While an invisible ninja strains quietly against a column, Valacosti turns to the warpriest who has just finished a tirade against him, "Patience, Goonairy, patience. Let me deal with Lord Elf Misstep over here first. You will all feel the wrath of Angazhan. If you are truly lucky, perhaps he will continue your tortures once he greets you at the gates of Ahvoth-Kor."
"Ha!"
Valacosti looks up at Miro, baleful hatred in his eyes as he struggles to stifle another outburst.
"Ha ha ha!"
Venom drips from his tongue as he curses the halfling.
"I will kill you ne.... neee.... hee hee ho ho ha HA! Ha ha ha ha!"
Valacosti falls on to the ground, laughing so hard that the Pathfinders believe he may just begin hemorrhaging blood if he keeps it up.
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Ibid moves up the steps quickly after seeing Valacosti pass by in a flash of movement, but before the old man can reach the top of the rise and move onto the bridge he is greeted by unsettling laughter. Turning the corner at the top, his enemy can be seen rolling uncontrollably on the floor, still laughing, and Ibid does not waste a moment and looses an arrow upon the man.
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Hearing the familiar voice, Amaranti turns away from the lackeys and faces Valacosti. "I knew you come..." he says to the fellow countryman, and the battle-lust sparks again for the worthy opponent. Conjuring the last of his magical reservoirs, Amaranti invokes the spell of Haste, throwing some of the Pathfinder again outside of normal flow of time.
Spellcasting done, Amaranti starts walking slowly towards the enemy leader, who falls down laughing uncontrollably. Hearing Gunari's words, the Garundi moves to the side, leaving the varisian a free line for a charge.
"Kaisharga..."
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"I know, I know... I do not have to be commanded for every single action. I am self-aware creature, and I can read the battlefield just as well as you," Kaisharga sends back a frustrated reply, and after a small pause adds: "...o' Master!" However, the irony withing the last comment might be lost with the Garundi summoner.
And as it stated, the eidolon know what to do. With the benefit of it's unnatural speed, it shoots towards the laughing enemy. The stone floor grinds and almost warms up with the passing of the serpent. It feels no pity for the cackling Aspis, instead just finds the fallen enemy an easier prey to chew.
Valacosti tries to control himself. He looks up at Miro between guffaws, eyes streaming with tears. Pure loathing emanates from the man and for a moment, the Pathfinders think that Valacosti might have it under control. Gales of laughter grip him again, re-intensified after the brief pause, and Valacosti once more rolls around on the ground in this mirthless, painful outburst.
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"Huurrrnnn..."
"This... Will... tickle your funny bone!"
Cyrus finally manages to get his legs underneath him and get some leverage, pushing the column down on the wicked man.
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Valacosti rolls on the floor laughing, but Amaranti's mood darkens. He was expecting a good, worthy fight. And this is not it. "NOT FUNNY!!!" he screams, and the lance disappears into blurry motion. Only the gush of blood shooting out from Valacosti reveals where the lance went. And yet again, faster than eye can see, the weapon pierces the laughing enemy, escorted by it's wielders' frustrated scream.
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Again relying on the fickle grace of Nethys, the magical god implants the arcane words that Finarin had used to down the panther
Rushing forward, he swings his scimitar, blue electrical energy cascading down the narrow blade.
Round 1 Total Damage 43
Again recalling Shocking grasp Finarin mercilessly attacks the prone Asisp agent.
Round 2 total Damage: 50/93 total so far
And yet again, the elf punishes the agent.
Round 3 total damage 45/138
"Its Moonstep, not Missstep. I think you .... misheard me."
Gunari charges in first, slipping his rapier point between Valacosti's ribs as he rolls around. The laughing continues.
Cyrus drops an enormous column onto Valacosti. Crushing bones and splitting his skin with sharpened pieces of stone. The laughter continues unabated.
Amaranti stabs Valacosti repeatedly with is lance, spraying blood all over himself and the floor. Still the laughing continues.
Finarin steps up, hacking and slashing with reckless abandon. Electricity arcs out of his scimitar burning the droplets of blood as they fly through the air. His entire outfit is now totally ruined and drenched in blood, but still he slices into the past-dead corpse of Valacosti. The only identifiable remains of the Aspis leader are a single lung attached to a bloody larynx. The laughing continues.
"Haw... haw.......... har.... harr......."
Seconds later, Miro's magic expires and the macabre display is over.
Silence reigns for but a moment. Shortly after the laughter halts, the sounds of kobolds cheering may be heard from the entryway. The Golden Guardian flies back in over the heads of his followers and perches once more on the altar.
"Well done, well done indeed!" says Naktok. The blind kobold with the mottled gold scales rides the basilisk into the room. He continuously scratches Stinkeye's head so that the beast's eyes remain closed.
In the hours that follow, the Pathfinders discover that only one kobolds died during the entire exchange. Gunari and Miro's healing magics, along with the last charges of Sharrowsmith's wand go a long way to appeasing the kobolds, who (after their initial jubilation) begin grumbling that the Pathfinders must have led these other longshanks here.
Nevertheless, the kobolds agree to help the Pathfinders clear the rubble - and the Golden Guardian helps also. Their sacred burial grounds are opened once more... and the crushed and decayed corpse of Nieford Sharrowsmith is found beneath. It is agreed that the Pathfinders should leave with the corpse of their companion and never return - but not before Ibid takes detailed notes and drawings of everything they've seen. Between his and Nieford's notes, the Pathfinder Society now has invaluable insight into the Dwarves of Ashkurhall, and the wielder of one of the components of the fabled Sky Key!
Upon returning to Nantambu, a sad Aya Allehe greets the group.
“Nantambu will not be the same without my friend Nieford Sharrowsmith. When he was younger, he traveled to all corners of the Mwangi Expanse and truly made the region his home, despite having been born hundreds of miles away in Avistan. He never truly lost his adventuring spirit, and as this lodge grew, he found his hours dedicated more and more to paperwork and less and less to exploring the lands’ rich history. I know his soul would take no offense at my saying he died as he would have wished—active, engaged, and in the field. I take solace in being able to provide him proper funerary rites.
“With his passing, Sharrowsmith’s Exports has no venture-captain, but I have corresponded with Nieford’s colleague Ambrus Valsin and agreed to continue acting as the manager of the lodge. After all, the full extent of the Pathfinders’ involvement in Nantambu has remained a something of an open secret, and it would be an embarrassment for anyone but a friend or family member to take command of the business so soon after the owner’s death.
“I dearly appreciate what you have done for the Society, for your venture-captain, and for me.”
Aya Allahe also examines the metal component the Pathfinders recovered from the Krihirik tribe. After a moment’s study, she quickly stands, recovers a piece of stationary bearing five graphite illustrations, and slowly smiles. “This is remarkable,” she announces, “The shape of the talisman matches one of the drawings Ambrus Valsin sent me. What you have found is a piece of the Sky Key, the device even now the rest of the Society is at its wits’ end attempting to reassemble!”
Then, with quiet affection, she murmurs to the Sky Key component, “Congratulations, Nieford. You and your agents have once again done what the rest of the Society could not—a fitting tribute, and a fine legacy.”
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"Another job well done" Cyrus smiles a content smile.
"and Finarin, we are finally heading back to Absalom, perhaps we can get that outfit cleaned up... No more jungle for a while at least? Well... We said the same thing about ships too I guess..."
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