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Etna would lean in closer to the strange plant creature before giving a shrug. "Well, I got plenty of it. Long as it doesn't try to eat the rest of my finger it can give me a prick. Long as it gets us closer to the red lion."
With that Etna would step forward and present her finger to the creature.
"Also, what's the beard made of? Looks great on you."
"Why thank you, ma'am. I have been cultivating this colony for some time, I am happy to hear it suits me." The mandragora shivers a little bit, either in pleasure from the compliment or the blood sample Etna allows him to take.
The mandragora takes samples from the remaining Pathfinders, and even Junia acquiesces afterwards. Grishan has disappeared, seeming to have melded into Junia when the majordomo announced himself. "Very good, paid in full, let us proceed." The upbeat words clash slightly with his calmer tone as he leads the way out of the chamber through the western door. The passage beyond is dark, the light spilling through the doorway revealing cracked and uneven floors under vine choked walls. "Watch your step, good folk." The majordomo admonishes you all, marching through the room to the far side, the room turning north. You see him open another door and march into the room beyond.
"Our gardeners have some magical talents in husbandry of plants, ma'am." Pip responds, pushing open the door to the room and leading the way inside. Dozens of healthy plants with vibrant and colorful leaves, fruit, and flowers emerge from the decay in this small greenhouse, spilling out of the pots and berths that once contained them. "In light of our reduced staff, I have done my best to maintain their upkeep. This walnut plant has gained an ability to grant luck for a short while to those who consume its seeds. Our ivy here has been observed to cause sticky fingers when chewed. The cherry plant and watermelons have developed size altering properties as well." The mandragora puffs out his chest a little as he speaks.
"Unfortunately, I am not able to explain the methods involved, sir. I am a caretaker, not an arcanist. The Master Gardener may be able to offer you that information." The plant man bowed to Hennet in supplication. "As for samples. This is an unusual request.' One stumpy limp pawed at its mossy beard in a semblance of contemplation. "So long as the plants are not damaged, there should be no issues. Please be careful in your harvesting."
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"Let me do the job, Pip. I will take care of these plants.
Baphos takes it's time to get everything useful with no harm.
I just will take these two walnuts, this Ivy, these two cherries and finally these two watermelons. Thanks, Pip!"
Baphos puts everything in his backpack, waiting to give them to his fellows for a better use.
"Very well, ladies and gentlemen. Let us proceed onward, if you are ready." Exiting the magical greenhouse, Majordomo Pip leads onward through the branch-wrapped door to the north. The party is led through a number of corridors and galleries mostly devoid of life, up to the entrance of another fairly intact greenhouse. A wooden plaque outside reads “Plants of Eastern Garund: Please proceed with caution, as some are poisonous”.
Unlike the dead and warped growth in most of the Arboretum, the plants growing in this greenhouse seem to be relatively young and healthy. Several raised beds of earth host strange- looking plants with long, sinuous vines, and a small, gently flowing fountain with a red lion statue at its center sits near the middle of the chamber. Against the wall stands a worktable and chair covered in gardening tools.
A humanoid figure stands before the beds, a green shell wreathing a face made of flower petals. As she sees the party, the expression darkens. "Stand back, all of you! Gardeners, from Quantium, come to harvest us? You'll not have an easy time of it!"
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"Oh wow, this is all amazing! It sounds like you really do have a amazing gardener here. It sounds like you do a lot to help as well. A drop of blood was a small price to pay for something this neat!"
She will look at the food a bit hungrily as Baphos slips them into his bag. She was curious to see what enlarging watermelon tasted like...
Once inside the new area though Etna will immediately raise her hands up, still keeping herself between the man and Junia.
"No no no friend, were not anything like that. Were just friendly tour guides who decided to take one of our own. Your garden is amazing! Why would we ever want to do anything to harm it?"
"Heard of me? From who? Who sent you?" The questions come rapidly, falling over each query. The petals of her face rustle with each word.
The mandragora was no longer leading the party into the room. Looking back, you can see the short creature trundling back towards the entrance to the Arboretum, disappearing around the corner.
Retrieve?! Retrieve WHAT?!" The plant woman's voice rose in shrillness. "I will not be tricked! I WILL protect my family!" The dark spaces that seemed to be her eyes were fixed on Draklor now.
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Hennet sighs, and let's a little bit of purple energy coalesce around the purple gem on his rapier, before absorbing the energy with his hand. His eyes glow purple for just the briefest of seconds before he speaks in a kind tone.
We aren't here to harm your family. Quite the opposite, actually. We're here because something bad has been happening, and we're to stop it.
He motions for the plant woman to look at him before continuing.
We're here to help anyone and anything we possibly can. Tell me, do your or your family need assistance?
The ghoran shivers, the leaves of her face settling into a calmer expression. "You're really here to help? Not to harvest?" Her hands smooth the wrinkles of her dress as she stares at Hennet. "My family is growing here." She waves her hand towards the planters. "Do not disturb them, and you can look for...whatever you are seeking..." Her demeanor is far more relaxed, but she still watches the party carefully.
Looking to the statue, her face is that one someone seeing something for the first time. "I...cannot. It has been there for as long as we have. You may look at it, if you desire." She tilts her head to one side, then the other, turning back to Hennet. "I am Khaya."
Case M7 In progress, expect updates after Stilonius’s birthday party.
Case D4 Lady Miranda Dacilane is rumored to have committed numerous amorous indiscretions during her youth. The most outrageous was that she was the mistress of Orias Deckland, a scandalous member of Absalom’s upper classes, and bore him a child. She is also rumored to have belonged to a secret society known as the Harbingers of Fate. Rumors come from a drunken but reliable source.
