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Arin watches, wondering if this creature is trying to get itself killed.
"Look, you haven't put forward a very good bargain. You're going to have to at least attempt to convince my companions that your usage of the blood samples will not be nefarious."
Pip scowls at Yaiho as the half-orc spits on the floor. "That will not do!" He says in an agitated howl, looking ready to do something Danicka immediately recognises as an attack of sorts. Mandragoras, she remembers from past research, can give voice to an unsettling shriek that can cause nausea in all those who hear it. However, she acts quickly to try and diffuse the situation, offering Pip what could be quite a substantial amount of her own blood. The majordomo takes a tentative step towards the blushing wizard, smiling as a few more of his fingers slowly start growing into syringe-like tubes. "That is a tempting compromise, miss. All you need to know is that your blood will be used for... research." J, still holding onto the umbrella with white knuckles, steps up behind Danicka and anxiously says. "No, I... I can't let you do that for me. I... I don't want to, but I'll... I'll let it have some of my blood if I have to." She extends her free hand towards Pip, following Forrest's lead
Pip starts to appear more comfortable as more people start offering their blood, but as soon as Forrest withdraws his hand and starts glowering at him he spits back. "I will use it as I please!" And with Rook stepping in front of Danicka before the deal with her can be struck, attempting to aggressively renegotiate, Pip snaps. Arin is unable to tell if the eventual use of the offered blood would have been nefarious or not, but he does recognise that the plant is about to lash out violently.
As a plant, mangradoras are immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms) and are immune to paralysis, poison, polymorph, sleep effects, and stunning.
Shriek All creatures within a 30-foot spread of a shrieking mandragora may become nauseated. This is a sonic, mind-affecting ability.
Blood Drain When grappling their foes, mangradoras sink their syringe-like appendages into the skin and drains their blood. (constitution damage)
In areas of supernatural darkness (such as those created by deeper darkness, but not by darkness), a mandragora is slowed, as the slow spell.
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Forrest waits for the musket's report then moves forward, drawing his rapier as he does so. I still don't understand what makes his boom stick work. I mean, how can it be the same as Rook's bombs? He catches Brock swearing and looking at the (again) broken musket. It only explodes about half the time!
He pokes at the plant thing, careful to avoid the syringes. "Bad plant! Bad! "
Brock wastes no time and eagerly raises his firearm, aiming right at Pip's head. The newly restored and oiled musket may look the part, but it proves just as unreliable as before. The hammer strikes, igniting gunpowder with an impressive fizzle, but unfortunately, no bullet shoots from the barrel. Forrest quickly swoops in, following the attempted shot with a cautious thrust of his rapier. The point hits something solid, but through a trick of the dim light, he mistakes an ordinary root for Pip, missing the tiny mandragora by some distance. "Bad halfling! This is my domain and I will have my toll!" Pip shouts back at Forrest as the rest of his fingers start to grow into whipping, thorny vines nearly as long as he is tall.
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Just as Pip squares himself to unleash something, Arin realizes that they’ve crossed the threshold into battle, words can take them no further. ”Now see here, there are eight of us and...”
In a familiar display Arin’s eyes and hair begin to glow faint yellow, crackling with energy as the words roll over to familiar (sounding, at least) Abyssal.
While the situation gets even more stressful, the familiar sight and sounds of Arin's curse once again manifest. As he starts babbling in tongues, bestowing the blessings of his unknown patron onto his friends, Yaiho steps up to Pip and brings the hammer down. The swing is reckless and looks set to miss, but at the last moment, Yaiho feels a guiding hand nudging the arc slightly to the right, and the flat-footed majordomo is hit by a truly crushing blow. Dazed and leaking a thick, gooey, sap-like blood from several splits in his wood-like body, Pip doesn't even see the bomb coming. The room lights up for a second as the fire does its work and the mandragora is dead before it ever got to carry out a single threat.
A belated chunk of rubble flies over the burning body. "Wow! That went south, real quick!." J. says in shock, her projectile clattering harmlessly against the back wall. "You guys really know how to handle yourselves..." A quick search of the room reveals nothing of interest and you continue on through the door to the west into the Arboretum Arcanis proper. The odour of earthen decay assaults your senses as you step into an almost pitch-black room. Decaying vines carpet the walls and ceiling, and the floor is riddled with narrow cracks and fissures, extending several feet below.
The terrain is challenging to navigate, but you manage to climb over the large root sticking out of the floor and go through the door into the first greenhouse. A collapsed sign near the door lists the exhibit that was on display in this gallery at the time of the earthquake: "Flowering Shrubs of Eastern Taldor". Plants once grew in the large, ceramic planters that still hug the southern wall. Dozens of branches clinging to decaying leaves emerge from the wooden door to the north. To the east, a room with healthy trees and shrubs is visible through a glass door set in a wrought iron frame.
