|
Amaranti watches in horror as Gunari disappears into the gigantic maw. "Try hold on, beer priest! We cut you out!", he shouts. But he dares not move - the beast isn't chewing anything, and is obviously looking for new prey. And moving closer would definitely make Amaranti join the Cailean priest. Instead, the summoner calls out to the planes, and summons help - or diversion more likely.
Soon, 3 very delicious looking avians materialize out of thin air. The eagles dive in, trying to shred the dinosaur with their beaks.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Gunari, cramped as he is, pushes his rapier through the hole. He is rewarded by a single breath of fresh air before he collapses into unconsciousness from the exertion. It is perhaps a merciful thing, as his stomach would have lurched and he would have been battered back and forth as the narrow, fleshy passage that surrounds him crashes to the ground.
The other Pathfinders see the colossal tyrannosaurus rex waver, and teeter from blood loss as the wounds dealt to it by everyone allow far too much blood to hit the forest floor. A thin, gore soaked blade is punched through just below Mother T-Rex's collarbone and she tries to roar in pain. Only frothed blood comes out, however, and she wavers on her feet... then falls. The thunderous sound of her body hitting the ground is accompanied by a wave of blood as her punctured skin proves unfit for the task of holding liquid.
The pressure released at the dinosaur's fall ejects a mangled - but breathing - warpriest. He slides out, unconscious, in a flood of reptilian blood and innards. Celestial eagles descend from seemingly out of nowhere and pick at the enormous corpse.
The journey back to Fort Bandu sees the companions in relatively high spirits. They've just retrieved the Gripplis' clay-covered artifact that will help them to defeat the Golden Guardian and save Sharrowsmith. However, that topic of conversation pales in the face of the main one: they slew a tyrannosaurus rex!!! Tales of that particular battle will resonate within the walls of the Pathfinder Society for years to come. Even Gunari seems to be recovering well after being partially digested.
It has begun to rain by the time the Pathfinders reach Fort Bandu, and despite the relief from the heat the rain has brought, the group welcomes the lack of sticky mud underfoot that the small settlement provides.
Praetor Sylien greets the Pathfinders at the door of the garrison, his demeanor is as it has been since the Pathfinders' victory agains the kobolds, warm and friendly. "Welcome back! I trust you were successful in obtaining that artifact? Please, do come inside. I have something for you."
Ushered into the Garrison, the group are all provided towels to help dry themselves. The heat returns also, the stone walls of the building not willing letting go of it so soon after the rain's arrival. This aids in the drying process, though, and by the time they get to the makeshift war room, the companions are simply moist. Praetor Sylien passes them a letter.
"It is from your Venture-Captain in Absalom," says the Praetor, "But as to how he got the letter here this quickly, or even knew of your presence at Fort Bandu, I can only assume he has access to more magics than I will ever see. Now, I have pressing matters to attend to. Please do feel free to use this room as long as you like. We have spare beds in the garrison if you would like to stay the night - sunset is almost upon us."
With that, Praetor Sylien departs and the group pours over the document left for them. As the Pathfinders read the letter, they cannot help but imagine Valsin's haughty tone, or his waggling and over-long mustache flicking as he delivers what is more of a lecture than a briefing.
Pathfinders,
News of your mission in the Bandu Hills has reached me. It is unfortunate that Venture-Captain Sharrowsmith angered the kobolds so much that they attacked the local miners, but I have also heard that thanks to your efforts, the kobolds have ceased their attacks, at least for now.
According to the latest report, you learned about an ancient monster watching over the dwarven ruins that Sharrowsmith had been studying, and you decided to visit the Kaava lands to acquire a powerful weapon that could defeat the guardian. I hope that your negotiations with the tribe of gripplis guarding the weapon were successful and you are now ready to continue your mission to find Sharrowsmith.
I want to remind you that Nieford Sharrowsmith is our foremost scholar in the region, and thus, your first priority is to bring him back alive, or at least find evidence about what has happened to him. Naturally, also record any information of historical value as you explore the ruins.
If you run into kobolds while exploring the dwarven ruins, try not to antagonize them any more than is necessary to find Sharrowsmith. The earlier trouble with the kobolds has already harmed our reputation with the locals. It is vital to the continued success of the Nantambu lodge that we secure allies, not make enemies.
