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Putting out his tobacco before entering the room, Vinny stared at the supplies with genuine surprise. "This is, ah, something else." He muttered to himself. Standing there a moment, taking it all in, he collected a few samples to hopefully prove what was going on here. For once, he took the time to securely pack it in his backpack, away from prying eyes. Then, as stealthily as he could manage, he snuck back out into the hallway. Relighting his tobacco, he once more waited for privacy, before locking the door again.
His work complete, he sauntered back to the others, a satisfied smile on his face, the kind of smile that would worry those who knew him well.
"So, ah, we done here?" He asked casually as he entered the room again.
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Mira takes note as Vinny re-enters the room. Frankly, she hadn't even noticed the alchemist had disappeared. They would talk with eachother and compare notes once they were away from prying ears, she was sure. "I think that's everything. Thank you for your hospitality, ma'am." Mira says politely, "I hope we'll get to stop by again in the future"
She wasn't sure what to make of the visit. Everything seemed on the level to her. There was no denying that the child they saw was sick, and though it was clear that Auntie drank more than Mira was entirely comfortable with, the children seemed well cared for.
Leaving with the others, Mira keeps her eyes carefully peeled. They had been followed earlier, the woman was curious whether they had managed to lose their shadow yet.
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The tengu is very quiet on the way back to the temple. He saw enough signs alone with the woman's alcoholism, but the fact that she was refusing help because of money concerns seemed to strike a sour chord with him.
Surely if the Silver Crusade were asked they'd have some acolytes or something that'd help for nothing or next to it? No, just based on his conversation and perceptions, something was amiss, perhaps even criminal activity. Though if it was spurred by the pricey whiskey, that would explain a great deal.
He'll keep an eye out during his musing, though he'll wait to talk to the others until they are well and away...
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The gunslinger's heart sinks a little bit as she hears the others' news. She had been really hoping that the Silver Crusade's worries were for naught. Despite Auntie's drinking problems, the children were certainly better off in her care than on their own.
"I'm with Bol' on this one" Mira pipes up, "I wouldn't have a clear conscience if our involvement landed those kids on the street."
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After the discussion winds along, Wei will speak up. Unless rebutted on one of the points, it's also what he'll mention to Ollysta.
"I don't think any of us can argue that she needs help. Not just from her health perspective, but from the 'managing the care of dozens of children' angle. The recommendation I would make would be for a couple of the acolytes or such from the Crusade to spend time over there and help ease the burden. It might even help reduce the amount of materials that need to be sent, which would allow other places to benefit from the Crusade's donations.
If she's been doing this all of her life, it is quite possibly the only thing she knows how to do, and simply taking that away from her would be the worst punishment one could inflict, and she hasn't shown any signs of deserving that?
I didn't pick up any sort of malice, but I'm reasonably sure we've all seen our fair share of intoxicated folks through one means or another. The well-being of the children could be impaired at that point.
The taking of supplies and reselling them is a bit more of a troubling point. Was she doing that to support her habits, or was she attempting to raise money to do her job well? I'm no stranger to things being tough and having to make that kind of call -- food on the table, that is, not the drinking thing.
As far as kids working? Having some means of earning money is good for learning what things are worth. But if that is the case and she's taking all of the money and then either saying that's the 'price of living in the house' or not even letting them see the money -- well, that'd effectively be slavery. Raising children without the ability to learn how to make an educated choice for themselves in such an environment only causes them to become trapped by the environment.
I didn't see a lot in the way of educational materials there, perhaps the Crusade knows a teacher or two that'd be willing to go over and provide at least a rudimentary series of lessons? Education is the greatest tool against tyranny, after all?
The birdly one gets distracted for a moment.
"Anyone seen Hood?"
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Hood makes his way back to the group after his disappointing efforts to entertain the children with stunts.
"We should go back and report this at once!" he mourns. "Iomedae will want to know that these kids...uh...refuse to see the light! Or something. They seem well-cared for, I guess. But they seem pretty uptight, for kids."
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Boldren nods a lot while Wei is speaking.