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"Well, you didn't think the Society would send two-bit mercenaries to guard you, did ya? Expect nothing less! " He smiles and winks at the girl, despite the fact that the root he impaled was not connected to the Pip at all.
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"Huh. Dead room ahead, probably full of acid. Living room over there, not full of acid. " He smiles, clearly enjoying this day. "I vote healthy room first! " He starts walking forward, humming to himself. "Statue, come out, come out wherever you are! "
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Yaiho looks down at the dead Pip, "Foolish plant. Yaiho crush." He then spits on Pip. "Should've excepted Yaiho's spit."
Yaiho moves along with the group and wrinkles his nose at the smell of decayed plants. He then follows Forest as he heads toward the living room. "Maybe living plants smell better."
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Danicka looks upon poor Pip with dismay. Then she turns and sighs softly. She pulls a scroll out of her backpack and uses it on herself, , and then pulls another out and carries it in her hand.
"J.? Stick close to me, please. At the next sign of trouble I'm going to use this scroll on you, alright? It will help keep you safe while we're here."
As they pass by the room with decaying plants, Danicka peeks in with curiosity, but then hurries off after others on their way to the healthy part of the Arboretum.
"Wait for us!" she squeaks quietly.
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After Rook blows up pip, Arin walks over to his broken wooden body and inspects it with fascination. Curious, the wooden splinters look just the same as those that would come off of a normal tree. Fey creatures are truly interesting. If only this one had been more friendly....
He listens in as Danicka offers J protections, and offers more of his own. "I've also got some extra protection spells, if you like. You can't take too much help avoiding the wrong ends of weapons."
As Forrest cheerfully leads the way into the healthy looking room, Danicka and Arin make sure that J. sticks close, just in case some magical protection is in order. "Thanks, guys! You're so prepared..." J. remarks as Danicka starts pulling out scrolls, "It looks like you have a scroll for just about everything. All I packed was some snacks and a copy of the Pathfinder Chronicles." She sticks close holding her borrowed umbrella high, offering the two spellcasters as much cover as she can from the acid rain that has just started falling in a fine mist. Thankfully, the rain is nowhere near as corrosive as the name suggests.
Looking for a statue, Forrest steps through the glass door. Dozens of healthy plants with vibrant and colourful leaves, fruit, and flowers emerge from the decay in this small greenhouse, spilling out of the pots and berths that once contained them. "Woah, look at those melons!" J. exclaims as she steps into the room behind everyone else, pointing at two large, juicy-looking specimens.
Danicka and Arin notice that the entire room radiates a faint aura of conjuration and transmutation magic, and it doesn't take Rook long to deduce that these plants are the results of experimentation. Experience and the news of magical auras tell him that the plants are all likely to have been enhanced to produce... interesting effects, which can affect anyone who eats the correct parts of the plant. Each plant has produced enough, fruit, leaves, or nuts for two doses.
Meanwhile, Grishan floats around in circles, poking his head through walls in search for his stash.
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"There is magic money in magic plants! Come with me and I can show you some stuff...also so you can use that pick of yours if it comes to life on me." Rook says laughing to Brock.
Rook leads the way over to the more volatile looking plants hoping for offensive additives. He examines the leafs and looks for berries or nuts on the plants.
He also taps his sends Needle off to look as well.
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Yaiho looks around at the various fruits and vegetables. Spotting the Cherries, his saliva begins to flow and he grabs a cherry and eats it with delight shown in his eyes.
He then looks around for something more and grabs something bigger, a melon and starts chomping down on that.
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As soon as the acid rain begins to fall, Danicka flicks her hand through the air, making a shimmering aura appear around her for a second, before turning invisible.
Then she urges Arin to go under the umbrella instead.
"I'll be fine." she assures J.
Then Danicka wanders into the room and examines the magical plants.
"Purposely augmented... Oh, my..." She examines the almonds, blackberries and cherries first, which all look quite delicious.
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Noticing Yaiho chomping down on the fruits without worry, Danicka lets out a squeal.
"Eeeek!" She hurries over to Yaiho's side and looks up at him with worry. "Wait, Yaiho! You need to see what they do first! What if they hurt you?"
She pats him on the shoulder and examines him, looking very nervous.
"Oh, dear.... You really shouldn't just go around nibbling on someone's cherries and melons, you know. You need permission."
She continues watching Yaiho with worry, trying to determine what those plants might have done to him...
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Forrest looks at the room with wide eyes. "Nope. Nope. Nope. I've had enough with magical experimentation." Yet, he keeps walking, enjoying the sight and smells of the room. His face looks quite happy, a large smile filling it. So much better than a desert. This truly is the greatest city in the world. As he wanders, he comes upon the pears. Those look so juicy. I remember when Nathan got those as a treat. He would always give me one slice. Perhaps I'll have a bite. For Nathan. He stares at the plump green fruit, salivating.
