"I..." the woman takes a step back as the halfling approaches. "I am Alrule. What are you speaking? I can understand you Why Can I Understand You!" she shakes nervously as Odo and Wadi continue.
"This thing around me is the same as the wall in the sky? Is that why the monsters are coming and that star is racing towards us? But what do you care about it? And how do I know you aren't after this for some strange scheme against the town?"
Alrune appears to have calmed somewhat, but still looks at you nervously, and somewhat defiant.
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"Look I know this sounds incredible to you. Believe me, if I was in your position I would be even MORE skeptical. All I can ask you to do is take a leap of faith here and just hear what I have to say. I wish I had more time to explain further but we are running out of time now. Do you trust me Alrune?" Wadi continues trying to persuade her to listen further.
"I...no, no! You say a leap of faith, but you come here to our village, with a talking fire cat, speaking a strange tongue and you expect me to just let down my guard, let you do what you want? I...I don't think so. Stay there!"
Alrune shakes her head, agitated and upset. As she yells at you, several nearby Azlanti cautiously pour out from where they have been hiding to stand near hear. Forming a crowd, they shout back at you Go away! Bother someone else! Run back and leave us alone, before we get the guards! Each of the citizens seem as scared as the harbinger, but they seem rallied to support her.
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Odo pulls Midri and Jane aside as Wadi continues to try to make his case. He quietly says to them, "She's thoroughly frightened, but maybe not enough. Stoking her fear of the falling rock may push her enough to let go of the green nimbus. I tend to have a bolstering effect on people near me when others try to make them afraid, so I'll back off a bit." He shakes his head, "It saddens me to recommend playing on someone's fears, but it may help in this situation."
Odo then takes a few paces back to ensure that Alrune is well out of his courage aura.
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Jane steps forward and calls out
"Please, save yourself! I tried to hold the power in and look what it did to me!"
She gestures at her unusual head before adding,
"Oh gods! Here it goes again!"
As her body twists and mutates.
-posting from phone so sorry about lack of formatting. Ideally an intimidate but if you want to call it a bluff it's the same bonus. Activating physical mutation for dramatic effect.
Spending reroll.
Alrune's eyes widen in terror as Jane transfigured before her eyes. The Azlanti scatter again, and the Taldan woman cowers. "Oh Aroden, no. This energy, it does that? Get it out of me! Getitoutgetitoutgetitout!"
Her eyes shut tight as she shakes. You see the glow around her flicker, then flare one last time before vanishing entirely. Alrune opens her eyes and asks faintly Did...did it work..." before collapsing, drained.
The harbinger you approach seems to barely notice you as you walk towards him, his attention fixed on the series of cards he lays out before him. Form their glossy pictures, you recognize them as coming from a Harrow deck, a series of cards common throughout Varisian culture as an implement of fortune-telling and prediction.
He fiddles with his scarf while you creep nearer, muttering to himself. "Cylcone at the bridge's start: ominous, ominous beginning. Then - ah, Avalanche misalinged. Death is coming, great momentous calamity. But, hold on. The Lost shouldn't be here. That mean...guests!"
With a whirl he turns just as you get within five feet of him. A wild smile plays across his face.
"Ah, you came! Just as they said you would! They're working again, the cards are working again. Means Prophecy has returned. Which means we've worked it right! Future's clear as day!" He taps his forehead with a finger. "It's all coming out smooth as a fountain. It was clogged see, muddled by the Dead's death. That's what was blocking me, styming me. But now ol' Binui's ready and reading. You see!" he gestures emphatically towards a spread of five cards laid out an the ground. "The cards are the Truth again!"
He stands smiling at you for another moment. Then his face grows slack and disinterested. Binui crouches back down to his harrow deck and shuffles the spread cards back in before dealing out a new series in a cross formation. After a minute of this, he seems to notice you again and looks back from his crouch.
"Oh, are you still here?" he says his tone perplexed. "Do you feel the deck's stregnth return too?"
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Jane strides forward confidently.
Indeed, I have been touched by its power. But your reading is not complete.
With that, she lays the Harrow card she found earlier today amidst the others.
The Carnival. Consider how it interacts with...
Jane tries to interpret his draw with the added context of her own card, with the intention of producing a prediction that encourages him to let go of the power.
Let me know if a different skill is more appropriate.
"The Carnival?" Binui saws as he scrambles forward to see the lain card. "Yes, it's a true match in here. Carnival: signifying false dreams. Great power that risks unrealistic ambitions and schemes." He gazes straight up at Jane with a frown. "Sobering"
Scooting back, Binui scoops up the rest of his Harrow cards while nudging the Carnival back towards the elf. "So, you understand. The deck has power again then. But with that strength comes warnings. Your involvement, very troubling. Muddles the water. Of course you're outsiders; learning to read the cards has been my life! But still, to reject the chance and the lay: that would be tempting fate itself. Risk the Yellow Prophet coming up." The man fidgets as he taps his deck again and again. Suddenly he snaps forward, shuffling the cards and dealing several to you.
