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Before Robbyn uses Sangkip's wand on him Oloch uses his own wand of healing on the downed Vanara bringing the rogue back from the brink of death.
"You fought well today my good friend but it seems that His Lord in Iron did not deem out battle worthy today." Oloch pulls himself from the ground and makes his way back to Heidmarch Manor.
Casting one of his own spells he heals himself.
What adventure now?
1. The curse: frighten off a competetor
2. Glow of the Rushlights: investigation
3. Dead woman's debts: visit the home of a dead woman who owed a debt to the Society to see if you can find what she owed
We have time for one or two more, so please tell me which to do now, and which to do if we have time so that we don't have to stop again. I looked at the input last time, and it wasn't quite clear what next mission you wanted.
I'll wait a little longer so we have at least 3 voices.
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"Hmm, rushlights," Gbagbe says, stroking his chin with his long, flexible fingers. He pauses for a very long time, licks his lips once or twice, scratches his hip and then down the length of his leg as if chasing a particularly elusive itch, then goes still and silent for a while longer. Then, continuing as if he hasn't paused at all, he says, "are a poor man's candle, made from the rush plant and some fat. Used to collect rushes as a boy in the Mwangi for my...um, what's she called...mother, yes, my mother to dip in fat and use for a little light."
You return to Shiela, who is clearly disappointed in you, but still sends you off with another mission.
"There were two women at the pre-auction who paid their deposit in Minkaian coins which, according to our sources, may have been stolen during a recent caravan raid. If such is the case, the duo no doubt have dubious intentions. The women call themselves the Duchesses and they likely have ties to one of Magnimar’s criminal organizations; I suspect the Rushlight Society. Still, it is their finances and not their intentions that most concern us. Some of our more reliable street contacts informed me that the two women were last seen entering the home of a local merchant named Windun Landers. Perhaps not so coincidentally, Landers has a wrought iron rushlight mounted on his door casing. Head to the man’s residence, and see if you can’t figure out how much money these “Duchesses” have. If all is as I suspect, they don’t have enough to bid competitively. I’m also near certain they’re using stolen funds, so leave whatever gold you find. I don’t want us bidding with illegally gotten coin—that’ll create more problems for us than it will solve. Lastly, whatever you happen to find, do not involve the authorities. I cannot risk the courts subpoenaing your testimony during the auction.”
Sheila then gives you the address of Windun Landers’s
residence. You find yourself standing outside the residence.
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Hamith looks down to the Vanaran. "Sangkip, perhaps you would be able to scout for us? I will knock on the door and draw their attention. You could use your skills to find any evidence lying about the place. If these women are indeed wicked I will know it, and then we can prove it."
If there are no objections or further discussion, he marches up to the front door and knocks.
Sangkip, please place yourself on the map in front of whatever window you are working on. Note that the weird little black rectangles on the sides are fireplaces, not windows.
Sangkip climbs into the room.
A man answers the door. He is dressed rather expensively, but his clothes look rather worn out, and a few years out of fashion. He looks around furtively as he opens the door. "Yes, what is is?" he demands of you as he opens the door.
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Hamith says, ”Good day, Windun Landers I presume? We wanted to talk with you about your interest in the local auction being held here. I believe your associates, The Duchesses, were at the opening ceremony. Perhaps we could speak with them as well?”
While talking, Hamith squints his eyes at the man, the old refrain from his childhood days at temple running through his mind. ”The light is there. Reveal the Dark.”
ping, ping, ping
"I don't know who you are talking about!"
"Ok, I do have two female guests."
Sangkip looks around the first room, finds nothing, and quietly slips into the hallway.
"They are called the Duchesses. I do not know their real names."
He then firmly shuts his mouth and glares at you.
Sangkip carefully opens the door and searches the next room, again finding nothing.
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Robyyn's works a little magic from behind the two warriors, before his head emerges from between the towering figures of Hamich and Oloch.
"Now, now. If you don't know their real names, why don't you ask them? They are here now, aren't they?"
