Junia nods, stepping past the bodies towards the dark opening that awaits before. "Oh, wait, you should go ahead. Like we talked about before?" She waits for the party to lead the way into the unknown.
Seated in the center of the room beyond the archway is a young blonde girl. Or so it seems at first, until the party notices the translucence of her form. She rises and turns to look directly at Junia.
“I’ve been waiting for you a long time, Junia. Waiting for you to come back. Why did you leave me? Won’t you come back to me? Then we can all be friends again.”
The young woman stares, shivering slightly. “Cassiel...Cassiel, I’m so sorry...please forgive me...” Her voice is soft and anguished, as she stands rooted in the doorway.
Grishan stands beside her, looking at the other spirit with a sad expression. "We died together, here in the necropolis. We were trapped all by ourselves..."
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"Aww jezz why are ghost kids always the creepiest? This would be so much easier if it was just a giant skeleton monster thing." She would think to herself before speaking up.
"That is sad, and you know we should try and get a few clerics to bring these spirits some rest. I'm positive Pharasma has people trained to help brings rest to spirits. Now your name is Cassiel? I'm sure that you got lonely here but you got to realize that Junia had to leave. No one did anything wrong. Were here to help everyone now. So can you please do me a favor and not do anything spooky. I don't know if my heart can take another fright."
"You don't trust me?" The girls face darkens, her eyes seeming to sink slightly, shadows obscuring the bright irises. "Why do you trust HER then, to not leave you alone?" The haunting tones of her words rise in octave as she speaks.
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Everyone relax! I've met her before, and she never once tried to harm anyone! She's probably in just as much of a pickle as the plants in the other place!
Hennet admonishes the other pathfinders and then turns to Cassiel.
What happened since the last time we met? It seems this place is a lot less restful and everyone has some sort of problem. We're here to help, though. And please, excuse my companions. They aren't used to this place and are a bit on edge. They didn't mean to say that you were untrustworthy.
He beams his halfling smile at her and stands non-threateningly.
The softer eyes returned, staring at Hennet intently. "They went away. Junia left us. Father left us. Is she going to leave us again?"
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"I should hope not, if she left you before, it must have been out of the purest necessity." Draklor says soothingly, stepping forward and spreading his hands in a placating manner. "Besides, you don't seem like a bad sort. I've been learning all day about not judging others on their appearance. J, how do you know her?"
Junia seems transfixed, unable to voice her thoughts beyond repeated apologies. Grishan, on the other hand, looks to Draklor. "We were all playing down here. When the earth shook. Junia, me, and Cassiel, trapped. But Cassiel and me, we couldn't survive that long..."
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Baphos appears his head from behind of Junia and smiling says:"Hello, Cassiel. My name is Baphos. As my fellows said, we are here to help. Few minutes ago, we helped to our new fellow, Grishan. If you let us know how we can help you, we will do our best. It is so sad what happened to you. We can't change it, but we can help you."
"Help me?" The voice is small, an echo of a little girl lost and afraid. "Will you stay with me? Will Junia? Will we be together again?"
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"Sorry, little fellow. I am afraid we can´t do that nor Junia can. But, we can look for an alternative to send you to a better place where you can be accompanied. You must accept the reality. Junia is still alive and, unfortunately, you are not. But, you deserve to go to a better place and have peace."
"Where do we go?" From the floor, pale spirits rise, other child-sized forms, more indistinct than Cassiel. "I don't want to be alone anymore." The complaint is so human, almost impossible to tell it doesn't come from a living form.
Cassiel's form begins to shimmer, the edges fraying slowly. "Thank you. All of you. For showing me the way." She looks to Junia and smiles as she and the other apparitions fade from view. The young noblewoman blinks, looking around at the Pathfinders.
"That was...amazing. Is it always like this, when you go to ancient places?" she asks, in quiet wonder. "I think I'd like to learn how to help people like that..."
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Lucky smiles as Cassiel and nods gently.
There are a lot more adventures waiting for you, Cassiel. I promise. Staying here is... only going to keep making you feel lonely. If nothing else, Desna will watch over you as you travel to the next life.
When the apparitions fade, he sighs mournfully.
This place... everything that happened here was so tragic, so... sad. I'm glad we were able to help them in the end.
He beams at Lady Junia when she voices her desire to become an adventurer.
Its not always quite so easy, but being a member of the Pathfinder Society is never boring! And we always try to help people when we can. If you wish, I can help you join us!