“I agree with most everything you have said Wei, but there is one thing left to consider. We only spoke to that lady a very short time. She very well could be rotten to the core. It is plain to see that she has an addiction, along with a rotten way to support that addiction. Even if she does a decent job at keeping those kids alive, by providing food and shelter, one must ask is that enough. If by default you teach those homeless children, who have no other example to compare, that the old woman's behavior is acceptable. You do society a grave injustice by allowing her to rear criminals and charlatans. I like the idea of the Silver Crusade taking over until they can find a replacement. I believe that old lady needs help, and maybe the society can provide that for her. At the end of the day they will have to care for those children, then decide if the old woman can be reformed.”
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"We can only operate on the information we have gathered. Automatically jumping to the conclusion that someone is one thing or another without solid proof, then building a spurious case to support it isn't justice, but a witch-hunt. Which is why I suggested help be provided... either she would clean up her act or not, but there would be eyes directly on the situation that could assess it a lot better than we can?"
When Hood walks up, Wei nods.
"Welcome back, Hood. And that's important to know, thanks for checking that out."
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Mira listens closely as Wei Ji explains his line of thought. He made a lot of good points, and furthermore, she trusted the Tengu's moral compass. Before she could add her voice to the debate, however, Hood's timely arrival interrupts her train of thought.
The woman raises an eyebrow as the halfling recounts his impression of the children. She thinks she has a fairly good idea of what is meant by "seeing the light". Almost unconciously, she flicks the hem of her jacket to hide her powderhorn from view. Nodding at Hood, she tells the rest of the group, "I think Hood might be right about us getting ahead of ourselves. We have to trust that the Crusade will have the resources to sort this out properly, and in the interests of the children."
Havok goes upstairs with the kids while the old lady is downstairs with his feathered colleague.
"Hi kids. I had a question for you if you didn't mind. And please don't be afraid to tell the truth, you are all under my protection.
I was just wondering about the large amount of brooms and other cleaning parts down here. Is it all just for cleaning this house? Or are you cleaning elsewhere as well?"
One of the younger girls seems impressed with Havok and beckons him down to whisper in his ear. "When we're all better, we get to go and help the bigger kids clean up in the nice people's houses. Auntie says everyone needs to help each other and if we do a good job, we might get to go live with the nice people." She seems very excited about this idea and then she asks with big eyes, "Can I clean at your house? Can I come live with you?!"
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Ollysta Zadrian maintains an even toned expression as you make your contributions and share your observations. She gives very little away as you speak, but you still get the feeling she has concerns about what she is hearing.
”You have discovered much! The Dawnflower teaches us temperance and patience in all things. Compassion and peace are her virtues, and if people can be redeemed, then they should be, and we will act in accordance with that wisdom."
"Your reports that she has issues with an excess of drinking and the way it manifests are of concern, however, although she is in the teeth of an addiction she still maintains care for others. How often do we see this strange irony, that sometimes it is the healer that ends up needing healing?"
"Our future actions are something we must consider carefully and your suggestions will certainly help our deliberations, but these are not matters for you to trouble yourselves with any further, for your diligent efforts have most certainly been of great service to us and we would ask nothing further from you. Thank you, Pathfinders. May the Everlight shine upon your path and bless your days beneath the sun.”
She departs once again, both courteous and regal, and leave you to your duties. You are certain that you left a very good impression.
____________________________________________________________________
You leave behind the temples of the Ascendant Court and soon are entering the Wise Quarter and the quiet atmosphere of a district home to several prominent schools and libraries, including the prestigious Arcanamirium, one of Golarion's most well-known magical schools. Scholars, philosophers and students of all manner roam about in discussions of science, medicine, religion, and just about any other topics imaginable; the pitch varies from hushed whispers as they walk to rather pointed and hotly contested debate, yet regardless of their deliberations, the rather impressive and grand buildings in this seat of learning offer a certain stony solemnity to the streets they flank; the only departure to the otherwise staid theme is the rather dark and macabre Blackros Museum, alleged to have been carved from a single enormous piece of volcanic rock by a mad astrologer and wizard named Ralzeros, within its basalt walls is displayed the Blakros collection, which includes numerous artifacts of dubious arcane origins.
