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Rathan's irritation does the trick and the chest springs open revealing a collection of ancient stone miniatures, which have the look of a Viking army.
The next safe is made of stone, its lid carved with a relief of ivy. Everyone save Ennoia is able to make out the words of a riddle amidst the leaves.
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Miette examines the chest again sure that something is up, and sure enough her gnomish experience of illusions pays off allowing her to see normal hinges and no lock. On a hunch she simply tries opening the real chest, and while the illusion remains closed the reality opens easily revealing it to be packed with weird and wonderful ingredients that look so bizarre they must be spell components.
The final safe is rectangular with ten small pores, and strange stylized writing wrapping around its exterior. Everyone save Eleanor notices a small hidden panel on one side of the box, but no means to open it.
Rathan recognizes the writing as a simple musical tune and concludes that someone could "play" the safe using its pores like a simple wind instrument.
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The half-orc comes in and gathers up the items from the safes with care, before reporting to Grandmaster Torch who smiles at the group,
"An excellent, job, for exceeding my expectations I think a reward is in order. 100 gold pieces each seems fair," one of the servants stops pouring water over Torch's burns momentarily and steps forward handing each of you two heavy coin purses, before going back to his task.
"Now as for the information, Nessian now lairs in a base of operations dubbed The Pyramid of the Dog. Carved it out of the ruins of several collapsed siege towers, just outside the city," he goes on to give them specific directions, and then adds, Finally I must point out that if Nessian were to learn that I gave you this information I would consider it extremely unprofessional, and I would spread the word."
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As the group emerge from the sewers the sun begins to rise for Oathday. They hurry through the dimly lit streets earning a few odd looks from those citizens out and about at this hour.
Then everyone save Ennoia, whose eyes are downcast again, sees another display of lights. This time an interplay of green and orange lights coming from the cliffs in the distance. Yargos's face drains of colour,
"Gods that is one of the final signals. It will send a team of Black Echeleon to attack the Metro-Cathedral, that great old Abadar Cathedral in Puddles... They perform a ritual tune on their enormous pipe organ every Oathday morning to remind Absalom of its pacts, stopping that performance was the signal for the armada of The Silent Tide to begin their assault on the city! If they stop the priest's music we are all dead men!"
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"Damn it. If that is true we have get to the Metro-Cathedral and protect it. Nessian will ahve to wait a little longer. Back to Puddles it seems. This time though, I suggest we fire our first volley of arrows and magic together so that the mist doesn't affect our aim." she says and without waiting for an answer she rushes towards puddles.
"If these Black Echeleons take over the city I doubt there will be much gold to be made here and the heroes will be well rewarded." she thinks a smile spreading accross her face as she runs, pulling her greenwood bow as she makes her way through the streets.
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As you race through the streets of Puddles, with the sun just cresting the horizon, a magnificent tune begins to play from the Cathedral. As you catch sight of the great building, still fine, for all that the district has fallen far since its flooding, the sounds starts to splutter, becoming patchy and discordant. Then it becomes a simply cacophony of off-key noise and comes to an abrupt end.
"Hells! Hurry if we do not get that music going in seconds the Silent Tide will be unleashed, tens, hundreds of thousands will die!" Yargos screams, spittle flying from his beat red face as he forces himself to keep running.
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• The Metro-Cathedral’s massive organ is played by dancing upon the gigantic white keys. Traveling from white key to white key requires a DC 5 Acrobatics, or Perform (dance) check. The DC increases by 2 for each additional key someone attempts to cross in a given round.
• To play the more slender black keys, one either needs to stand on an adjoining white key and reach up and yank the key down with a DC 5 Strength check, or climb directly on top of the black key (Climb DC 10). Leaping from black key to black key requires a DC 10 or 20 Acrobatics check depending on the distance between the keys as indicated on the map.
• Anyone who successfully depresses multiple keys in a round may also make a Perform (keyboard) check as a free action. A success of 10 or more contributes to the hymn and keeps the music alive. The higher the result, the more melodious and impressive the contribution. Provide each PC with a +2 circumstance bonus to their check for each key they manage to depress in a single round. If the same PC can further succeed on a DC 5 Knowledge (Religion) check, they can actually play the correct popular morning hymns.
• The organ keys are elevated 15 feet off of the ground. Anyone bull rushed off the keys falls to the stone church floor below, taking 1d6 damage.
• Climbing the giant twisting maze of brass pipes requires a DC 10 Climb check each round.
The Pathfinders burst into the Metro-Cathedral, now eerily silent. A young woman in the robes of a supplicant is curled up in a ball at the feet of the great altar, clutching her knees and praying fervently to Abadar, eyes scrunched firmly shut. Beyond the gigantic organ is covered in blood, and the corpses of a dozen priests of Abadar lie dead at the foot of the bloodstained organ, having fallen the fifteen feet or so from the keys above.
Two Black Echeleon stand atop the keyboard itself, while another four of the remorseless undead have climbed up amidst the pipes using their silent auras to prevent the passage of sound - though clearly there are not enough of them to prevent it entirely... Yet.
Panting along behind you Yargos calls, "If they can keep it silent for a minute or so all is lost! Must make the music!" Before collapsing exhausted.
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Naiyra rushes forward down the isle with her bow in hand. She takes aim at at the Echeleon on the left and fires.
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Ennoia moves forward, going right of the altar, and extends her hand forward. By the grace bestowed to me by my own mother, be revealed!
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (ground mica)
Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Area creatures and objects within 10-ft.-radius spread
Duration 1 round/level
Save Will negates (blinding only); SR no
A cloud of golden particles covers everyone and everything in the area, causing creatures to become blinded and visibly outlining invisible things for the duration of the spell. All within the area are covered by the dust, which cannot be removed and continues to sparkle until it fades. Each round at the end of their turn blinded creatures may attempt new saving throws to end the blindness effect.
Any creature covered by the dust takes a –40 penalty on Stealth checks.
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Ennoia's golden sparkling dust, is shaken off by two of the undead, but one on the pipes begins scrabbling at its eyes blinded by the magic.
Naiyra's arrow strikes true, but it passes through the fog-like flesh of her foe doing no harm.
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Rathan's flames consume the undead sendings its skull and sickle tumbling to bounce from the keys and then crash onto the tiles at the evoker's feet.
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Naiyra sees an opening on the left flanking k and makes a break for it, switching from her bow to her sword.
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Miette follows her fearless companions towards the ladder in hopes of playing a local and timeless rendition of "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap".
40' double move for her turn
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Two of the Black Echelon on the keyboard advance upon the party, while the other two attempt to climb up into the pipes, though neither is able to get up amidst the complicated array of copper. The lead undead swings a rusty sickle at Eleanor giving her a nasty gash across the cheek, which would have been much worse had she not pulled back at the last moment.