One more thing: we have reason to believe that the Aspis Consortium is planning to intercept your mission and kill or kidnap Sharrowsmith. Make haste and keep an eye out for trouble at all times.
Blessing of the Ten,
Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin
|
|
"Shouldn't be surprised that the consortium would make an attempt on sharrowsmith. At least we have the orb..."
Cyrus mulls his thoughts over as he slips on his new boots, freshly delivered along with the note from their venture captain.
These should make dancing around my enemies a bit more entertaining...
Clasping his mundane cloak back around his shoulders with a rather ornate, ceramic leaf he smiles a bit mischeviously, already imagining the confused look on the face of some unknown foe, peering over the edge of a cliff to see nothing where a falling ninja should have been.
With his gear securely in place, he tries on the gloves he had specially made for him in the grippili village. His reservations for the race had long since been washed away by their hospitality, and he was eager to try out the sticky gloves he had helped one of the more brash, young frogmen develop. The idea was to find something to make climbing easier, though having failed in those attempts, Cyrus found that it made lifting coins and other baubles much easier, requiring less effort. He made promises to come back and visit to see if they could perfect their ideas for climbing aids another time, but duty called.
As the group brainstorms the things they know now about the area after speaking again with a more amiable population of miners, Cyrus offers his thoughts.
"It seems like we should press on, especially if Sharrowsmith might be in danger from the consortium, but I think that a night's rest may be better for our haste in the long run."
|
"Very fancy, Cyrus. It seems that we have all ....acquired some new items to assist in the rescue of Sharrowsmith."
Finarin, immaculately attired in white and black, makes a point of thrusting out his new belt hoping some comments on it.
|
|
Miro taps his chin, sifting through the years of clutter in his brain, coming up with a few nuggets of information.
"Why thank you Finarin. That is an exquisite belt you have there... Where did you pick that up? It looks like something I have been interested in lately as well..."
"For as gruff as our VC can be, he is very effective when it comes to getting things done, even if it is just making sure that we get our requested baubles."
Cyrus has a wander around Fort Bandu. Most of the shop owners are closing up in anticipation of heavier rainfalls. The miners who are lucky enough to have a permanent structure for their accommodations are in the process allow their friends among the tent dwellers to set down their swags on the dry floors within.
A grizzled dwarven miner greets him under the eaves of his home while five friends are making themselves cosy and comfortable inside, "Well, we saw some more of those guys who were hanging out with Valacosti - Aspis men or I'm a bearded gnome - heading towards the Bandu Hills. Traveling from the northwest. I reckon they'd be heading towards Bloodcove. I'd stake a masterwork mining pick on it."
Gunari joins the pair, just as the dwarf seems to have had enough of talking to the Keleshite. All it takes is a few mugs of Cayden's Finest and the diminutive miner settles down for a good beard waggle, "Well, as ye know, the kobolds used ta mostly keep to 'emselves. Only we miners really had anythin' ta worry about afore Sharrowsmith riled 'em up. What most folk don't know, is that we've hassled them before. A few decades ago (too long fer most t'remember), a local lad went missing. He came back weeks later wi' all kindsa tall tales about a hidden city protected by cruel traps. Kobold city, I'm thinking now. Apparently, it was pure luck that he escaped at all." The dwarf settles in and tells the pair what he can remember of some of the "tall tales" the boy related all those years ago.
Miro sees the fun going on under the makeshift shelter and decides to join in, as do some of the miners within.
"Ye were talkin' about the Aspis Group we saw here a while back?" says another halfling miner, who the group recognize as Lonnigan, the miner rescued from the animated plants, "Well, I had a chat to 'em as they were passing through. No-one suspects a halfling, am I right?" he winks at Miro, "Turns out their leader is some upstart aristocrat called Amersanus Valacosti. Despite being stuck up and having a limp, he's supposed to be some kind of expert tracker and hunter... of people! Apparently he was here in Fort Bandu a little while back."
Finarin arrives on the scene as Lonnigan helps himself heartily to some of Gunari's beer and continues, "I heard some of his men saying that, Valacosti takes trophies from the people he tracks down and kills. Some of 'em even said he needs their heads for dark rituals he learned while held by the Bekyar - who (from the way they tell it) are all kidnappers, cannibals, and demon worshippers. I wouldn't put much stock in it, though. I reckon they were just tryin' to scare me."
