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Ever since the ritual to close the tapestry Ruth has been walking in a fog. ... how can all this happen ... has the Society become complacent ... the Sky Tower Breached ... Aman dead ... her mind is going a mile a minute. She slowly follows the group to the Sky Key room but does not even blink when the ghostly figure speaks.
Only when the creatures attack does she snap out of it. ... stop trying to make sense of it .... that will come later ... you must survive it first ... She grits her teeth and grips here family sword with two hands bracing again the monsters charge.
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Ruth slides to the side of the creature attacking as she dodges is strike. "Did you say undead Goldar? I think you are right looks like ectoplasmic entities."
Sending a acrane charge up the blade of her sword Ruth thrust at the flank of the undead.
But she misjudges her distance to the ground while dodging and the blade skips on the ground short of the creature.
Goldur swings, but his axe can't seem to find purchase! Ruth stabs, but her lingering despair over the death of Zey leaves her slower than she'd like and she misses. Florin attacks as well as Jester, but neither can seem to get through!
Etune steps into flanking and slashes out, cutting through the thick gooey ectoplasm. The creature seems to fall apart, becoming so much slime in seconds!
The remaining three redouble their efforts, even as words can be discerned from the bubbling goo that make them up: "temporal displacement... suffering, so much suffering... pain...kill me..."
for plus Will Save DC 11 if hit, or be shaken for rounds!
for plus Will Save DC 11 if hit, or be shaken for rounds!
for plus Will Save DC 11 if hit, or be shaken for rounds!
Ruth chops into the ectoplasmic man with fury, while Jester slips in the goo!
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Goldur continues to swing at the one in front of him, blocking its blows with his shield.
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Goldur swings, but the goo causes his feet to slip. Florin, on the other hand, seeks to release the trapped soul within and does so with vigor! The creature collapses into goo and its soul is free!
Round 3!
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The halfling pants a bit as she lets her claws fade back out, and her features become a bit more 'normal' for a halfling.
A gathering point of searing positive energy glows on the ends of the fingers of her right hand and she lets it loose at the nearest ectoplasmic entity!
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A resounding crash can be heard as one of the invaders is thrown bodily into the room you just are clearing. Amiri, a well regarded pathfinder, walks in with her enormous blade slick with something best unmentioned.
"Doing well? Good. Keep up the good work. Here take this Token. It should help." With that she and her band of merry wreckers stomp off, no doubt looking for the next big fight.
Etune's bolt of positive energy hits the ectoplasm and seems to un-bind it, as it falls apart into goo! Nearby a fellow Pathfinder begins to sing, a high clear song of hope and inspiration.
The remaining ectoplasmic soul howls with pain and slams into Goldur, or tries! for and Will Save if hit or shaken for rounds!
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"Hah!" Goldur exclaims at the sudden music that seems to invigorate his whole body. "D'yeh hear the people sing?" He deflects the zombie's body with his shield and swings his axe.
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And with a single last swing, Goldur cuts the last trapped soul free with his axe, sending the Sky Key chamber silent!
The voice of the Master of Scrolls Kreighton Shaine travels down the halls, carried by a magical breeze.
“Pathfinders, we have determined that objectives in Skyreach are now secure and most Aspis Consortium forces within have been neutralized. There have been further developments of which you may or may not already be aware. Aspis agents have made off with the Sky Key and seem to be holding out in the tower floating above our lodge. Our early experiments with teleporting in or flying to it have met with no success, so I am gathering our forces to enter through Arliss Hall, which has a permanent gateway to one of the tower’s rooms. The gateway is finicky, though. Our Master of Spells Aram Zey would be better able to explain it than I, but he is currently—”
The elf trails off as though searching for the right word before continuing,
“—indisposed due to the Consortium’s attack. Finish your business and gather outside Arliss Hall for the final assault. I shall guide you from there.”
You hustle out of Skyreach and over to Arliss Hall. Kreighton Shaine finishes giving instructions to one team before sending them into Arliss Hall and turning to greet the new arrivals. “Ah, you received my message?” he asks eagerly while pulling out a small notepad and making a single tally mark.