This charm makes a humanoid creature regard you as its trusted friend and ally (treat the target's attitude as friendly). If the creature is currently being threatened or attacked by you or your allies, however, it receives a +5 bonus on its saving throw.
The spell does not enable you to control the charmed person as if it were an automaton, but it perceives your words and actions in the most favorable way. You can try to give the subject orders, but you must win an opposed Charisma check to convince it to do anything it wouldn't ordinarily do. (Retries are not allowed.) An affected creature never obeys suicidal or obviously harmful orders, but it might be convinced that something very dangerous is worth doing. Any act by you or your apparent allies that threatens the charmed person breaks the spell. You must speak the person's language to communicate your commands, or else be good at pantomiming.
"They are not here now, and I'd rather not know."
Sangkip moves on to the next room, where he finds something stashed under the bed. The room shows signs of being occupied by women.
Sangkip finds that the box under the bed is locked, but not trapped. The lock yields easily to his dexterous fingers. He finds 5000 Minkain coins in the box.
Sangkip creeps out the window, no one the wiser as to his presence. He creeps around the house, joining the others, who quickly extricate themselves from their conversation. You return to the Lodge, where Sheila congratulates you for a job well done.
"Prior to the founding of our lodge, the Pathfinder Society had few contacts and fewer resources here in Magnimar. One of our best was an alchemist and a sage name Darga Cranstone. Cranstone kept a small lab in Ordellia, performing specialized research using rare herbs that grow wild in the Mushfens. Yesterday, word from Absalom arrived that several years ago, our organization paid the alchemist an advance of over a three thousand crowns for some research. Several months later, Cranstone had only turned over half her findings, and eventually failed to complete the commission. Then for a short while, the Society lost all contact with her. Just days before the Decemvirate sent a debt collector to hunt down Darga, her apprentice suddenly sent word that his mistress was still working on the project. This kept on for several seasons, with the apprentice’s notes becoming more infrequent, until they simply petered off. While the sum was fairly significant, other matters put recouping the lost sum on hold, and after a few years, it was eventually forgotten. Now that we have again been reminded of this debt, I need you to go to Cranstone’s tower and collect the fee she owes us, with interest."
You travel to the tower, and see a rundown tower, clearly long abandoned. The doors and windows have been boarded up and dozens of old, faded notices plastered on the door warn trespassers to keep out and that the property has been seized by the lord mayor’s office. Still, it appears like a long time has passed since anyone from the government has paid the premises a visit. The boards pry off easily, allowing access to the ground floor. Long looted of all valuables, it contains nothing but rubbish and rats. A rickety wooden staircase curls about the exterior wall leading a good 60 feet upward to a second floor.
Sangkip does not find any traps in the current room. He does hear a faint babbling sound from the next room over, thoughh (to the right)
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Gbagbe chuckles at Sangkip's play on words, saying quietly to himself, "That was clever, what he said. Deadbeat or just beaten? No, that wasn't it. What was it he said? Dead on your feet or just dead? No, that's not right either...anyway, he's a funny monkey."
Once Sangkip points out the babbling sound, Gbagbe says, "Oh, interesting! I wonder who has been babbling away in this worn-out tower all these years? Probably not someone who is about to pay the debt owed to the Society, but we should find out for sure."
Robbyn, the babbling somehow makes you think of madness.
There is no answer to Hamith's call.
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"Well, it seems like they don't want visitors," Gbagbe suggests, interpreting the evidence at hand. "And this, um, person who mixes stuff that goes boom...um, alchemist, she wasn't answering the Society when they asked for money. So maybe it's her!" He's got a slightly skeptical look on his face, as if he's spotting the flaws in his fairly feeble logic - but it's clear he thinks the door should be opened.
Hamith finds himself looking around an empty bedroom/living area. You all carefully search the room, but find nothing. The eerie babbling continues to be faintly heard, coming from the room you have not yet investigate. You also find a small closet with nothing of interest.
The babbling becomes much louder.
Sangkip, Gbagbe, and Hamith all have made the save. They feel madness nibble at the corner of their mind, but throw it off by an effort of willpower.