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After Malgorrak jams the lock on the pelican warehouse, Aurelia dismisses him back to his fiery prison around her neck (much to the fiend's displeasure). No use keeping him out while they walked around Absalom, unless she wanted to cause a real stir.
She's distracted by a rather attractive nobleman walking by and doesn't notice a thing...
The group finally arrives at the Wise Quarter, the site of their final task of the day. The home of scholars both arcane and mundane, the Wise Quarter houses many institutions of learning. On the way to their destination, the group passes by the famed Blackros Museum, which, by the lack of activity, is evidently closed today.
When you reach the tall, wrought-iron gate of the rich estate of Grand Councilmember Dremdhet Salhar, you are greeted by a guard who is expecting you and leads you inside. Another servant then guides you past well-decorated hallways and past expansive rooms, explaining that Salhar is not present, as he 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, the group arrives at a simple study near the end of a long hallway. Inside 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 man silently gestures you into the study with one thin hand, while closing the tome with the other after finishing what he was reading. He then looks up and, with a barely perceptible nod perhaps to Valik, he addresses the group.
“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.”
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.
The servant comes back into the room and leads the group back through the spacious estate, guiding you 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 all of you to enter.
The servant does not answer, he merely remains silent and stoic as he waits for you to enter the room.
The servant remains mute despite any questions or comments made about him. Once everyone enters the room, he shuts the door behind the group and locks it from the outside.
The 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. There are no other exits.
Written on the back of the door is the message: 'Within these cases lies your quest and your way out.'
Valik, enters despite the lack of instructions. When the door is locked behind him he spins around, if out if instinct and stares for a moment, well that was rude
The box Belroar examines is a steel cube that has only the faintest crack where its lid meets the base, and would be completely featureless save for its narrow keyhole.
Melufiuos discovers that the copper-banded chest and the steel cube both have magical auras.
The gallon-sized clear glass jar is about half full with clear liquid. At the bottom of the vessel sits a jeweled brass key. It doesn't have an odor, but it seems to have slightly different consistency than water as it is swirled around in the container.
The good news is Melufiuos successfully pulls out the jeweled brass key at the bottom of the glass jar. The bad news is he receives some acid burns from the liquid inside.
The contents, if any, of the 2-foot-round wicker basket are obscured by a lid that rests gently atop its wide rim. Valik hears some very light rustling inside the basket. It appears this may be a trap as well, perhaps there's an animal inside like a snake.
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Aurelia takes up a happy position leaning against the wall, doing very little (as is her preference). She fancies herself like the producer, watching over the play that is unfolding before her. She plans on staying quiet and out of notice until the others solve things for her... hey, it had worked so far today, why change strategy?
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"Owwwww! Son of a seedless tree! That hurt! Careful, that pasty sun-hater thinks he's slick. There's probably more traps. Owwwwww!" exclaims the now unhappy elf as he tries to wrap something around his hand. As an afterthought, "glad I didn't put those fingers in my mouth"
He brings the key over to his hulking (and clearly wiser) companion.
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Belroar clasps Melufiuos on the back softly, giving his shoulder a slight squeeze. "Ha, now you see the wisdom of Belroar, don't trust nobody. Painful as that may be, you don't look to be hurt too bad, once we test this out, we can get you some healing."
Taking the key from Melufiuos' uninjured hand, Belroar tries the lock.
As Belroar places the jeweled brass key into the steel cube's keyhold, the key breaks as he turns it in the lock and crumbles into dust!
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"Seriously?! This dude is just rude. I say we pour the jar of acid on the basket." says Mel with a frown at the locked door.
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Ophelia finds a keyhole in the front of the copper-banded chest of smooth dark wood. The cleric's examination discovers no traps.
Moadis hears some loose object rattling around the basket, but he also receives a distinct impression of something else animate writhing inside, perhaps annoyed by the shaking.
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Mel gets an evil grin on his face and then slowly pours the acid over the to of the basket, careful not to spill any on the table.
-Posted with Wayfinder
With Melufiuos' limited experience with the liquid, he's still quite sure it's not strong enough to burn all the way through the lid to hurt what's inside the basket. Also, there's a danger of it splashing on nearby objects and people even when poured carefully.
Moadis opens the lid just enough for Melufiuos to pour the corrosive liquid into the basket. Something inside the container squirms around a few times before becoming motionless again.
Moadis has to shake the basket a few times before the creature inside stops moving. When he eventually empties the contents out on the floor, you discover a dead green viper, some damaged linen cloth, and a rune-etched key. A cursory look at the red lacquered chest reveals it has the same runes around its keyhole as are etched into the key.
Aurelia helpfully inserts the key into the red lacquered chest. Not only does the chest open, but also Belroar, Moadis, Ophelia, and Valik hear a slight click and notice a small, golden key now hanging 6 inches above on the 15' foot ceiling.
Inside the chest, Aurelia finds a key forged into the end of a jeweled scepter. At first glance, the jewels look like they're worth quite a sum of gold.
On second glance, they're just costume gems.
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Aurelia takes the jewelled wand and scans it for magical energies. Alas, even if they are present, she has no idea what enchantment might be present.
When Valik points out the key, Aurelia muses for a moment, and then snaps her fingers, an idea coming to her. "Let me handle this," she says with a smirk, and begins to summon an ally from the nether planes. With a crackle of fire and smoky brimstone, the eagle from the caves a few weeks back appears on her arm.
The eagle seems to be having trouble understanding Aurelia's intentions, and disappears in a puff of smoke before she manages to get it to fetch the key for her. With a grunt of frustration, she recalls it back to her arm and tries again.
Just before the second spellcasting runs out, the eagle finally comprehends its task, swooping up to the roof to fetch the key for his mistress.
After two summonings and a lot of coaxing, the eagle finally drops the golden key into Aurelia's palm before popping back to its home plane.