As Kiddrick advances Hskoro moves in and slashes Rigory with his sword. The wolf howls from the smoking wound.
Stepping up behind Hskoro, Uliyara calls to the wolf. "I'm sorry Rigory, but my new friends are braver than you thought! And I'd be careful with that cold breath of yours. Neither my aunt nor my mother will be happy if you kill me!"
Uliyara's words are inspiring, and her position makes it impossible for Rigory to catch a lot of the group in his freezing breath. Letting it go in a puff of white mist, he instead lunges for Hskoro with his teeth, biting and pulling him down into the snow!
Arngrim Advances and cuts Rigory as Kon Kon circles around. Reesa waits to see how things play out.
Though injured and sprawled in the snow before Rigory, Hskoro manages to swing up with his flaming urgrosh and gut the wolf with a rage-fueled attack.
After the wolf's defeat, Uliyara pulls a leather tie from her hair and reveals her true appearance. The dark skin and hair lighten and turn pale, and hr eyes become deep blue.
"I am deeply sorry that I brought you trouble. You have my deep gratitude for coming to my aid, despite the fact that my deception brought this upon us." She says, then sings s spell to heal Hskoro.
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Kiddrik can't help but raise his eyebrows in surprise at Hskoro's ferocity, and he hustles next to the unmoving body of the winter wolf. "Well done, Hskoro!" he mutters as he slides to a stop on his knees, then touches the fallen creature with a few more syllables of power.
Then he presses his ear to the creature's chest, listening for breath or a heartbeat. "If he lives, we'll wait to tie him up." The young man looks up at the group, "Someone brought rope, right?"
Unfortunately, Rigory is very dead.
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Armgrim wipes off his sword and offers Hskoro a hand as he climbs up before walking over to Kiddrik and laying a hand on his shoulder. "You have good sentiments, my friend, but this battle was decided before it began. Unfortunately, this is what happens when blind devotion overrides common sense."
Turning to the now revealed Uliyara, he continues. "Let this be a lesson to you as well, Lady, that all decisions have repercussions. You will have to eventually face up to this. Whether the wolf was working under explicit orders or not, this blood resides with you for your lies. Have you anything more to confess to us?"
As he speaks, he studies Uliyara carefully, trying to read beyond her mask.
Turning back to the frozen wall you see that the blackfire clay is already hard at work melting the ice away. Soon enough you can see intricate gilded stonework adorning the entrance to this place, and a complex marble mosaic paving the floor.
Stepping inside you notice arrow slits flank the north and south sides of the hall, but none seem manned and the north side has mostly collapsed into rubble. A glance behind the arrow slits you can see a passage behind the collapsed section. On the eastern end, two 10-foot-tall marble statues of armored dwarves flank a fresco depicting an opulant throne room. The faces of the statues have been broken off.
Along the north wall Arngrim locates a hidden entrance which leads to a reserve full of mostly empty weapon racks. There is however, a masterwork heavy steel shield and an ivory-handled heavy crossbow in the room.
To the south thousands of icicles cover the ceiling of a cylindrical chamber. The outside edge forms a perfect circular curve, cutting into stone without mark of chisel or tool, impossibly smooth. Only places where ice flows over the stone, or where the structures have collapsed, mar the perfect precision of the cylinder. The remains of workshops and living spaces, still furnished, peak through holes in the cylindrical void. At the southern and western edges of the cavern, large portions of the stone and ice have collapsed, cutting into the immense void with piles of rubble.
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Moving into the ruins, Arngrim points out the shield and crossbow to the party. "Anyone want to check to see if these are magical?" he asks the party. When they reach the main chamber, he moves forward towards the open doors. Not quite going in, but looking around to see what may be seen through the doors.
As you begin to search the site Uliyara replies to Arngrim.
"Rigory's blood was shed on the orders of my aunt. Whatever she is up to, I am sure my mother would not approve, and if there are politics that I am unaware of, then I will assume responsibility for them. I owe you a debt, a thing I do not take them lightly, and I am holding no more secrets from you."