The response from their charge is slack-jawed amazement. "You want me to be a Pathfinder? Really?!" Junia looked to Grishan, then back to the party. "Of course I want to join! I mean, I can't really follow my mother's course anymore, can I?" A wide grin breaks out over her face as the party returns to the entrance and exits the Drownyard.
The glee evaporates suddenly on the outskirts of the Precipice district. Grishan silently melds with Junia, disappearing from sight. "Brother is coming..." Junia mutters quietly. Only moments later, a man in a uniform similar to Junia’s, but with more medals and polish, emerges from a side alley at a brisk pace.
“Finally, I found you." He inclines his head in greeting to Draklor. "I heard around the lodge that a team of Pathfinders was headed in to the Tri-Towers Yard.” Major Colson Maldris bows his head. “My brother was one of many children who died when the earthquake hit. As a result, I take great interest in expeditions leading in to that cursed site. The last Pathfinder expedition seven years ago found his body, and as a result, my family was able to give him a proper burial. Those agents also found some...” Colson pauses, and then continues delicately, “reports about my brother’s after-school activities that would have been quite embarrassing if made public. Did you, by chance, find any information about my brother?”
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Hennet eyes the man warily, but doesn't make a move to stop Draklor.
We found some... papers... with your family name attached. We also discovered information in those papers that need to be looked over by the heads of the Pathfinder Society as well.... Perhaps there is a way we can both benefit? We can talk to our Venture Captain and make sure you get the papers, but after they see the parts that pertain to our organization?
Hennet beams his halfling smile at the man...
"I understand your concerns." Maldris nods to Baphos and Lucky. "And I recognize your right to determine the best course for your findings, so I simply ask for a chance to offer advice in your decision. Would you share your discovery with me?" The major waits for any objections as Draklor gathers the packet together.
"I am concerned that the damage may already be done, in that case." He frowns and shakes his head. "If that is what you deem best, then I can only abide by your decision." He looks to Draklor and the rest of the party for their decision.
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"Hold on just a second. These notes have quite a bit of information on them about a variety of people, and could be devastating in the wrong hands. As I recall, though, the page regarding the Maldris family had nothing too incriminating, nor anything of value to the Society. Perhaps we could allow him just that one page?"
Turning to look at the gentleman, the gnome adds "Not that I don't trust you, sir, it is just that with this sort of information, it is better to be discreet with it where possible. I'm sure you can understand that."
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"I think that Henrikuaxian's idea would be the most mutually beneficial, sir," Draklor adds meekly. "As a higher-up in the Society, you will no doubt be able to see the whole of the papers in due course. Until then, there is little reason to deprive you of that which you seek. I think it would be fine to show you that particular page for the time being."
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"I don't know if I can agree with that. Why exactly were you using a little boy to spy on other pathfinder's families? We've read Grishan Maldris' reports. We know what you did. What you had him doing was embarassing all right, but there are other words that could be used to describe that activity ser" says Ashara more than a bit of irritation creeping up her tone.
Coulson winces at Ashara's words. "I understand how this appears. Indeed, I intend to make no excuses for my actions. I just ask that you consider the ramifications of my brother's work." The major rubs at one temple, clear worry on his face. "Whatever is in those reports, even about my own family, may truly be benign, but even the hint of a hidden scandal can be spun to deal harm. Skiller orators can whip up a mountain from those molehills, and drop the full weight on their target. Your friend Draklor can likely tell you of the seeds of corruption the Libterty's Edge found threatening Andoran two years ago, that caused us to separate into our own identity. I fear what those conspirators might do with information meant to be kept confidential among our own agents. Not just for my own reputation, but also for your fellow Pathfinders reputation, who work under our banner. Truly, it might even spell the end for our movement in the name of freedom throughout the Inner Sea!" He catches himself, and breathes deeply. "Forgive me my melodrama. I feel strongly about this issue, as it was my family involved in it. I understand your hesitation to share these findings, but I feel, hopefully not selfishly, that I along with the Liberty's Edge am best able to handle these findings safely. If you cannot trust me in that, best to destroy them lest they fall into the wrong hands. But if my pleas have not swayed you, then by all means do as your conscience demands. I will not stand in your way."
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"Could you give us just a moment, sir? So that we can confer on this topic."
The gnome motions his fellow companions to gather around further away from the man, so they could discuss what to do.