Forrest reaches out and plucks a pear from the branch, quickly taking a bite. "Come on guys, these are delicious! I take back everything bad I ever said about magic." He sits down on the floor and continues to feast on the pear, juices running down his chin. "Rook, do you think you could blend these up and flavor your potions ? I bet you'd make a killing in the Coins!"
The cherry practically bursts in Yaiho's mouth, and it really is one of the juiciest, most delicious cherries he has ever had. He then looks around for something a little more substantial to eat and heads towards the melons. Apart from a mild tingling sensation, he doesn't notice anything too strange... Although, once the melon is in his hands, Yaiho could have sworn it used to be much smaller. Juice spurts out in all directions as he gorges himself on the brilliantly ripe melon... Still, he doesn't notice anything odd.
From everyone else's point of view, however, the scene is very different. When Yaiho eats the cherry, he starts to shrink, and by the time he is enjoying a faceful of melon he is not much larger than Arin. Moments after the first mouthful of melon is swallowed, Yaiho starts growing again, and by the time he is wiping his face clean of juice, he is back to normal.
While everyone is watching the yo-yo-ing size of Yaiho, Forrest cheerfully feasts on a pretty tasty pear. Apart from a mild wave of nausea that passes almost as soon as it arrives, he doesn't feel any different when he's finished. "What's wrong with your face!?" Junia exclaims, finally glancing away from the show to look at Forrest. "You're not dying are you?" She rushes over to the surprised halfling and puts a hand on his neck, checking for a pulse. The magical fruit has turned Forrest's lips and tongue a dark bluish-black. Danicka hurries from Yaiho's side over to Forrest's and inspects him closely. Thankfully, she concludes that the effects are purely cosmetic and will, probably, fade after an hour or two.
The more studied inspection of the other plants, fruits, and nuts of by Rook & Danicka yields some interesting discoveries. The almonds will cause cold fingers, the blackberries might turn your skin purple, the cabbage will leave a lingering taste of rotten meat in your mouth, the hazelnuts will cause hot flushes, and the lettuce will cause a constant ringing in your ears. All of these plants will also make you feel sick as the effects start to take hold.
The ivy, however, may provide a more useful effect. Rook thinks that if he were to chew on a tough length of the plant, it might give him with the ability to climb walls as easily as any ivy.
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Arin watches as the group inspects or simply tastes various fruit with abandon. As Yaiho shrinks in size, Arin starts to get a grin on his face and walks over to him for a favorable comparison.
"Welcome to my world down here, Yaiho!" No sooner does he put out his hand for Yaiho to shake it than he starts to grow again from the melon. Arin is left with a slight frown.
He listens to Danicka explain the rest of what was scanned. "Hmm, hot flashes, ringing in ears. Those sound like they would be used to make somebody feel sick, perhaps if you wanted them to be temporarily incapacitated without knowing why, if you slipped this into their meal. Purple skin, cold fingers, and smell of rotten meat. Somebody wanted to appear undead, as a zombie perhaps?"
He turns to J, presuming her phantom is nearby.
"J, Grishan, do you know anything of who was developing these enhanced fruits, and if for any specific purpose?"
Grishan floats back into the greenhouse, looking a little impatient to move on. "I have to admit, my memories from back then are a little hazy." He says to Arin with a shrug, and J. shakes her head. "I've only been here once, on a school trip. It was a lot different back then, oh, it was so beautiful! There were flowers with petals as big as my head in all sorts of vibrant colours, and a strange tropical bird flew right in front of me. It was bright red with black spots and I-" She suddenly realises that none of that is relevant, and blushes as she gets back to answering the question. "Anyway, I don't think the plants had these weird effects before." She frowns and looks up from under her umbrella at the artificial clouds crackling with soundless, purple lightning. "Maybe it's the rain? You said the magic of those clouds has been warped, or maybe that creepy plant who wanted our blood? He did say it was for research." She tries to suppress a shudder, thinking about that whole event.
Arin tries to discern the magic behind the walnuts, but without a good knowledge of nature, he cannot quite put his finger on it. However, with a little help from Danicka and Rook, you decide that if someone was to eat a nut, they would be given some magical protection against physical blows for a short time. After collecting several samples of the valuable plants, it's time to move on.
Exiting the magical greenhouse, Grishan leads the way through the door to the north. He floats in and out of walls, trying to remember where he left his stash as he leads you through a number of corridors and galleries that are mostly devoid of life. Finally, you reach the entrance of another fairly intact greenhouse. A wooden plaque outside reads "Plants of Eastern Garund: Please proceed with caution, as some are poisonous." Unlike the dead and warped growth in most of the Arboretum, the plants growing in this greenhouse seem to be relatively young and healthy. Several raised beds of earth host strange looking plants with long, sinuous vines, and a small, gently flowing fountain with a red lion statue at its centre sits near the middle of the chamber. Against the wall stands a worktable and chair covered in gardening tools.