The party makes its way to the rich estate of GrandCouncil member Dremdhet Salhar, and are greeted by a guard who is expecting you all as you reach the tall, wrought-iron gate. He conducts you inside where a servant tells you all that Salhar is not present, called away on important Council-business, but his most trusted adviser is available to negotiate any business they may require. He explains this while leading you all down well decorated hallways, past expansive rooms. After a few minutes, you all arrive at a simple study near the end of a long hallway.
Inside Amenopheus, the Sapphire Sage, a tan-skinned old man sits behind a desk flipping through pages in a large tome. Scraps of paper jut from the book marking over two dozen different places. As the group approaches the open door, the wise sage silently gestures the PCs into the study with one thin hand, while closing the tome with the other after finishing what he was reading. Once the you are all inside the study, he addresses the group.
You arrive at the Council member's gate. Before anyone can knock, the gate opens and you are greeted by an Osiriani dressed in a majordomo's livery. "Greetings Pathfinders. You are expected, yet unfortunately my master Salhar is not here. "
He continues his introductions and welcomes as he leads you through halls of opulence. "Master Salhar was called away on important Council business, but his most trusted advisor is available to negotiate any business you may require."
After a few minutes, you arrive at a simple study near the end of a long hallway. Inside sits a tan-skinned old man behind a desk flipping through pages in a large tome. Scraps of paper jut from the book marking over two dozen different places. As you approach the open door, the wise sage silently gestures you into the study with one thin hand, while closing the tome with the other after finishing what he was reading. Once inside, he addresses you,
"Good day to you, Pathfinders. I am Amenopheus, the Sapphire Sage, advisor to Master Salhar. I understand you were sent here to discuss archaeological permissions. Knowing this was coming, I spoke with Master Salhar at length on the subject and have this to say."
“Since Osirion was reopened to exploration a decade ago, adventurers, historians, and treasure-seekers flock to my country by the hundreds, perhaps thousands. While most families with ancestral burial vaults maintain guards and keep their sites out of the hands of casual thieves, not all families have the wealth or power to restrict everyone, and as we all know, not every defense is perfectly secure. Unscrupulous tomb robbers and maligned merchant organizations cause Osirion to bleed relics into the Inner Sea—something the descendents of Ancient Osirion cannot afford. We Osiriani have thousands of years of rich history coursing through our veins, and while that power has been out of focus in recent years, we are content to wait, knowing our enemies will wear themselves down. As they fall into arrogance, folly, or greed, we wait for our return to power, knowing we bear the riches of our ancestors at our feet.
“Master Salhar remains impressed by the Pathfinder Society, orating in their favor a handful of times in front of Absalom’s Grand Council, in fact. Due to previous relationships between him and the Society, Master Salhar has agreed to grant permission to the Pathfinder Society to explore his family’s vaults below Sothis. The only thing he requires is that you retrieve the map of the vaults from his own vault here. The servant will lead you to the basement and show you the room.” He concludes, gesturing half distractedly at the manservant who brought you here. The Sapphire Sage’s eyes twinkle as he smirks knowingly, then he turns back to reading his book as though he had never been disturbed.
Begging your permission and a thousand pardons, the manservant quickly ushers you away from Amenopheus’ chamber, as though you are curiously welcome guests who might accidentally overstay their welcome, and he brings the group back through the spacious estate, leading them down sturdy stone steps into the cool basement. Down a hallway, after a couple turns, the party ends up at a plain wooden door. The servant opens the door, gesturing to the room with a bow, and waits silently for the group to enter...
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"Anyone else catch that, ah, weird look in his eyes when he talked about the basement?" Vinny asked, eyeing the open doorway with some suspicion on his face. "I dont like that look, you know? Seems theres always something nasty waiting for you when you get that look." He shrugged. "Or maybe thats just when women do it." He produced a smirk, looking at the other male members of the team as if expecting agreement in their faces.
