The Forgotten God (Table 1) (Inactive)

Game Master Rednal

Makallun'abad nods in agreement. "That seems most reasonable. Were there any parts of this place that we didn't search?"

"Yes we came west or left at a split. I believe there was another door."

Heading back to the other door.

The map up top shows everywhere you know about.

Midfoviing follows a little ways behind the rest of you as you start searching the area - but aside from the madman focused on the image of his daughter, there doesn't seem to be anyone or anything else within the halls. There are a number of stairs, but they don't seem to lead anywhere in particular.

Incidentally, there's no spectral form of Junia among the children (?) listening to the silent story. Whatever that power is doesn't seem related to her.

Finally, Midfoviing tilted her head. "Um... maybe we should examine her a little more...?" she suggested.

Those of you who haven't already made Heal checks on Junia can do so now - it CAN be used untrained at 1d20 + Wisdom (and Surged, if you'd like).

Heal: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15

The Earthen Defender takes a few moments to examine Junia's body in more detail - and, finally, is able to identify her problem. The girl's symptoms are consistent with having all of her wisdom and sense drained away from her - and given how long she's been down here, it's immediately obvious that the loss was permanent, requiring potent healing magic like Restoration to cure. The good news? It's definitely possible to help her, and while she's undoubtedly going to need a lot of care once she wakes up, that's well within the realm of what her family can provide.

"Her wits have been sapped from her, somehow. Her family should have the means to heal her, however. We must bring her back to them as quickly as we are able, lest something else endanger her well-being."

"The specters from before. That makes sense now. Alright we have the girl and the ring. Lets get the man and get out of here then."

Hadran approaches the madman.

"Sir it is time for us to leave. Please come along."

"Shush, she just got back to telling her story." the man answered, gaze slightly unfocused. "There are children here, too, so please be quiet. I'll leave when they're done."

Hadran turns to the group.

"A specter still lurks here. We can not leave him or he may face the same fate as the girl, though he does not have a magic ring to protect himself. I can use my charm magic to try and convince him to leave but now this place is open he may come back. It seems we may have missed something. Something should be keeping these spirits here but what?"

"He seems familiar enough with this place. I am not entirely convinced he would come to harm if we were to leave him be," the dwarf states, but the Stalwart Peak does look a little conflicted about leaving the man alone here. "If he doesn't wish to leave, I believe we should respect his wishes."

"I am not certain, it's not safe here, no matter how insane he might be. And there has to be something else with this place, why all the specters, and what could have possibly sapped this girl's wits." Beseth didn't feel at ease leaving these questions left unanswered, they may have found a ring and the girl, who was still alive, but if she had survived, others might have as well, and if Beseth knew anything about nobility, it was that they made wonderful allies.

"Is it possible that there are other children who may have survived? I realize that the ring is what kept this girl alive, but it's not unreasonable to think that another noble child could have one as well, there is more to this place."

"Sorry I misspoke. It was an allip that escaped and it was the allips that drained her wisdom away. We can't leave him here knowing an allip still roams this place."

Realization dawns on Makallun'abad's face. "Right, there was one of those still hiding here. Do you think we can leave the girl here with him, lest we risk bringing her into combat?"

"We cannot risk bringing her to combat, not in her current state." Beseth voices her opinion, "However I do not believe it's wise to leave her undefended as well, now that the ring has been removed she needs assistance quickly as she will once again need to eat, and we don't want to have rescued her only for her to starve to death." Beseth turns to Midfoviing, "Would you be able to take the girl home, while clearly insane the man is at least more capable of defending himself then this helpless child."

"No problem." Midfoviing said confidently, flapping her wings a bit. "I can carry her as far as you need me to." The girl often seemed badly lacking in her understanding of society, but at least on matters of strength, she seemed quite reliable. One way or another, Junia would get home - though Midfoviing was obviously hesitant to go there without the three of you.

"It's alright Midfoviing. Thank you for doing this. We will not be long behind you. We need to make sure this place is safe."

Midfoviing nodded and eventually flapped her wings a few times before carefully moving down the hallways, flying with Junia despite the cramped quarters. This didn't seem to present many difficulties, though she did land near the far door before leaving.

"Something wrong?"

