As you approach the glowing human female dressed in Taldan fashion, you notice she has a heavy mace at her hip, a spiked gauntlet on her hand, and a heavy crossbow on her back. She has her arm around an Azlanti citizen, with a couple others near at hand, and they are laughing and joking together, speaking in Azlanti. In fact, as you approach, you notice her facial features do look somewhat Azlanti. If it weren't for her attire--and the odd green glow--she might look at home here in the city.
Ajaline, Barl and Isme all notice that despite her attempt to appear at ease, the glowing woman does cast the occasional furtive panicked glance up at the approaching doom, usually while the Azlanti citizens are laughing and not likely to notice.
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Etna will approach the group and join in the laughing, even though she has no idea what they are actually saying. She will hope they speak common as she talks, trying to back up Ajaline. "Haha yeah you guys sure are a laugh riot. I agree with my friend Ajaline here, you should be able to help drop this barrier to send us all back where we belong. Help a friend out?
She sighs quite loudly and visibly, says something in Azlanti to the citizens around her.
At first she seems a bit unimpressed with Ajaline's words, but with Etna's help, she sighs again and then speaks to you in Taldane. Clearly, she feels quite put upon. "What is it you interlopers seek? There is so little time, and I'd rather not waste it speaking with you." She once again furtively glances skyward, then nervously looks at her compatriots, muttering something in Azlanti, finishing with a halfhearted chuckle.
She seems quite taken aback at Zavubak's harsh words, and she turns to her Azlanti friends, saying "How rude!"
Clearly she's flustered, because she spoke to the confused Azlanti in Taldane, though a couple of them appear ready to step forward and answer Zavubak's challenge. But she places a hand on each of their arms, and turns back to the party.
"Fine, you rude and ghastly beasts." Her eyes roll back into her head and the green glow flares for a moment, pulsing in time with the globe above. Then it fades from her body.
"Now leave us Azlanti in peace, you barbarians. Allow us to enjoy the final few hours of true civilization..." Her eyes get a wistful tinge as she looks around the town square before she pastes a fake smile back on her face and she starts chatting with her friends in Azlanti.
You head toward the Varisian man. As you approach, you see he is seated, cross-legged next to one of the numerous raised fountains, playing with a deck of cards. He is wearing very nice-looking studded leather armor, has a bandolier of daggers across his chest, and a short sword in its sheath on his belt.
A few Azlanti citizens are watching as he lays out the cards in a very studied and careful manner, clearly attempting to tell someone's fortune, though it's not readily apparent whose fortune.
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"Who is she calling a beast? I think I'm rather cute for my size. But anyways, two out of three, not bad at all so far! Maybe we won't end up being blown to ash. Now to the last green glowing goober."
With that she will begin approaching the last fellow, hoping that he is willing to talk things out as well.
"Ahh, a new player has arrived, some fresh blood. Can I interest you in a game of Towers? Or are you brave enough to tempt the Fates and have a Reading? Game of chance or game of fate...you decide."
He frowns at the proffered journal, shaking his head dismissively. "Such triflings brought to a table of chance and circumstance..." He sighs deeply. "Your polite manners and small matters have no place here."
He quite deftly shuffles the cards, making a few difficult passes look easy as he shuffles. "A shame you are all too cowardly to face me in a mere game of chance. But the lady has asked for a Reading, and so let us see what the Harrow holds..." His movements become a lot less sure as he begins to turn over the cards.
"Ah, the Fiend, goes to the position of...Strength, of course," he smiles a bit nervously, looking up at the sky toward the asteroid. "It represents being as strong as a demon--wait, I mean a devil. Right? This is a devil. The Fiend."
He turns over another card"Next comes The Avalanche. It goes with Dexterity, being deft enough to dodge out of the way of disaster." His chuckle is half-hearted at best.
Then he turns over a card with a Giant on it. "The Mountain Man is a symbol of Constitution, the strength and durability of the mountains, 'cause, y'know giants are good and strong and stuff." He slots it next to the Avalanche and continues.
"The Carnival, an Intelligence card!. See how they play out in order. I told you I was gifted. Didn't I?" Just as he seems to be about ready to smile smugly, he stops himself, and says, "The symbol of illusion and falsehood."
He turns the next card, and it depicts someone being haunted by visions of catastrophes. "HA! A Wisdom card!" Then he mutters to himself, "maybe I am getting the hang of this." He clears his throat and addresses you, "The Vision is often a symbol of madness..." He chuckles a bit self-consciously and quickly moves on.
"The Liar! Charisma card. All the slots, in proper order. I knew I could do it!" He almost seems to have completely forgotten you're there. As he reaches out to place it in its appropriate position on the cloth on the ground in front of him, the Liar card seems to quiver a bit and it starts to slip out of his fingers. He lunges awkwardly to maintain his grip, and each of you get a really good look at the Liar.
"And now, for the final card, which dominates the reading...The Sickness? Go figure." He places the Constitution card above the Mountain Man. "This means a coming disaster will be as strong and deep as the mountains themselves." With a brief glance skyward, he nervously gathers up the deck and starts shuffling, muttering to himself, "Now I finally begin to develop a knack for this. My timing has always sucked." He clears his throat again and addresses you all.
"Now that the fates have blessed us with glad tidings, how about a game of chance? Towers, anyone?" He adds a barely audible aside, "While there's still time..."