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"Well of course you can little girl. However, I'm too often away for business. I would need to get someone to look after you... But I'm sure I can find some friends who don't mind to look after a little rascal like yourself." Havok says as he ruffles her hair. He picks her up and puts her on his neck, telling the old women he will take care of this one from now on and taking her with him to Ollystra.
He asks if Ollystra can look after the little girl so that Havok has time to finish his mission for the rest of the day. Perhaps she can learn something from the paladin.
==================
Arriving at Amenopheus' estate Havok takes it in and walks along with the rest. Seems easy enough...
When the servant opens the door, Havok steps through and looks around to find the vault.
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At the Temple:
"The hardest thing the Teacher would have us discover is that we are always learning. One path may or may not be as valid as any other, but we should always strive to discover more not only about ourselves, but others as well." The tengu is somewhat somber at that admission.
En route to the Wise Quarter:
Remember the finery that Wei bought earlier? He'll stop for a moment or two to get dressed well before the meeting with the majordomo, keeping the shield and his 'working' outfit in his bag. When there's a moment or two after being shown the door, he'll take the chance to swap out the clothing (gotta protect the good stuff!) and crack his neck slightly.
After meeting the Sage, and preparing for the vaults:
"Ancient vaults. Probably want to be careful with fire and explosives, don't know how fresh or available air is down there, thinking possibly undead, vermin, or grave-robbers. Given we're the ones being sent down and a previous expedition... be on your guard, and keep your eyes open. Anything out of place could be either an indication of what we're facing or alternatively, who we're facing."
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Despite not having been much use in the last encounter, only succeeding in irritating the caretaker, now he was back in his element, and went back to work. "Sorry about not being much help last time, I am always a bit skeptical, and this makes it harder for me to trust people, even enough to actually find out if they are up to something. But, anyway, we ought to get back to business and start working on finding that map. So, who wants to go first?"he says, jokingly.
The servant waits patiently for everyone to enter the room, and then smiles apologetically as he shuts the door and locks it behind you. Written on the inside of the door is the message: “Within these cases lies your quest and your way out.”
You find yourself in a plain stone room contains three chests: a copper-banded chest of smooth, dark wood; a red lacquered chest; and what looks to be a cube of solid steel. Behind the chests sits a low table holding a clear glass jar half full of liquid and a covered wicker basket.
The Copper-Banded Chest
This a copper-banded chest is of a smooth, dark wood. A single lock of typical design is built into its face.
The Red Lacquered Chest
This smooth, red lacquered chest bears a solid metal plate surrounding the gaping keyhole that pulses with glowing amber runes.
The Steel Chest
This steel cube has only the faintest crack where its lid meets the base, and would be completely featureless save for its narrow keyhole.
The Wicker Basket
This is a 2-foot-round wicker basket with no apparent locks, its lid resting gently atop its wide rim.
The Glass Jar
This gallon-sized clear glass jar is about half full with clear liquid. At the bottom of the vessel sits a bejeweled brass key.
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The tengu peers at the basket intently, but very painstakingly does not touch it or jar it in any fashion.
"Something in the basket is moving. Thinking maybe some sort of rabid or cornered animal? Anyone got a cloak or something we can toss over the top so if we lift the lid whatever it is doesn't get a free shot at us?"
He rubs under his beak thoughtfully. "Keys are probably designed to go in a sequence, get a key, move to the next, etc? If someone else has a better though, please, chime in?"
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Mira responds to Vinny's comments by doing her best imitation of "that look" as she follows the group into the vault.
The gunslinger nods at Wei's musings. "Makes sense. Though, there's that one fable about the knot right? Rather than untie a huge, tangly mess, sometimes the best solution is to simply cut through it. If nobody objects, I can try picking the locks. Well, except that runic one. That one has 'magic trap' written all over it."