"So, Harrow calls to you too. But you would have me blunt it? Let's leave it to the deck to decide: a game of Towers. See who It sides with."
He lays out six cards in front of him: the Teamster, the Peacock, the Bear, the Foreign Trader, the Owl, and the Twin in front of you, then gazes at your group expectantly.
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Odo watches the game being played with the Harrow deck with some bemusement. He never quite understood the connection between Varisians and their Harrow. And it seemed this particular fellow deluded.
The halfling looks up at the sky and the encroaching doom. "Death is coming? Great momentous calamity? I can read that without needing the cards," he mutters to himself with a roll of the eyes.
Wadi takes up the harbinger's challenge and lays down a card, followed by Binui's response. "Cynic's missing the point." Binui says glancing at Odo as he and Wadi continue to place cards back and forth. "The cards tell the future. Future means Prophecy. Prophecy means Aroden has returned. We've succeeded. And...hmm, perhaps here? No. Maybe, no. No!".
The Varisian looks down at the lined-up cards in front of him. He turns his head back and forth, trying to scan for a possible play, but Wadi's efforts seem to have left his options entirely blocked. He slumps back in disbelief.
"Huh, I don't believe it. Even now, the Cards still favor others. I can't win, can I?" He sighs sadly, then looks up at you lot. "Power's not with me, it's with you then. Fine, take it. Go back to your broken world." The glow around Binui fades slowly downwards before vanishing entirely. The Varisian man sits morosely and stares at the harrow cards before him.
You walk towards the commotion just as the glowing harbinger rushes out from a nearby building with a pile of fabric and art held tight in his arms. Following him as he races around a corner, you see the figure deposit the loot on top of an already sizeable pile of goods, gems, and art. Two vaguely humanoid forms made out of crackling blue lightning hover nearby, silently observing the anchor.
As you approach, Xander’s paw steps on a torn-off plank from a merchant’s stall, causing the man to whirl at the noise. ”You? Who are you? Are you here for my hoard? Of course you are: I can see it in your eyes. Well too bad! Go, get back! These treasures, precious pieces of history. They must be protected – I must protect them!” He lifts a spear and takes up a defensive stance between you and the pile of valuables.
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Given the fellow's obvious greed, Odo tries to take the role of the salesman...
"You know what? You are right. From our perspective, these are truly ancient artifacts. They may be very valuable to examine and catalog, particularly since they're in such good condition. We even have some gems we may be able contribute to your trove of ancient treasure, dating back to the time of the serpent men's dominion. It's too bad they will soon be destroyed if nobody is able to leave this time and place."
"You have the power to enable us and yourself to leave, you know that? All you need to do is release that green glow and you may be able to save these examples of antiquity."
"You know what? You are right. From our perspective, these are truly ancient artifacts. They may be very valuable to examine and catalog, particularly since they're in such good condition. We even have some gems we may be able contribute to your trove of ancient treasure, dating back to the time of the serpent men's dominion. It's too bad they will soon be destroyed if nobody is able to leave this time and place."
"You have the power to enable us and yourself to leave, you know that? All you need to do is release that green glow and you may be able to save these examples of antiquity."
"Yes, of course I'm right! They all have to be brought here, every one in its place. It's a duty you know: wealth takes hard work to get. Goods take effort and time. If all of them get lost, all that went into them is gone forever. So it makes sense to hoard it! I must! Not for me, no, for everyone else!"
He nods insistently and takes a step towards the halfling. Then just as abruptly he braces himself back, arm slightly outstretched as if to cover his hoard. "But wait? You want to catalog them? Cataloguing, just a fancy word for taking them and putting them on a shelf or in a vault. Which would strip them from me! They're fine right here, with me, safe. Aren't they?!? With a collection such as this, curated this finely, most museums would charge a fortune of those nice gems and coins to hold them and even let others gaze upon them in awe, but here I am doing it because it's for the best."
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"Yes! Open your own museum! Let people pay you just to see your collection! I'm sure the citizens of Absalom would be thrilled to patronize a museum that doesn't get overrun by demonic apes, or extraplanar slavers, or robotic aliens or..." Jane trails off, momentarily overwhelmed by Nigel Aldain's incompetence.
"But the longer you you wait, the more competition you have. There are so many Pathfinders here. The more they recover, the less special your items will be."
Wadi's interjection seems less smooth than intended, as the harbinger shakes his head and frowns at the sorcerer. "No, no. Museums cost money! Which would mean that some of my collection would have to be gone. Used! Given away! You'd like that, wouldn't you?" His hand begins to drift towards his spear and his pocket. As if sensing his agitation, the two lightning elementals above give off a burst of static as they begin to vibrate.
