Aerodus helps place Jirani safely. He then begins to pace for a bit. He then decides to sit down and pull out the puzzle box and notes that the Pathfinder gave him.
Once they're back at the hideout, Lia takes out the odd scroll tube she received and wanders over to Andando.
"Excuse me, Andando?" She taps the rogue on his shoulder. "Could you see if you can get this open for me? Some crazy guy gave it to me, and I'm worried I'll damage its contents if I just try to rip it open."
Andando thumbs his nose. "I don't oft take to opening the parcels of crazy people, but for a pretty girl, I'll make an exception."
He eyes the case and feels around the rim using his heightened sense of touch to feel for catches and possible indentations.
After a moment there is a barely audible *click* and the catch releases.
"For you, m'lady." he says with a smile handing the case back to Lia.
"Lucky me." Lia takes the tube back. "Thanks, Andando."
She opens the tube to examine its contents.
Aerodus looks up to stare at the interaction between Andando and Lia. With a snort, Aerodus looks at the notes and begins reading them.
Something in Aerodus' hands caught Venator's attention, but then Lia also had something weird, although not so magically strong as the... puzzle... Aerodus was holding. "Hey guys, could you please stop a minute? What the heck happened when we split? Where did you get that?" First he points to Aerodus' puzzle, then to Lia's scroll tube.
"This?" Lia holds up the tube. "Some crazy guy accosted me on my way back to town. He said something about the city being doomed and shoved this into my hand."
"Nice, great, and just because he stated the obvious does it mean you have to believe in him blindly?" He raises an eyebrow to you. "What if it's a trap?"
Lia gives Venator a glare and opens the tube. "Then it'll be better than listening to you dispense advice I didn't ask for."
Venator, once more, takes a disapproving look at Lia. He bows making an extravagant gesture. "Suit yourself" - he says, then moves away to watch over someone who was not so rude, Aerodus. From a few feet away he analyses the puzzle with detect magic.
Aerodus doesn't look up from the notes as he answers Venator's question. "A Pathfinder named Koriah gave this to me. Apparently, some of the prisoners I was with are associates of hers. Just to my luck, she was a half-elf."
Aerodus looks up at Lia. "Acted a tad like Lia, too. No offense to half-elves, of course."
Venator is still not happy. "And what exactly is that?"
Lia keeps fiddling with her scroll tube as she meets Aerodus' eyes. "What do you mean?"
Looking at Venator, Aerodus holds up the box. "It's a puzzle box. Koriah told me to open it. Said that the notes will help."
When Lia asks her question, Aerodus looks to her and says, "Even though the meeting was brief, she reminded me of you. Strong-willed, determined, seems like she doesn't take s**t from anyone."
"Everyone one is on edge it would seem." Andando exclaims. "We need drinks!" he decides.
Hopping from his chair he looks around for a moment and returns with a bottle of wine. Taking a healthy chug. He holds it out to his gathered teammates.
"Take an edge off." he says with a devilish grin.
Aerodus looks at Andando holding up the bottle of wine. "I'm a bit apprehensive about doing that. I've been to enough high society parties to know what happens when there's too much wine being consumed. However, I will take a sip. And only a sip." Aerodus takes the bottle, takes a swig, and pours back over the puzzle box and notes.
Having had a trying day, Lia isn't nearly as inclined to be as cautious as Aerodus is. She digs out a cup from her backpack's mess kit and pours herself some wine.
"Thanks." She chugs the wine down without giving it a chance to breathe.
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Aerodus
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Lia
"...that's it?" Lia stares at the scroll tube's contents in disbelief. "That's IT?" Her hands clench into fists.
"A flyer and some sort of impossible-to-read letter? Gods above, you'd have thought it was the key to stopping the apocalypse from the way that idiot was rambling on..." Lia groans in frustration.
Aerodus looks over the notes and the box intently, trying to open it. Seeing Lia being so calm with the wine, Aerodus growls and mutters, "Fine." He gets up, gets a cup from his mess kit, and pours himself some wine as well.
When Lia freaks out about the tube's contents, Aerodus looks up. He takes the contents and looks them over. "Well, think of it like this, Lia: you've learned not to take everything from random strangers. And we have a way to make some coin." Aerodus smirks and chuckles lightly, taking another drink from his cup.
Aerodus gives a shout as the two creatures pop out of the box. With a scowl, he draws his longsword and attacks the closest one. [bigger]"D****t, Koriah!"
Lia sighs in resignation and glances over at Venator. "And you thought MY tube was trapped?"
She draws her blade and advances on the nearest weirdo monster, She spins her hand around the hilt of her sword, channelling arcane power into it before attacking!
Venator is out of patience. "Actually I thought both were trapped. If you had listened instead of acting like a child, maybe Aerodus also would have. Both of you acted in the same way, but it's not his faults his was trapped and yours wasn't."
He takes some time analyzing what exactly are those, before engaging.
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Unfortunately for Lia and Aerodus you are going to have to roll again for initiative and attacks. Everyone else also roll initiative.
Venator
Venator grants Andando a Bit of Luck, so he could certainly hit one of the creatures.
Venator grants Andando a Bit of Luck, so he could certainly hit one of the creatures, which he believes cancels their bad luck aura.
Aerodus grins as the creature is bisected. He then lashes out at the other one with his longsword.
Venator is gonna approach one of the creatures, or both of them if he can, and unleash some Lightning Flash upon them!
Aerodus sighs as he sheathes his sword. He then grabs the notes and the box and makes for the door, a heavy scowl on his face.
"Now what? Where are you going?"
Lia sheathes her sword and scratches her head in confusion.
Aerodus turns to Venator. "To find Koriah! She has to answer for this! What's even in this box anyways?!" He looks to see what's inside the box.
"What, right now?" Lia walks up to Aerodus. "Aerodus, we've had a trying day, to say the least--we've ambushed a Hellknight prisoner caravan, rescued the one woman who has some idea what's going on in the city, learned she's been cursed with silence (so we have to find a way to break THAT), somehow managed to get back to the city without alerting the guards, and now one of our number is paralyzed and some of us need rest to be at our best."
She sighs and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Look, I'm not saying that finding her is a bad idea, but if you go looking for her now and get into trouble, some of us won't be able to help you. Can't finding her wait until tomorrow?" She asks, her fatigue finally catching up to her.
"Calm down and take a look inside. Is the box the only thing she left you?"
Aerodus stares intensely at Lia as her words settle in. With a sigh, he heads back to his chair.
Aerodus pulls out the locket. "It's a... locket. Very expensive looking. Solid gold. Large diamond and..." He flips it over. "...something written on the back. I can't read the language, though."