Midfoviing's tail came up and, with surprising dexterity, she used it to push open the door. "Not supposed to break things, right?" she asked before moving out of the room. She was capable of a number of things, but walking straight through a door without either breaking or opening it was not among them.

Makallun'abad finds himself grinning, despite himself. He turns towards Hadran and chuckles, before cracking his knuckles. "I believe that is our cue to continue on," he says with a grin.

"Right you are, but we have been in every room of this place. So we drag him out of here or leave him to his fate. I don't like either idea."

"Perhaps we missed something, a hidden door or such, or perhaps the creature fled to the surface." Beseth thinks aloud.

You three seem more lost than you should be, so I may not have communicated things clearly enough - there are no hidden rooms or passageways, and you three have gone everywhere that should be gone to. Though, you may want to consider how you're going to complete the task you were hired to do...

We were hired to recover the ring, correct? Though it turns out the ring that the man wanted and the noblewoman wanted were one and the same from what I can tell.

Your mission is on the bottom of Page 22 - the noblewoman's actual comments are on Page 23.

Okay, so we're done, then. The guy wanted the ring, the noblewoman wanted a reminder of her daughter... and I think the real thing is probably a step up for that. So, do we drag the crazy schmuck out of here or just leave him to listen to the spirit kids until he keels over?

"Let us return the ring. We can ask the man that hired us to point us in the direction of a priest that can help with the daughters condition. We will then meet Midfoviing at the estate with the priest to help the girl and reunite her with her mother. As for the man I'm not sure what to do with him."

The Earthen Defender shrugs. "If he will not leave, then so be it. We have warned him of the dangers of this place, and he has made his decision." Makallun'abad seems slightly distraught that the man won't follow them, but he will not force the issue.

"If he wants to stay, leave him, we need to make sure this girl gets home." Beseth says agreeing.

With your decision made, it's not hard to get out of the underground area. Midfoviing is hovering about fifteen feet off the ground nearby, her wings steadily flapping to keep her in place as she holds the girl - and, you note, giving her plenty of time to react to any incorporeal undead coming out of the ground. She looks noticeably happier as she sees the three of you, though, and quickly drops down to the ground next to where you emerged. "Are you all safe? Ready to go?" she asked, tail flicking quickly to both sides.

"Yes lets return the ring and see if the man can assist us with the girl. I'm sure the mother will be much happier to see her daughter walk to her instead of this state. We can also report the Allip so they are prepared and can help the man when they come to check the place. Assuming they send a team in now that its clear."

Makallun'abad nods his agreement, his eyes flitting to the unconscious young girl. "I hope they can heal her easily enough. There will be many questions waiting for what happened, without a doubt."

It's fairly late - where would you like to go?

I personally think bringing the girl to her mother first would be the best plan, but if Hadran's right and our employer can cure her of the Wisdom drain, then that's a solid plan, too. That said, the girl's been gone for years now. An extra night won't kill her... but we should still try to feed her and get her some rest, even if she's still out cold.

Off to the employer unless he is closed up. If he is then to a temple to seek a cleric to help

Sounds good to me.

"Hopefully they do not bombard the girl with questions as soon as she wakes up, it's very likely that the entire event has been traumatic for her."

The employer's house does indeed seem closed up - but it's likely that there are still some temples open in the Ascendant Court, and to almost any deity whose house you'd care to enter. There are, of course, several other issues to consider.

First, most temples charge for healing spells - it's one of the primary ways they make money to support their clergy, their faith, and the works of their god. Neutral deities are especially likely to ask for payment up-front - good deities would also expect coin, unless you can find a church that has both a cleric powerful enough to cast the necessary magic and the willingness to do it charitably... or at least send the bill to the girl's mother instead of requiring coin up-front. Churches that don't already do charitable work are unlikely to change their minds, though, or they'd have people endlessly begging for special exceptions - and couldn't continue promoting their views because of a lack of income. Unfortunate, in many ways, but these are the accepted standards of churches of most faiths on Golarion.

Alternatively, of course, you could pay for the magic yourselves and try to get reimbursed later. The main point is that there are many ways of doing this, and who you go to for help can and will have an impact on your final resolution of this issue.