"This is it!" Grishan exclaims, but before he can get to the statue, a humanoid figure steps out from the foliage and stands before the beds. "STAND BACK, all of you! I know you're Quantium gardeners, and WE WILL NOT BE HARVESTED!" She yells, pointing accusingly at all of you. It's difficult to make out her expression, as her face consists of layered petals wreathed by a green shell, and her eyes and mouth are only roughly approximated by empty holes. However, she does sound quite adamant that you should not take a single step closer to her.
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Danicka begrudgingly picks the walnuts and passes them to J. "Eat one of these whenever we're in danger. Alright?"
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Danicka lets out a shriek of panic at the sight of the talking plant woman. "EEEEEEK!" Noticing the plant behind her she lets out another shriek. "Eeeeek!"
With wide eyes Danicka throws out her arm, to make sure J. stays back.
"Walnut!" she squeaks at J.
Then, clearing her throat, she stammers loudly, "Why, hello there, Madame Ghoran! What a n-n-nice person-killing plant you have there b-b-behind you. I certainly would not want to anger y-y-you, as that yellow musk creeper might plant its seeds inside me and turn me into a mindless zombie. That w-w-would be very unfortunate..."
Here's hoping my friends are listening to me...
"We're not from Quantium. And, we d-d-don't want to eat you. But, I should warn you to stay back. One of my friends has large teeth, and his tastes are not d-d-discerning..."
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Rook takes a look at the sign and smiles.
"Poisonous, huh? Those always sell quickly but I prefer things with a little more excitement."
He starts to look around when the figure steps out...
...Danicka quickly identifies the creature as Ghoran and Rook agrees but there is something quite off about her.
"Stay calm. There is clearly something affecting this Ghoran...twisting her to be this way." Rook says quietly to Danicka.
He holds his hands out to his sides to show he isn't armed then speaks in a business like manner.
"I am no Quantium Gardener rather I am an Exchange Profiteer. Rather than harvest I work out deals. This poisonous rain has affected you negatively so with that in mind I propose an offer...let us help tend to you and in exchange you allow us to retrieve some old documents in this room."
J. bounces off Danicka's arm and lets out a little yelp of her own, then nods and takes a walnut out of her pocket. The ghoran watches uneasily as Danicka walks along the entrance, J. trailing close behind as she tries to crack into her nut. "The Musk Creeper, and all these other plants, are under MY protection. If your friend tries to eat any one of them, I will ensure it sows its seeds in your head first." She retorts, not taking at all kindly to the threat.
Then the ghoran glares at Rook as he tries to calm things down. "LYER!!!" She yells, growing more hostile and paranoid. "You may be no gardener, but you struck a deal with them. You admit it yourself, you are a profiteer, come to sell me and my kin back to your toothier friends and those Quantium butchers!" Her face petals flush and flutter, rearranging the holes to look like a scowl. "Come any closer and you will all pay dearly!" She clenches her fists and they suddenly harden into thick bark, with small thorns poking through.
J. jumps at the sudden outburst, and quickly stuffs the walnut in her mouth as ordered. The rubble in a circle around her her feet starts to wobble and hover ever so slightly off the floor.
Immunity to paralysis, poison, polymorph, sleep effects, and stunning.
No resistances
Immunity to paralysis, poison, polymorph, sleep effects, and stunning.
No specific weaknesses, but reflex saves are significantly worse than fortitude.
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Forrest puts his hands out in front of him and speaks in a soothing voice. "Actually, we are not here to hurt you. In fact, my friend Danicka is a pacifist. She would never hurt a living being! " He looks around, seeking a good excuse. " In fact, we are here to help. Many people desire the packet of information in that statue. If you allow us to remove the packet, without hurting any plants, we can leave and take the prize elsewhere. Then no one will come looking for it again! " He smiles, hoping she is sane enough to listen to reason. "Then no one will discover you or want to harm you. Can you convince your Musk friend to not hurt us? We just want what's in the statue. "
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Arin mutters a prayer to himself while still at the side of the entrance, just out of view of the ghoran.
He then steps in front of the entrance, just behind Rook and attempts to reinforce Forrest's new attempt at pacifying the ghoran.
"Yes, your misunderstand our friend here. He has no deal with this group you speak of, and in fact we aren't even familiar with them. Not only is our friend Danicka a pacifist, but she's a druid knowledgable in the ways of nature and may be able to tend to whatever condition this acid rain has inflicted you with."