An elven magic trader Finarin met earlier while trying to procure his magical belt decides to sit down also. He appreciates the Chelish red that Finarin provides him, "Well thanks. You were asking about the Golden Guardian before? Well, almost everyone at Fort Bandu knows the legend of the Golden Guardian. Rumors of this mystical creature have been around for centuries. He's kind of like the local "bogeyman". Most folk say that the creature is immortal or not a living creature at all! I personally reckon it's actually a gold dragon. That'd explain why the kobolds revere it so much. I've got no proof, of course, and there are others who say it is probably a living statue, a golden machine, or a god-like entity.
"One thing is for sure, though, and that is that is that only a special weapon, lost to antiquity, that can defeat the Golden Guardian. All who know anything about the Guardian agree on that!"
|
|
"Good to see you again Lonnigan, and even better to see you so healthy. Those plant allergies can be brutal in this jungle." Cyrus says with a wink, proud of his terrible joke.
"Somehow the stories of Valacosti do not seem to me to be so far fetched. You can feel the evil aura around that man. Makes you feel like you need to take a bath, and I'm not talking about the oppressive heat. I've had my share of that being from the deserts of Osirion."
"So what exactly do the tales say about this weapon? Anything about how it defeats the golden guardian?" Cyrus asks, as innocently as possible.
"I don't know a whole lot about golden dragons, Ibid probably knows everything though. I thought they were good creatures? Never seen one before, so what do I know really... Hopefully Sharrowsmith is actually in that hole, because I am afraid the more leads we have to chase down, the less likely we are going to find him alive. Between the Kobolds and the consortium planning to hunt him down, it looks like we have our work cut out for us. I don't expect we will have the luxury of killing a few kobolds and expecting the rest to turn tail and run..."
Eventually Cyrus realizes he isn't adding anything substantial to the conversation and just shuts his mouth.
Probably never going to find that switch that keeps thoughts in my head from spilling out of my mouth...
In an attempt to not get in the way, Cyrus leans over to the wizard that Finarin was speaking with and asks a few whispered questions. The words "I don't want to get roasted by some fire-breathing dragon" can be overheard by those close enough as they talk. Eventually a pouch of gold coins is exchanged for a rolled up piece of parchment, which Cyrus reviews, and tucks into his currently empty wrist sheath.
The wizard just shrugs when Cyrus asks him about how to use the orb, "I doubt the weapon even exists - and if it did, you've got next to no chance in finding it! It's been lost for centuries. Secret weapon or not, if you're planning on going there and it is a gold dragon gone bad, I'd run. Run for all you're worth. Slaying an unthinking giant lizard is one thing - but slaying a wily, fire breathing serpent from this world's ancient past is an entirely different proposition. If it's been around for centuries, too, it won't be a little one! A fully matured adult dragon, at the least."
With that, he digs around in his pack for the correct scroll and exchanges it for the coin purse. He either knows the weight of a purse or trusts Cyrus for some reason, as he simply smiles and pockets the money.
|
|
Finarin, immaculately attired in white and black, makes a point of thrusting out his new belt hoping some comments on it.
"Nice!" Amaranti comments on Finarin's purchase. "But small..." the big Garundi flashes a wide grin, and taps his waist where he wears a brand new heavy leather belt
"So, now we know where we go, right? We have secret weapon, and we fight Gold-guardian." Amaranti thinks aloud. "How hard can it be?" Suddenly, he feels a chill up his spine...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
In the morning, some Pathfinders nurse hangovers. All wave goodbye to the dramatically more friendly miners of Fort Bandu as they pick a gap in the downpours to make their way to the site of the dwarven ruin: Ashkurhall.
Save for torrential rain alternating with scorching heat, the journey from Fort Bandu to Mount Nakyuk progresses smoothly. Ancient, crumbling stone buildings choked with vines and adorned with bone fetishes emerge from a patch of thick jungle underbrush. A scattering of bones and discarded tools hints that this location was recently inhabited. A gaping stairwell yawns behind a blood-spattered altar, descending to the mysterious depths where the Golden Guardian makes its home.
Knowing exactly went on to cause this scene of carnage, the companions move on past the grim reminder of their recent victory and descend into the ancient dwarven halls.