Mira approaches the three chests, steering wide of the basket. Crouching down, she peers inside each keyhole, trying to get a measure of its complexity, and checking for some of the common traps her grandfather had told her about. As she looks, she pulls out her thieves' tools and starts selecting the correct picks for the job.
----- If Mira deems the copper banded chest or steel chest to be safe, and no party members object to her idea, she will attempt to pick the locks. She is avoiding the chest with the runes on the lock, in any case -----
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"The first and most difficult task a new student must uncover for themselves at their own pace is that they know nothing. The second most difficult is that we're all new students every day. Let's call it an educated guess, but I think if we screw this up, we'll have plenty of 'proper mission' for you to handle. That's how my guts are leaning on this."
While this discussion is going on, and containers are being examined further, Wei is looking around the room for holes, trip-wires, anything crazy that might be other traps related to the opening of the various chests, including plates that the party is standing on.
Boldren finds there are indeed magical auras in this room, though they are faint he identifies four separate auras. One upon each chest, with a second seemingly within the steel cube.
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"One more thing," Draco adds,"the vial could be of some importance, as it is not water, but it's acrid smell could suggest that it may be acid, used to open one of the chests, or perhaps to destroy the thing within that basket. At any rate, the idea to use a cloak would not be bad, but it would be better if we placed another weight on top of the basket before removing the vial, just in case it is a weighted trap, or could see through the cloak trick."
Boldren identifies an aura of illusion on the Copper-banded chest, an aura of abjuration on the Red lacquered chest and a universal aura on the steel cube. He cannot quite get a handle on the last aura, perhaps because he cannot yet see whatever the aura emanates from.
Mira looks over each chest carefully and notices something concerning on the steel cube. It's hard to know for sure, but she suspects the steel chest is set with a magical trap. The other two appear locked.
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Havok stays a bit back from the chests and keeps an eye out for any trouble coming from other sources.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Boldren will continue to concentrate on each box independently in an attempt to identify the magic and how it works.
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Mira nods and steps back, letting Boldren have access to the chests. "Thanks, I'm fairly certain there's a magical trap of some kind on that big steel chest. As for the others..." she didn't find anything, but having found one trap already made her suspicious about the other two chests.
"Illusion sounds pretty safe if you ask me!" she mentions cheerfully, after listening to Boldren's verdict "But still, people may want to stand back"
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Boldren smiles at Mira. "Unless the illusion is meant to hide the real threat."
After expressing what he considered was a valuable insight, Boldren steps back to allow Greyhood access.
After the halfling's boast about opening all the boxes at once, Boldren seems to be cautiously putting as much distance between himself and the chests as possible.
Once comfortably at the fare corner of the room, Boldren looks over at Greyhood and raises his eyebrows.
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"Anyone have a rough idea of how much the chests are apparently worth by themselves? Perhaps it's a building lesser to greater value sort of thing? Or the package being more valuable than what's inside? Or simplest is the easiest? Too many questions, not enough answers!"
The tengu is a bit frustrated, then considers. "Anyone bring a nice long pole with them?"
He pauses a second, raising a finger thoughtfully.
"If the glass container contains acid or alkali, we do not want to shatter it, we do not want to empty it out because nothing else in this room looks like it could hold it, does it? Yet it has what appears to be a brass key. If the steel case isn't steel, but zinc, then copper and zinc make brass... Someone got some wire or a glass tubule or something we could hook the key out with? And please stop me if we've got a better idea than randomly poking at stuff?"
Mira leans down to work on the lock of the copper chest. She probes with her tools, feeling as if she gets close to moving the locking pin out of the way, but it continues to elude her.
Wei Ji suspects that the chests are well made, the artistry of the red lacquered making it likely the most valuable of the three with the copper looking like it would take second most valuable. The damaged condition of the steel cube suggests someone has worked on it before.
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The gunslinger shakes her head as she fails to pop the lock on the copper chest. "No luck here." she announces, standing and taking a quick stretch. Pulling the musket off her back, she gets herself ready in case she needs to fire at whatever waited in that basket.
"I can provide some cover fire if what's in the basket isn't friendly" she offers to Hood.