Case A1 Badru let slip that his sister is heading to Osirion to participate in a secretive excavation of a tomb from the time of the Pharaoh of Forgotten Plagues.
Case M12 It is well known that the Morilla family runs the Guild of Wonders, Absalom’s most prestigious espionage and assassination organization. What is less well known is that the Aspis Consortium, a Chelish band of fortune-hunters, hired the Guild of Wonders many times to spy on the Pathfinder Society and the Blakros family. I successfully created a diversion for the servant’s attention, and was able make copies of several documents that prove that Lady Annasendra personally oversaw contracts to assassinate members of the Pathfinder Society. If the number of events I am invited to is any indication, they haven’t caught on yet, but I ’m afraid to dig deeper in to this situation.
Case N4 After hours of searching and days of asking subtle questions, I ’ve turned up absolutely nothing of interest. Surely people this boring must be hiding something.
Case L3 The servant in charge of the kitchens has a penchant for gossip.
Information Broker I read in a diary that that an information broker lives in Absalom named Torch. I hear he’s well worth his coin, but is not to be trusted, because he’ll sell information to anyone.
Case Maldris 8 To my shame I have learned that my own father, Merrin, is a charlatan who used the chaos of the Andoran’s People’s Revolt to change his name from Vanoecker. I later learned that the Vanoeckers were an Andoren noble family with a tyrannical reputation. The worst part was that I discovered that my brother knew about this all along. So much for his glorious, egalitarian ideals and Andoren purity. We’re just as guilty as the rest of them!
Case T3: There’s some big ceremony coming up at the temple of Asmodeus in a few months. People were muttering about a great fire to honor him, but I couldn’t hear many details. I can’t shake the though that those devil boot- lickers are planning to burn slaves in that pyre. I must investigate further.
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"Calm down, fellow Draklor. We don't know whether this information is true or false. We should give this papers to the Society. They will know what to do with this. I think we should leave now and continue with our mission." Baphos seems to be surprised with this information and winks to his fellows.
"Thank you, Khaya. By the way, my name is Baphos. Sorry, if we caused any trouble to you and your family... I think we should keep going, now."
Junia looks over Draklor's shoulder as he addresses Grishan. After a few moments, she turns away. "I think Mister Baphos is right. There's still other work to be done."
Grishan himself manifests, staring at the pages before the party. "I don't..." He stops, looking at Junia with worry. "I know I wrote that, but I don't remember it. I wouldn't write down untruths, absolutely not."
The ghoran nods. "You are...welcome." Baphos gets the feeling she isn't used to peaceful contact.
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Etna would begin jumping up trying to get a look at the writing on the notes. "Well looks like some people have been acting rather naughty. Looks like we stumbled onto some secrets. You don't think were going to end up in black bags with stone shoes at the bottom of the ocean do you?" She would laugh at her joke, a little nervous as she turns back to Khaya.
"Sorry for the scare again. Once your family blooms you should consider getting out of this place and coming to the society. I'm sure they would be interested in meeting you, and you could earn some money to help fix up your garden. I'm sure your family would appreciate fixing this place up a little."
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"Nice meeting you Khaya and goodbye" Ashara bows then turns on her heels and moves out of the building.
Once ouside she adresses her companions:"We did well but the contents of those notes worry me. More than a few of the people involved play an important role in the Society of today"
Then she adds:"We'll consider our options later. There's still a mission to complete. Where next, young Junia?"
"...yes. Yes, I do!" Junia answers slowly, then with more firm conviction. "Something is waiting for me in the necropolis. We need to go there." The young noblewoman leads the way out of the Arboretum. (Majordomo Pip appears to have made himself scarce in the meantime.)
The return to the Drownyard is quick and uneventful as well. The entrance to the buried necropolis yawns open, dark tunnels beneath the earth. As the party descends, the reek of death chokes the narrow stone corridor, where a trio of corpses slowly rots into the stone.
The unfortunate thieves wear leather armor and have short swords close at hands. Checking over their equipment turns up a number of potions and scrolls, as well as wands and excavation gear. The magical items are marked with the Glyph of the Open Road.
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When we all leave the Arboretum. "Wait a minute, fellows. I have some things useful for some of you. I got two walnuts that each provide shield of faith, an ivy that provides spider climb, two cherries that provide reduce person and two watermelons that provide enlarge person. I want to give these comestibles to those that think will use them."
Baphos can't determine the magical properties of this equipment, so he casts Read Magic and determine the properties of the scroll. "Fellows, this will be useful to remove disease. It seems we will face a fight or some fights soon, very soon. It is better to be ready." Baphos is not surprised for the bodies.
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"These gents had some nice toys, not that it did them much good. Hopefully it works out better for us!" He goes through each of the items and explains what they are.
"I can't make use of most of this, but wouldn't mind making use of this one" he says, holding up the wand of protection from evil, "if nobody else wants it. Could come in very handy here, I think!"
"Who are they?" Junia seems fairly undisturbed by the grisly remains. "Another Pathfinder team?" Grishan looks on silently.
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"Well I doubt they taste good together but I could do for one of those walnuts and a cherry. Anything that will make the bad guys struggle to get a hit on me is good in my book. Hopefully I won't get to small after I eat it though"
Etna would pocket the food before looking over the bodies. She would offer them a prayer before making a mental note of where they were. "Well lets make sure to try and get these bodies brought back for a proper burial once the mission is complete. I don't know who they are but the least we can do is to them being put to rest."