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Raoul had been deep in thought, and perhaps the others thought that he was not engaged in what VC Dreng was sharing with the group. However, he shrugs himself from his reverie.
"It may be helpful for at least one of us to pick up a Wayfinder - as they are considered a true sign of Pathfinders. I was planning to purchase one anyway."
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"We'll be able to place charlatans easy enough. Those who claim unearned titles rarely carry the authority. It is not their team we need to worry about, but our own. It is time we concern ourselves with working as an effective unit. Aldori and I will engage the most dangerous target and the rest of ya should seek to bring him down as quickly as possible."
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"Should we present ourselves as Pathfinders? That way if we come into any problems, we can be clear that it is us that are dealing with them and that when we leave, we have departed their city with their desires honored."
"Suppose so, just try not to look too much like an occupation force" the fellow replies, smiling...
******
From the moment the sun rose this morning and the dizzying Twisted Door opened at the bottom of the Storval Rise, you, your companions, and a handful of traveling merchants have trudged slowly up the myriad stairs, tunnels, cliffside paths, and underground ruins that make up the famous Halflight Path. On either side of you march several gruff-looking men and women wearing brown-and-gray uniforms, the right breast bearing a badge with their symbol: a golden arch on a midnight blue background. These are the Duskwardens, and it’s their duty to see you safely up the Path to Kaer Maga, hours and hours of climbing above you.
About halfway through the climb a series of events unfolds — an enormous chunk of masonry, well constructed brickwork on the west side of the passage, collapses. From behind it boil dozens of yowling, barking, and yipping creatures carrying swords and snarling viciously — goblins. In a matter of a few quick moments, the goblins were among the merchants and citizens with the Duskwardens desperately trying to fend them off. Just as the party thought to act, another chunk of masonry, thistime from the ceiling, collapsed and cut you all off from the rest of the traveling group. You find yourselves in a small passageway, cut off and under siege...
Perception
Amris –
Aranan -
Grogson - Stonecunning applied.
Jivokun -
Pozuket -
Raoul -
Initiative
Amris
Aranan
Grogson
Jivokun
Pozuket
Raoul
Enemies
SURPRISE ROUND
Aranan – Standard Action
R1
Jivokun
Amris
Pozuket
Grogson
Raoul
Enemies
Aranan
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Aranan runs forward.
Jivokun hurls his blade, which sinks deeply into the goblin – dropping it immediately.
Amris moves to cover Pozuket, sword in hand.
Pozuket draws his rapier and inspires his fellows...
Grogson starts organising the defence
Raoul fishes out his wand.
R1 continued
Grogson (Pending)
Raoul (Move action Draw – Standard left)
Enemies
Aranan
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"You two hold a rear guard." Grogson says as he rushes forward to shore up the frontline. Sliding in beside Moonstone, the dwarf sets himself ready to smash the the little mongrels and protect the bard. Adjusting his stace to allow his shield to cover the both of them,Grogson says, "Stay close and engage the same creature as me."
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Raoul tags the goblin in the middle, but he manages to stay upright... howling in pain but upright.
Grogson readies himself for combat, covering Amris.
-
From the rear, the strange Goblin incants...
Sleep
1 Amris/2 Grogson/3 Pozuket.
Amris
Pozuket
Amris and Pozuket feel magic tug at them, but it fails to hold.
The Goblins rush forward.
The first one charges in.
The injured middle one similarly runs in, small blade trying to find flesh but only strikes armour.
His comrade follows behind getting pounded by Grogson but remaining in the fight trying to stab Amris/Crit - Grogsons shield stopping the blow from being significantly worse!
The shaman moves back watching the two adversaries nearby.
R1
Aranan
R2
Jivokun
Amris
Pozuket
Grogson
Raoul
Enemies
Aranan
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Raoul notices the caster trying to cause problems for the group.
"We can't have you causing any problems for us now, can we?"
Raoul takes a few steps towards the arcane goblin. As he does so, he reaches into his component pouch and removes a small pinch of butter. Rubbing his fingers together while muttering arcane commands, Raoul then flicks his fingers towards the magical goblin. Suddenly, the floor beneath the goblin becomes slick with Grease.