Two granite statues of dwarves in full armor stand guard in this entrance hall, flanking the entrance to a corridor to the south. Antelope skull patterns painted in red ochre cover each statue’s face. In the wall to the south are two rust-stained iron doors.
Most of the Pathfinders can tell that the eastern of the doors on the southern wall has been opened relatively recently (last few weeks) with a crowbar or similar implement. The metal is dented in and some of the rust has sheared off. The rust lies relatively undisturbed in a pile on the floor. This door is much easier to open than the others .
|
|
Cyrus enters the halls with a bit of trepidation and a sense of familiarity, having delved so many tombs as an orphan child in his homeland.
"Wait... There are bound to be traps in here. The miners spoke of them, and the kobolds must know we are coming. Let me look down the hall here first before we try opening any of these doors."
Cyrus pulls his wayfinder from beneath his tunic and whispers the activation word, allowing light to spill from it and fill the area in front of him. With a deep breath, he gets closer to the ground, walking in a slow crouch, scanning the floors, walls, ceiling, and doors as he makes his way up and down the hall.
|
|
"Hmmm, again our vacation ... continues. Such an exotic location this .... society sends us to. Cyrus, I will guard your back."
You can move up to half your normal speed and use Stealth at no penalty. Sniping - If you've already successfully used Stealth at least 10 feet from your target, you can make one ranged attack and then immediately use Stealth again. You take a –20 penalty on your Stealth check to maintain your obscured location.
Once the Pathfinders light the place and determine that there are definitely no traps in the vicinity, they move to the door that seems to have been opened already. It is relatively easy to get into, and with Amaranti's new belt, he doesn't even have to struggle to get it to move.
The air in this room smells stale. A pile of rocks sits on the dust-covered floor in one corner of the room.
Gunari first notices, but many others do also, that the pile of rocks in the corner is far too orderly to be regular pile of debris. Determining that it is not a trap, Gunari rifles through and discovers a satchel very similar to the one they first found beneath the bloody altar. The symbol of the open road is emblazoned upon it, and they soon realize that it belonged to their missing Venture-Captain, Nieford Sharrowsmith.
They flick through the man’s journal and find the following entries of note:
Excerpt from Sharrowsmith’s journal
Every time I plan to depart on the expedition, a new responsibility crops up and demands my attention. There will never be a perfect time, and Aya is more than capable of handling the business and the lodge in my absence for a few weeks. That settles it; at first light, I will begin my journey at last.
No… that’s nothing new. Gotta check some later entries...
Last entry from Sharrowsmith’s journal
I did not run into any guards on the way here, but the religious decorations and traps suggest that kobolds live in these ruins. I found a room that had not been used recently. It seems safe enough to rest a bit and to store some of my equipment here. If my hunch is right, there is a temple somewhere deeper in these ruins.
The satchel contains a veritable treasure trove of magical items: a wand of cure light wounds , a wand of lesser restoration , two potions of cure moderate wounds, a wand of bear’s endurance and two potions of spider climb.
As he's flicking through the journal, Gunari almost forgets (but not quite) to point out that the southern door of this room likely has some kind of rubble pressing against it. Now that the avid engineer points it out, everyone can see that the solid metal door is actually bowed outwards and the rubble on the floor is mostly on either side - it seems as though the stones have fallen through the bent-out gap at door jam.
|
The old man follows Gunari's gaze to the southern door and taking the varisian's lead, quickly realizes that the door is being pushed on by a colossal weight of rocks and debris. "Agreed, Miro," the old man says, still eying the bowing door. "There are sure to deadly pitfalls and dangers awaiting us. Take your time while searching, Cyrus." Ibid finishes, clearly still concerned with the bowing door and the state of degraded structural integrity a collapsed roof represents.
"Sharrowsmith was well prepared," Ibid says after stepping to the uncovered satchel. "He made it this far by himself and apparently without encountering any kobolds.... yet he never returned for this." The old man rummages through the satchel and then distributes the useful items to the others.
His eyes next catch the dreary stone walls, long faded and crumbling with age. "At least we're not lost in the Gloomspires again..." he voices, trying (and failing) to be cheerful in response to Finarin's deadpan sarcasm.
|
|
Cyrus suppresses a chuckle at Finarins continual sour attitude at the dingy surroundings.