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Kiddrik is quiet after the killing of the wolf, but he mostly keeps it to himself. He nods to Arngrim’s somewhat-comforting words and tries to keep his mind on their task.
As they proceed into the icy structure, the young man looks conflicted … switching between wonder, curiosity, and a worried frown. At the strange cylinder room, he stares at he unnaturally-smooth shape for a few moments before stepping up to its edge.
”There’s no way this is natural,” he mutters as he runs a gloved hand along its edge, ”but what is it?”
His eyes follow the unnatural lip until it runs into what looks to be a wall.
"Huh," Kiddrik grunts, his tone the same quiet mutter as he often uses. "This is weird. Who puts a door to a room that just opens right back up? You think this bit cylinder-thing was cut out of this structure after it was made? What could even do that?"
Shaking his head in wonder, he looks over at Arngrim, "Might as well explore this place systematically." He points to the northern door, which looks to go back in the direction from which they've come. "That way first?"
You find a guard post to the north. Desks sit empty, a few scraps of meaningless paper littering the drawers. A weapon rack in the southeastern corner of the room lies empty. An iron barred door looks in upon the tattered remains of an old cot and rusty manacles. A doorway in the northern wall leads back to the chambers seen behind the arrow slits at the entrance.
Peering through the doorway to the east, Arngrim sees a living apartment. The frozen corpse of a dwarf slumps against one wall, perfectly preserved in ice.
As Arngrim approaches the frozen dwarf it's eyes suddenly pop open and turn to look at the group. With a sound of cracking ice it begins to move, reaching out with blackened fingers! The room suddenly gets extremely cold around it.
"Grrhaa..."
INITIATIVE
The dwarven ghoul rises and steps after Arngrim, swiping at him with a claw, but the half-elf is too quick for him.
"Surround it! Cut it down!" Uliyara's supportive words give you all courage in the fight.
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Arngrim takes a moment to collect his wits and study the creature attacking him before he retaliates.
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Reesa blasts the ghoul with a magical missile that knocks it back a step, and Hskoro hacks into one of its arms.
Arngrim moves to attack. His position isn't great, and his swing is ill-timed, but Kiddrik leaps to the ghoul's flank and distracts at just the right time and Arngrim's strike lands solidly into the side of the dwarf's head, sending shards of ice and frozen brain matter flying. The dwarf slams against the hearth and crumbles to the ground, defeated.
Lying on a nearby table is a masterwork dwarven waraxe, and on a chair is a pack containing a diary, written in dwarven. Unfortunately, none among you can read it.
A look through the rest of the chambers reveals nothing else of interest. It would appear that a piece of the Sky Key is not here.
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Kiddrik looks across at Angrim, his eyebrows rising. ”Nice one!”
He takes a curious look around, nodding his head as if in conversation with some unseen speaker. ”Uh huh .. the beard clasp? King’s blood? That’s good, at least … I mean, not for him.”
He looks over at the team and takes on a lecturing tone as he points at the dead dwarf’s beard. ”His beard clasp is a gladdringgoch, a traditional beard or hair clasp that a clan’s leader wears as a mark of status.” He points to a specific rune, ”This is for one of King Gutheran’s family lines. It served as the basis for the modern dwarven rune for ‘royalty’ or ‘king’s blood’.”
He grins, ”I think we may be in the right place.”
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Arngrim listens closely as the others explain the intricacies of the dwarven ornaments. "Before we leave, we should do what we may to give this honorable king a rightful burial.. but first we need to ensure no further surprises lurk here."
Arngrim positions the body in some modicum of repose before moving off to search the room, paying special attention to the doors to the south of the room.
You spend some time searching the rest of the site, but nothing new is discovered. Eventually retracing your steps you reach the entrance chamber and find a female witch, accompanied by a big guard and an ice bear, stand between you and the exit. "You there!" the woman shouts. "Baroness Nadya has gotten wind that spies from Saarbotten were trying to capture her daughter."
The man reaches for his sword, but Uliyara leaps forward.
"Wait! No! These are not spies. My aunt sent one of her winter wolf servants to abduct me, but these Pathfinders defeated him! The body is still outside. Did you not see it?"