"And museums with their payments: payments imply something owed in return: an implied obligation. I am the best protector of these goods so I should have them to preserve them. That is simple enough, yes? And no lord or champion should not have the wheedle and deal, but expect tribute purely out of honor for their achievements. You're trying to confuse me with your words aren't you?" he lets out in a deep snarls, as his eyes dart between you and the glistening weapons and gear you wear. "Have me give up the power just so you can swoop in and take what I've gathered?"
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Odo sighs, "Calm down, good fellow. We have no desire to take your things. It is clear, however, that you desire some of the valuables we have. To that end, I will offer up this silver scimitar," he says as he draws forth the silvery blade. "But you must agree to relinquish that green glow. It does nothing to aid to the value of any of your artifacts nor our goods and will only trap you and us here where all of these valuables will be destroyed."
The harbinger seems to turn Odo's words over in his mind as the halfling offers out a finely wrought sword to sweeten the pot. "Ah, a tribute then? Yes, yes, that would be fitting. But That sword is a start, what about any gems? Or a spear, a shield? If you expect something of me, that would be only fair, yes?"
The Harbinger snatches Wadi’s accessories and Midri's compass greedily, holding them up to his eyes as he examines them. ”Hmm, yes. Fine construction, craftsman etching. And put here now, the value will only appreciate. In time these will be an antiquity, a unique and priceless piece!” He smiles to himself, gazing rapt at the jewelry even as his muddled mind muddles some basic economic/timeline concepts.
”So, you want the glow gone then. You think it is the only thing stopping you. You’re wrong: I don’t need an aura to do my duty. Here,” the man mutters a quick series of words, too low to make out clearly. The chronal energy surrounding him flares before shooting away from him, launching upwards before it slams into the green dome enclosing the lot of you. The harbinger blinks for a moment, but continues. ”See, the light’s gone. But the job still needs to be done and I will do it.” He turns away from back towards the hoarded pile as he places Odo’s scimitar and Wadi’s jewels within the trove. You notice him wince occasionally as he does so.
You walk from the Harbinger's hoard towards the woman standing near a fountain. She scans the village triumphantly, calling out to you as you approach:
"Look at it Pathfinders, look around! Fate's course has been restored: Absalom is as it always was meant to be!" She sweeps her arms inviting you to take in the rustic buildings and streets increasingly marred by bolts of green lightning and time displaced creatures. The Harbinger however, seems serenely oblivious to the growing chaos.
"We figured out how to fix everything. Our rituals and mighty magic have restored the timeline to grant all what they were meant to be. You may thank me if you wish, but there is no need to grovel: my own prodigious power was but a small part in the salvation we have brought to the world."
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Odo takes in what the woman says, looks about the village and all the carnage, and responds with an appeal to reason, "I see. Well, if the timeline is restored and all is as it should be, then it would seem your work is done here. I wonder if I could ask a small favor of your 'prodigious power'. That green glow about you is causing me and my companions no end of trouble. It would give us some relief if you were to let it go. Since your work is done, it should have little further bearing on your own accomplishments."
He also tries to size her and her reactions up, all the better to figure out what might appeal to her.
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Wadi chimes in. "Like my companion says here this green glow you see is causing some problems for the townsfolk. If you could help us take care of it I am sure they will sing of your great accomplishment in all the great songs sung by the bards of yore! Please help us and we shall also make sure your name is inscribed in our Library for all time!"
"A favor?" she says to Odo, with a hint of disdain in her voice. "We have just saved the continuity and destiny of the world and that is not enough for you?" An annoyed expression flits across her face just before Wadi jumps in with some more soothing words to aid the situation.
"Ah, I see. You're words do have merit. After all, why shouldn't Omandi Mil be taught to children ages hence. Perhaps that is how it should be too."
She strokes her chin and seems about to speak with a thin smile on her face when another green rent in reality occurs. Space shifts for a moment and you all feel dizzy as the ripple in time quickly coaslesces into a yellow-orange amoeboid bit of protoplasm. It slithers across the ground towards you, pseudopods grasping ahead of its slow approach.
Behind it, Omandi appears surprised, "I didn't mean to do that. Not now. But if I summoned these defenders, then it must be because they are needed. Becuase there is something wrong about you."
Initiative
Midri
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Midri lowers her hand that was mid drawing motion for her two handed Nodachi at Janes words.
Midri then mutters a few words under her breathe and after stretching out her hand sends it downward and a pit forms directly underneath the slimes
"I have alchemist fire and alkali flasks here on my bandolier. IF you dont have something to hit it with at range then take one of these and use it on the slime."
The ozze plummets downwards as the ground beneath it suddenly gives way. You hear a *splat* sound from below.
From near the fountain, Omandi mutters something and suddenly more of her appear. The of them them move towards you.
Initiative
Kuwabara
Wadi
Odo
Jane
Xander
Jane’s missiles slam into the protoplasm, splattering the extradimensional hole with yellowish goo.
The mass at the pit’s bottom roils as Wadi’s spell hits it. The flames seem to be internalized in its oozing folds however, and it fails to catch on fire. Meanwhile, Wadi’s movements has brought him close to the slope’s edge…