“Excellent, I was uncertain whether recent events might block communication as well. We have a theory that the northwest tower’s new floating status may be the result of the Sky Key and Hao Jin Tapestry coming too close to one another, much like two extradimensional spaces placed inside one another. Thus far, all of our more conventional attempts to reach the tower have been repelled, and admittedly the whole thing could just rocket into the Irorium any minute.” He squints to the north before adding, “That would be unfortunate, as there’s a rather big match over there today. Best we take control of the tower before it misbehaves further.
“The good news is that we have a permanent portal to that section of the tower. Since the link is between two objects—a pair of full-length mirrors—it should be stable and safe to use. The only catch is that one of the mirrors is inside Arliss Hall. The hall has several extradimensional properties, and with so many visitors, it’s been changing its internal layout constantly. Rather than waste time sending you to figure out a puzzle, I’ll lead you to the portal myself. We venture-captains are fairly used to it.”
You gather yourselves and step inside. Kreighton Shane steps through the door afterward, but as he does, he disappears!
“Of all the luck,” the Master of Scrolls voice echoes from thin air. “We must have exceeded some capacity limit for this version of the hall and it moved me over to another… iteration of itself. I’ll try to find my way over to you, but look for the mirror! It is in a private room that is reserved. We call it the Lost Room. The chamber will be hidden in plain sight but there’s always some sort of trick to find it. Hurry and I’ll try to join you soon! One last thing—rarely can anyone find the Lost Room alone, so work together!”
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"'Detect Magic'? Can't be that simple, can it?" Jester shrugs.
"Not really my department, per se. Killing bandits? My department. Perhaps even opening locks and disabling traps? My department. This all?" he sweeps a hand around the large room and towards the halls upstairs. "Magically re-arranging rooms is beyond me."
There is a guest registry near the entrance, identifying which rooms are available. Currently the registry lists nine rooms, including both room 8 and “room 8A”, even though no such room appears to exist. Room 8 is currently registered to the Pathfinder agent Osprey, while Room 8A is marked “Reserved— do not use.” At the top of the page are words written in delicate penmanship and red ink. “Arliss Hall values your privacy. Simply lock your door and we will see to it that you are not disturbed.”
You head off and find rooms 1-8 without difficulty, but no room 8a. Ruth detects magic. All of Arliss Hall radiates moderate magic when studied with detect magic, but currently only the door to F8 radiates strong conjuration magic.
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"Hm. Never been in here meself, but it'd stand ta reason that 8A would be somewhere near 8, wouldn't yeh say? Maybe even inside it?"
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The door is closed, but unlocked. Looking inside you can see a bed, a small desk, a chest and a mirror. There seems to be a key in the lock inside.
The door locks. And nothing changes.
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Goldur furls his bushy brows in thought. "Hm... It says no one that doesn't wanna be disturbed'll be disturbed... Ain't nothin' fancy about the door, yeh said, jus' some kind a conjuration spell or some such. So what would it do if someone was inside an' yeh wanted ta disturb em?"
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... Damn I really thought I had it ... Shaking her head at Goldur's statement. "Ok, Ok. Let's try this. Everyone out!" as she grabs the key out of the lock steps into the hall and closes the door and locks it. "I would knock." Ruth says to herself as she knocks on the locked door of room F8. ... come on work please ...
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Goldur nods. "Yeah, an' if the door's locked from th' inside an' there's no answer, then yeh try ta open it..." He grabs the handle and tries to turn it.
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Locking the door from the outside just results in a locked door. But following Goldur's suggestion, the party sends him in, where he locks the door while they wait outside. They knock, and when they door, the door opens to a room just like the one they saw before, but with no Goldur in it. However, the mirror has assumed an almost watery sheen and touching its surface proves it yielding like water. A few moments pass while Goldur climbs out the window of Room 8 and into an adjacent room and rejoins you. Together once more, you step through the mirror...