To get an idea, I checked, restoration would normally cost 380gp in this instance, if we find a caster.

"Any ideas on what church we might visit? They'll need to have someone capable of casting a powerful enough spell first and foremost." Beseth asks the others, of course things would be simpler if one of them could cast the spell themselves, but it seemed all of them lacked access to anything of that magnitude, for now.

"Let us find a church of the dawnflower. I will pay for the services. Money is not an issue here. Now let us get this girl in good order to take back to her mother."

Looking for a church of Sarenrae

It isn't hard to find a church of Sarenrae - or rather, the church. The only actual temple of the Dawnflower in all of Absalom is the Temple of the Shining Star in the Ascendant Court, well-lit even at this late hour. The city itself is never truly quiet, but you're barely halfway there when a group of seven guards step out to block your path. They wear no ornaments, save for cloaks of light gray wool, and one of them holds up a hand in a clear 'halt' gesture.

"What's going on here? Who is that child?" he asked, clearly concerned for her well-being.

"She is the daughter of Lady Miranda Dacilane. We are taking her to the temple of Sarenrae for care. Who are you?"

"Ah, outsiders. We are the Graycloaks - the district guards for the Ascendant Court. We keep the peace between the churches whether they like it or not." he put a hand on his weapon. "And Lady Dacilane's daughter died years ago." There was a definite suspicious tone to his words, and behind you, you could sense Midfoviing tensing slightly.

"She was thought dead. Drandle Drenge contracted us to scout the drowned yards. Lady Dacilane requested us to bring back anything we found as a memento of her daughter. We were surprised to find her body preserved and even more so that she was still alive. She lies asleep in a coma brought on by Allips sapping away at her will. We seek help from the temple of Sarenrae to help the girl. Now please let us pass. Your are welcome to accompany us if you feel we are not telling you the truth."

Makallun'abad stands with his arms crossed, nodding his agreement with Hadran's statement. "Whatever you decide, we would appreciate it if you made your decision swiftly. Without the magics that sustained her all this time, I fear for her health and safety," he offers. "I am sure you understand exactly how cross Lady Dacilane would be were we to inform her that she had lost her daughter a second time."

The girl's ring still in her possession, Beseth holds it out for the guards to see. "This ring kept the girl alive, but she needs divine assistance to recover and regain consciousness." The half elf explains.

The guard gave Mak a slightly hard look. "Not as cross as the Church of Asmodeus would be if one of their members was responsible for trying to cause trouble in this district." he said. "Jeralt, Inniya, go with them and make sure Miss Dacilane is properly seen to." Two of the guards saluted, then moved closer to Midfoviing. The other guards - including the speaker - moved on, apparently satisfied that everything was in order. With the help of your escorts, it didn't take long at all to find one of the well-lit pavilions where Sarenrae's priests were ministering to the needy. An old man who moved with a crutch seemed to be in charge here, regularly giving directions to a group of almost atrociously young acolytes who were running back and forth with gusto despite the late hour.

Hadran will approach the man with the crutch.

"Excuse me sir. We are in need of aid for this girl. We found her in the drowned yards still alive, sustained by a ring of sustenance. Her will has been drained by and Allip. Are you or another priest here capable of healing her. I will gladly donate to the church for this as I highly respect the dawnflower and what she represents."

He offers a bow.

Everything cool. No activity for a bit. Just checking in.

I wanted to see if anyone else had anything to say now that you'd arrived, but... apparently not.

The older man gave Hadran an odd look - unusually formal speech was rarely used in this area, after all. "Bring her over and let me see her." he commanded, barking orders to a few of the initiates to get them to clear some space. Seeing what was going on, one of the other men there for treatment opened his mouth, only to be stopped by a sharp look from the priest. "Children first, then women, then men unless it's an emergency." he said firmly. The other man shut his mouth and nodded.

As Junia's body was set down, the old man muttered a few things under his breath, then focused on her body. "Adolescent human female, signs of extensive magical sustenance..." he opened her eyes and conjured a small light to shine into them. "Reacts to light but no sign of consciousness... Do you know how long she was down there?"

"She was believed to have been dead by her family, she was there when the school fell." Beseth commented, though she was not certain how long that had been.