"It could be worse my brother, we could be back in the sewers of Absalom..."
Cyrus takes one of the spider climb potions from Ibid as he hands them out.
"this should come in handy..."
Once finished in sharrowsmith's staging room, Cyrus moves to the other door in the entryway area, checking carefully and then making way for the strong Garundi to use his shoulder.
-Posted with Wayfinder
As the Pathfinders move about the ancient halls they can hear echoes of stones dropping, walls cracking, and the sounds of expanding (or contracting) metal creaking. The moist, shifting earth outside is having an effect on these underground passageways. Ibid and Gunari have both seen and admired Dwarven workmanship before, and this whole complex seems to have been built too close to the surface and in too much of a hurry. Ibid estimates that this upper complex is over three thousand years old, and time is having a worse than usual effect on it - given its Dwarven origins.
After only two calamitously loud bashes with his shoulder, Amaranti manages to break the door off its hinges and pop it inwards. It lands on the ground with an ungodly thud that echoes off the smooth walls for what seems to the Pathfinders' aching ears to be almost a minute. As the dust cloud settles, the Pathfinders peer into the room.
Cyrus, Finarin, Miro and Kaisharga all notice that the crumbling wall in the center portion of the eastern wall has been rigged by to fall if anyone steps on pressure plates to either side of it.
|
|
Careful to step around the pressure plates, Cyrus picks his way through the room, ever vigilant, and makes his way to the door on the south side of the room.
Good chance if there was anything in here, they know we are here now. Let's see if they are making any noise.
He presses his ear to the metal door to hear what is on the other side. Once he thinks he has a good idea what to expect, and after making sure this door is indeed stuck like the others, he motions to the strong man to once again do his thing.
I don't know much about dwarves, but the metal doors seem odd. Don't remember seeing anything like this in Osirion.
Another creak and rumble causes Cyrus' heart to skip a beat. "This place isn't going to come down on top of us is it?" He asks, hoping no one will answer if they happen to fear the same thing as him...
|
Gunari moves up (after taking a drink of Cayden's finest, to fortify the soul). "So, which way we going, lads? Cyrus and Finarin, is it safe to come in there? Well, I mean safe enough to go in without me wasting our magical resources healing up after things happen?"
In response to Cyrus's question, the warpriest takes a look around...
Cyrus is unable to find any traps on the door, it seems to be all clear. Meanwhile, Gunari has a look through the crack. While it can be widened it is in no immediate danger of collapse.
As Gunari examines the structure, he thinks he hears some shifting rubble coming from behind the other end of the corridor, where Kaisharga told him there was a portcullis. He peers down but can see nothing there beyond the 40ft radius of his wayfinder's light.
He whispers a warning to his comrades through the crack, just before Amaranti bashes the door down. The Garundi pauses briefly, rethinking the course of action for now.
Finarin also has a quick peek through the crack in the south side of the room . He can see straight through to the southern wall of the room beyond the next room. Rubble and debris are everywhere.
Gunari moves cautiously down the corridor, unable in his heavy armor to avoid kicking the occasional stone, causing them to go tumbling along the floor in front of him. Out of the corner of his eye, he spots a crossbow - but too late. A grinning kobold in a glistening breastplate fires at him point blank before moving back a step.
Immediately afterwards, another kobold levels its crossbow at Finarin and prepares to fire. Fortunately, he isn't as stealthy as his comrade and the elf gets a chance to act first!
Finarin's shot strikes true and the little kobold curses as the arrow temporarily lodges in its shoulder.
Kaisharga tries to squeeze through the gap in the wall, but is unable to squish its hefty serpentine form through.
The little kobold at the other end of the corridor takes advantage of this and releases a bolt at the struggling eidolon.
While the bolt strikes home, Kaisharga is certain that the mystical armor placed on it by its master has kept it from serious harm. Cheering at the successful shot, the little fellow disappears to the east.
|
|
When the little scaled devil that had taken a shot at Kaisharga runs away, Cyrus grumbles, sure he won't be able to catch up to it, at least not yet anyways. Eager to get his hands on one of the little creatures, he tries to squeeze through the crack in front of the serpent.
He goes at it all wrong though and quickly realizes that he can't bend down any further, and his head simply won't fit through where he is at. He steps back, and then takes another try, this time bending over first, then coming up through the fissure.