"We obviously must deliver the copies of the documents proving the assassination attempts back to the Society to deal with; this seems non-negotiable. Beyond that, though, most of the stuff in here seems to be sensational gossip - damaging if released, but otherwise unimportant. I don't see a pressing need to make the rest known, and would be fine destroying it. From the notes, it doesn't sound like this man did much of anything beyond knowing about his father changing their name; seems a minor thing to me to simply destroy the rest of the notes for his sake of mind, since I don't think they are of any real value to the Society. However, I do feel we should not release the rest of the notes to him; we should either destroy them or give them to the Society along with the proof of the assassination attempts."
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"I would have to agree with my smell squad fellow. I think it might actually be best to destroy everything besides the assassination. I mean I'm not a fan of gossip in the first place. It could only bring harm to our fellow pathfinders and while I'm not part of the team, I do respect the work that the Liberty's Edge carries out. My vote would be on destroying everything but the assassination note."
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"I am nothing if not devoted to the Edge's cause, but could it not be just as scandalous if we destroyed incriminating information rather than talking our way out of a possible minor wrongdoing? I don't believe we should destroy any of the notes. That said, we obviously need not show Maldris all of the notes yet, if at all. After he sees the ones regarding his family, we can take them all back to the Lodge for a decision to be made by a Venture-Captain or the Decimvirate. Whether or not he is part of that decision will be of little consequence, but further burying this information could be more damaging than the alternative."
"Never underestimate the damage gossip can do to the reputation, it can go very far on very little. Word often gets out despite the most tightly-pressed lips, and the hiding of a misdeed can be made more of than the act itself, sometimes."
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"I don't think we should destroy this information. It doesn't matter if these papers say the truth or pure gossips. Our mission is over. We must inform about all our findings to the society, they will find the best way to handle it. We don't have the power, the rank nor the knowledge to decide what information we must destroy or hide from the society. Our work is not that. We should stop talking and inform about this to our superiors. "
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Ashara takes a deep breath before speaking:"Well... I agree with Baphos but I also have to admit Maldris has a point. This information is potentially damaging and his whole faction should not pay the price for his recklesness... Who do we know among the higher ups that will not use the evidence contained in those reports to gain an undeserved political advantage? I abhor the very idea of destroying knowledge, but we must be very careful here. Also... there's the matter of Grishan. His brother might have made some awful mistakes but he deserves to know his brother is not completely gone... I think we should tell him"
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The gnome shakes his head emphatically at that suggestion. "That's not our secret to give. If Grishan wants his brother to know of him, he is here with Junia and able to tell him himself. I don't think it would be right to tell about him if he doesn't want to be known. "
"As for the other notes, I won't go against anybody over them, so if everyone else wants to give all the notes to the Society I'm OK with that. "
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With a final nod of agreement, Henrik goes back over to the waiting man. "Thank you for waiting. We've discussed it, and decided that we simply cannot neglect to report everything we found on our mission to our superiors; I'm sure you can understand that. However, we do understand the sensitive nature of this information, and will endeavor to try to deliver them to people who will not misuse the information."
The major's face falls as Henrikuaxian delivers the decision. "I see." He shakes his head slowly, before turning to depart without a further word.
Junia watches his exit, a calm expression on her face. "Now everyone will know. I thought he trusted me, but he lied." Grishan's words are quiet, issuing from her lips. "He hid our family from me."
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Ashara nods gravely at Grishan's words:"It's possible. The nature of the Pathfinder's Society is such that it discovers and preserves knowledge... it's simply not meant to destroy and to hide it. That said some details might not be considered noteworthy enough to warrant full disclosure. Grishan... you died down in that tomb but you did not fade away. Your brother still lives. Despite his mistakes for the sake of you both I hope you can find within yourself the courage to forgive him"
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Hennet nods.
Your death wasn't in vain. The information you uncovered will help a lot of people, and expose the secrets your brother hid from you. I hope that at least helps you feel better.
He looks over at the retreating figure of Grishan's brother before continuing.
And that's what the society does. We find the things that lie buried, and the secrets that people keep in order to harm others. I'm glad we were able to help everyone down below.
Junia nods slowly. Then a smile breaks out from the somber mien of her face. "And I can help more people like that! Grishan and I are the perfect team for the job!" She skips ahead a few paces and whirls. "We should go tell the Venture Captain now, right?"