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"I don't think you understand those cards at all. Here, let me show you." Zavubak grabs a few cards and challenges the Harbinger to his game as he wears an expressionless face the entire time. When challenged, he crafts the perfect lie about how half-orcs, at one point, had their own version of Harrow cards, and he was an expert in their usage and game.
In all of my travels, I have never seen these things before...
The human seems mightily impressed by Zavubak's knowledge. "And here my mother told me that it was her people that invented Harrow. I should've known such backwater Varisian wanderers couldn't have come up with such a wondrous thing. Do any of the rest of you know more about the Harrow?"
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Ajaline watches Nesteruk play around with the cards. He clearly is uncomfortable with them, or at least not that confident in using them. He has seen others play Towers but he himself has no idea how to play.
"Sir, you clearly don't know what you are doing with those cards. Why don't you stop playing with them and help us out. We need you to release your power that is anchoring this bubble around us. I think that you've shown us enough nonsense. How about doing something useful?"
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I didn't know that the half-orcs had their own Harrow...I wonder if other races did as well?
"My friend here is right," Isme responds softly. "I do thank you for the reading but time is short and we have much to do. If you were to release your part of the anchor, we might be able to salvage the situation yet."
"Unless of course you want to die here."
He pointedly ignores Ajaline and Isme, turning the discussion back to the line of auroch droppings that Zavubak's slinging. He turns to Barl, "Tell me more about these dwarf divinations...do they use the Harrow deck as well?"
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Barl chuckles and says, "Ha, no, it's called praying to Torag in desperation!"
He thinks for a moment and continues, "But my grandfather once told me in secret about an ability he claimed to possess. He said it has been in our family for generations of generations. He had the power to read the water drips from stalactites and know the present and future for everything within a half-mile in any direction. He showed me once. He thought I might have the power too." Here he trails off suggestively.
"If you will show me how to play your game, I will show you something fascinating in a nearby cave I know of. And then we can talk of other things."
"Calistria's whip! I never knew dwarves were such terrible liars. Perhaps it's time for you to move on. Unless one of you wants to try a reading?" He holds out the deck.
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Seeing that no one is getting anywhere this this bozo Ajaline steps foward. "As I said, you clearly don't know what you are doing with those cards. Let me show you." He takes the cards from the man.
Ajaline roughly shuffles the cards a few times then lays them out one by one. "There! Hmm. Interesting. It seems that the cards have shown that you are the key. Only you can save the world. And it only takes a single act. Something about an anchor to a power. Something about releasing that power. Does that make any sense to you?"
He looks down at the cards, looks up at Ajaline skeptically. "Are you certain? Hmmmm...I see yes, the Peacock...and the Hidden Truth. Brilliant!" He picks up the card, smells it, then closes his eyes and the green fades from his body.
Then he takes back the deck and starts shuffling. He starts laying them out in a reading as you walk away.
"The Fiend...goes to the position of Strength, of course. Ahh, the Avalanche, for dexterity. The Mountain Man! Always the same cards..."
As you're walking away, Shaine says to Ajaline, "Are you sure that's what the deck was showing? It looked to me like it was predicting the doom of this whole world. Hmmm...no matter. I do see a couple of other green glows over there and there." Shaine points out a human male and human female. "Oh, and look at those pathfinders flying toward the vault. Good to see such mighty warriors going after the head of the snake...so to speak."
You tighten the cinches on your armor, make certain your weapons and wands are handy, and head for the entrance of the vault. As you descend, Kreighton remains in the back of your group.
After descending into the depths of the earth, you come upon a vast chamber with veins of strange metal lining the walls. Enormous bronze devices connected to the walls by massive cables spark and spew steam, almost obscuring the large vault door at the far end of the room. The door is labeled with a single word in a plethora of languages: Danger. Stagnant water collects at the bottom of a ten-foot wide pool in the middle of the room. A gasping, bleeding elf who looks like an aged version of Kreighton Shaine lies across the room. A human in a breastplate with heavy crossbow stands over him.
Our Group's : Current Map
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"Hmm. This is interesting." Ajaline moves closer to the pool of stagnant water trying to see if there is anything lurking in it. He casts a bit of Detect Magic at the pool.
Then he gets a closer look at the man on the other side. "Excuse me Master Shaine, that man over there looks like you." Ajaline points across the pool at the man.
The pool does not radiate magic, but even not facing the huge apparatus, the magic screams its presence, bleeding into your cone aimed at the pool. The Shaine laying on the ground isn't moving, but the one still stuck behind the group on the stairs says, "It probably is me...sort of. Part of me. Or more of me. Depending upon which me."
It appears as if a piece of the electrical arcs between the two bronze devices detaches itself and flies forward, a small ball of electricity that slams into Ajaline, then remains floating in the air above the pool.
Etna's blade seems to pierce the creature, doing damage as it crackles in pain.
The warrior in the breastplate steps to the south and shoots his heavy crossbow at Barl.
A shadowy human figure slinks from the shadows, slips behind Zavubak and stabs him in the back.
Shaine enters the room and takes in the scene. "Yep, that's definitely me. Or at least one of the mes." Your two human foes seem surprisingly unsurprised at the appearance of another Shaine.
Then Shaine says, "Hey, is that a Small Lightning elemental? I wouldn't bother trying to use any electrical attacks against it."