The woman looks your group over, but does not seem convinced.
"Magic, or duress, can make one see things differently then they truly are."
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"Yes, as you say, magic, or duress, can make one see things differently then they are. For this reason you also show your truthiness, yes? Why demand of us that which you do not offer? As you can see, she is safe. This is our evidence. Accepting reason maybe is yours."
Kon Kon takes a deep breath after such a long speech.
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"You speak wise words, Milady; but in this case, we speak the truth. The wolf attacked us even as we attempted to negotiate other resolutions. Can we treat with you, or will your man act as the wolf did? Take my oath as a Ranger of Magnimar that the only crimes committed here this day were committed by this wolf that attempted to abduct Lady Uliyara."
The witch listens to your claims and gestures for her guard to relax. "One can not be too cautious in Irrisen. Once you are done with this place we will accompany you back to Dalun."
Uliyara thanks you for all that you have done and for the exciting adventure. "If I wished to join the Pathfinder Society, what should I do?"
***
The journey back to Dalun is uneventful, as is the return trip to Kalsgard. Once back aboard the Grinning Pixie, Venture-Captain Benarry is able to translate the dwarven journal and while she initially expresses disappointment that you did not recover a piece of the Sky Key, her chagrin quickly turns to excitement.
A history lesson...
Nine thousand years ago, dwarves first emerged on the surface of Golarion, at the conclusion of their Quest for the Sky. A few years later, the dwarves of the newly built citadel of Jormurdun watched in amazement as huge chunks of flaming metal tumbled out of the sky. They investigated this baffling event, and discovered pieces of a fallen starship. From the wreckage, the explorers retrieved an artifact they dubbed the Sky Key. It became a symbol of the Quest for the Sky, and the dwarves kept it safe in their fortress city of Jormurdun for millennia.
But Jormurdun did not last forever.
In approximately 1600 ar, duergar attacked and conquered the citadel. As the surviving dwarves fled, Jormurdun’s last king, Gutheran, broke the Sky Key into five pieces, keeping one for himself and giving one to each of his heirs. King Gutheran hoped that his heirs might one day return to reunite the Sky Key and Jormurdun’s scattered people. These scions of Jormurdun headed west, but grew weary of travel and settled down. King Gutheran’s youngest son, Naldak, settled in one of the eastern Linnorm Kingdoms and founded the town of Naldak’s Point. There his people found Ulfen clients who respected the dwarves’ craftsmanship. In 3313 ar, as Baba Yaga and her forces invaded what would soon become Irrisen, another powerful spellcaster approached the dwarves: the Tian sorcerer Hao Jin. She offered Naldak’s descendants shelter from the encroaching armies. They refused, but Hao Jin returned each of the following nights, repeating her offer. As the armies of Baba Yaga massed on the horizon on the fourth day, the dwarves reluctantly agreed. Hao Jin’s magic transported most of Naldak’s Point to her personal demiplane hidden in the Hao Jin Tapestry.
"So Naldak’s piece of the Sky Key has been in the Hao Jin tapestry all along!" Benarry exclaims. "This is great news. When we return to Absolom I’ll just have to see the Master of Spells about sending a group of agents in to pick it up. The tapestry is vast, and we never would have known where to look it weren’t for you. To top that off, studying the section of Naldak’s Point that Hao Jin’s magic left behind in Golarion could teach us more about the tapestry itself. Well done, Pathfinders!”
Uliyara becomes a valuable contact in Irrisen and the Society considers training her as an agent if they can get Baroness Nadya's approval. Venture-Captain Benarry thanks you for finding the Pathfinder Society a new ally in an unforgiving country.
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Thank you for a good game! It was a little odd.. I was expecting a boss fight at least, but it was interesting. Thanks all!
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This is one of those scenarios where the mission isn't the true purpose, but rather and excuse to put you in a place like Irrisen where you have to navigate the local politics and gather knowledge. Unfortunately, it leaves you hanging at the end a little, particularly if you don't have someone in the group who can read dwarven.