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Pozuket points his rapier out at the goblin in front of him, but instead of lunging with it, he says "Ambush us? " and spits out a discordant word of magic. His friends can almost see the "Ha!" as it splits into thousands of small translucent shards, which go flying away from the gnome... but only in the direction he is pointing. Everywhere else, the word remains simply sound, which bounces off the cave wall and faintly echoes back.
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Raouls slick Grease appears at the feet of two unfortunate Goblins, , both of which slip and land in a heap on the ground, causing the third to giggle.
Pozuket strikes a chord, showering the giggling goblin and one of his friends with glass but they seem rather blessed!
Amris leans forward, and simply stabs the poor Goblin as it wriggles in the grease, putting an end to its wriggling.
The other prone goblin stops laughing as his friend expires, and hisses at Amris as he tries to stab - he then tries standing.
The other, still on his feet, likewise goes for Amris, but to no avail.
R3
Jivokun
Amris
Pozuket
Grogson
Raoul
Enemies
Aranan
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..who finds the Missile to be not a terribly 'Magic' experience.
Shortly after you defeat the goblins, the Duskwardens clear the rubble from the collapses and help you all rejoin the rest of the travelers on the Halflight Path. One of the Duskwardens kicks at the goblin bodies, flips a few of them over, and then grunts. “Haven’t seen these here in a long time,” he says, then turns to the party and apologizes. “Our duty is to keep our charges safe — we failed. We’ll have to shut down the Path for a while we plug these holes again and figure out where these goblins came from.”
A routine search of the bodies reveals a pile of cruddy Goblin made weapons and armour on each footman, but upon the shaman -
Potion of cure light wounds,
Light crossbow with 10 bolts,
Dagger,
Wooden holy symbol of Zarongel
The potions on the goblin shaman all have the same symbol etched into the glass, that of a human male on his knees holding his arms up to the sun.
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A small notebook emerges from a pocket within Raoul's robe. It floats in front of him, at his chest's height. The notebook then turns to the first blank page. Raoul then takes his pen and begins sketching the symbol. He also makes notes about the general appearance of the shaman.
"Hmm. Pozuket, my knowledge of religious symbology is quite lacking. Although I find these markings quite interesting, I cannot make heads or tails of them."
Raoul will jot down any information about the meaning of the symbols should the party discover anything.
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Pozuket contemplates on Zarongel, recalling a lesson during his young Bardic college years...
Zarongel is a barghest demigod that is numbered among the four Goblin Hero-Gods that are believed to have created the goblin race. He appears to be the most wolf-like of the four, but has hair composed of magical fire. Lamashtu is said to have freed Zarongel and the other three barghests from captivity by Asmodeus. Zarongel is commonly worshiped by goblins. Some tribes hold him in greater reverence than the other hero-gods or even Lamashtu. He is believed to be the origin of the goblins use of goblin dogs as pets and mounts.
After some searching it is revealed that the goblins who collapsed the first wall were likely camping behind that wall the previous night, and that they’d been working at bringing the masonry down for a while. The goblins who came through the ceiling collapse got up there by digging a tunnel up out of the cavern where the fight took place.
The Duskwarden looks about "We'll get all this lot up the hill, but no more behind us til this all gets fixed"
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Jivo cared neither for religion or stonework but was highly troubled by the timing of the attack.
They wouldve had to have a spotter to set this bugger of a trap off just in time.
Voicing his thoughts aloud for once; the half elf cupped his chin in hand at the disturning idea that it all coulve been intended just for the Pathfinders.
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...something for Jivo to fester upon as he walks.
After the fight, the Duskwardens gather the body of the one merchant who died in the ambush and continue to guide the party and the other travelers up to the top of the Halflight Path. Four hours after the fight, you reach a bunker-like complex just outside the entrance to Kaer Maga.
The city is enormous. In all directions, you can see that every inch of it is covered in buildings: cliff side buildings, buildings built on the atop thin balconies around the interior of the walls themselves, and buildings crammed together on the floor of the ancient ruin. Except for the lake at the center of the city (even then, only at midday), the entire city is drowned in permanent twilight.
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Pozuket nods to Jivo's thought. "It seems like a lot of effort for those pests to go through, too. Could someone have put them up to it?"
-----
At the top, he agrees with Amris. "The sooner the better, although it would not be polite of us to drop by too late tonight. If we fail to find this Horis before evening wanes, we should wait until the new day to seek him out." He then proceeds to also attempt to gather information related to their mission.
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The fabled Balconies of Bis are far and away one of the most recognizable landmarks in Kaer Maga, and no traveller who ventures among them ever forgets the sight. In the south-westernmost district of the city, called Bis, the multi-floored structure found in other Ring districts long ago fell and gave way to a single cavernous space, so vast that huddled but freestanding buildings rise several stories into the gloomy, foggy air.
Yet it is not the crowded streets or the shocking amount of airspace within the chamber that makes you stop short, but rather the fact that the people of Kaer Maga have literally climbed the walls to create more room for themselves, building fresh or repairing outcropping ledges of old masonry to line the chamber with eight stories of towering cliff dwellings.
The buttressed platforms of the Balconies rise up the eastern and western walls of the chamber like shelving or tree fungus, sometimes protruding hundreds of feet from the walls. While they tend to be small and separated from each other, with each balcony holding a few structures at most, there are generally at least three ledges on any vertical patch of wall, and sometimes as many as five, with the topmost structures brushing the ceiling. The means of accessing these structures seem to vary, from narrow spiral staircases to ladders carved into the chamber wall itself.
The entire cavern exists in a permanent twilight, with the lights of the businesses and homes on the Balconies creating a shimmering, twinkling waterfall. For the center of the district, where the light from the walls is merely decoration, the citizens have foregone streetlights in favor of enormous lanterns that hang from the ceiling 80 feet above at staggered intervals, like a swarm of motionless fireflies. These lamps are tended by what the Duskwardens inform you is the Lamplighters’ Union, who operate the complex system of ropes and pulleys necessary to keep the lamps suspended and frequently change their positions in artful ways, making the lighting of Bis a constantly shifting work of art.
Along with the Balconies, the other thing you all notice is the prevalence of magical constructs. Many houses houses on the Balconies appear to have simple arcane machines that exist solely to haul up dumbwaiters and elevator platforms, and as you pass the marketplace you see twiggy, bird-like messenger golems running errands for their masters.
The peace appears to be kept by the presence of roaming Golems.
Grimaldus maintains his vigilance, but is (after a while) struck by the orderly activities of the citizens, clearly some firm degree of law and order is maintained in Bis.
Settling at a suitable Inn, you make the various enquiries needed to locate Collgardies which ends up taking a few hours to obtain with Pozukets persuasiveness, and you decide to head there the next morning after a decent rest and refresh.
***
Horis Collgardie’s house is small but in good repair; judging by the decrepit state of the other homes in the neighborhood, this merchant friend of Drandle Dreng must be relatively well off.
His home is made of a hodgepodge of brick and stone matching the city’s walls. Several windows look out onto the thin balcony walkway some 60 feet above the city streets that serves as the access for this neighborhood, but all are heavily barred with the shades pulled.
The house appears dark and quiet.
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The entire time they are looking about and talking to people, Aranan is quiet, not liking the entire situation. This city gives him several bad feelings, between the houses stacked together and the number of people in this city so tightly together. The fact that those things made him feel bad made him feel worse since he is a new follower of Abadar, but this was something he would have to grow accustomed to.
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Pozuket looks up at the dark house. "I wonder if Collgardie is home? It appears quite empty, or at least like everyone is asleep. Still, this is where we were told to find him, and not in a shop of any sort." And with that musing-out-loud out of the way, the gnome walks up to the front door and politely knocks on it.
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Despite his nerves being on edge; Jivo actually liked the way this city was laid out...it has a certain charm...a man could disappear here if he wished...
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Jivs watched the streets warily in the morning and decided he didn't like the look of Collgardie's home
It looks like a jail.
He waited with the others as Poz tried the polite way of calling on someone.