CE Tiny outsider (chaotic, demon, evil, extraplanar)
You would say this one is more powerful than a normal quasit. Judging by the way it is holding that unholy symbol, it is likely a cleric to some god.
Two questions.
Special Attacks channel negative energy
Garif asks if anyone recognizes what the creature is and waits for someone to tell him as Nico shows everyone just how fast a runner he is.
Not nearly as fast, Phinellippa decides she should be elsewhere as well. The thing was visible, the others can handle it now!
Rees takes aim and fires! The arrow strikes true, but is no able to hurt the creature.
Shieara drops the sling in favor of her rapier and stabs the creature. It hits but only barely manages to hurt it.
Kleines steps forward and smites it, doing quite a bit of damage! It is nearly dead after that hit.
Bolded may act.
Round 2:
Inspire Courage active
Tovril 23 damage
Rees 9 damage
Shieara
Damiar
Kleines
Dalton 25 damage 8 NL damage, stabilized
Garif
Nico
Round 3:
Phinellippa
Tobias
Ekira frightened until round 5
Tovril totally ignores Garif’s spell. Part of the reason may be the arrow that Damiar shot through it.
The sherif comes over and cuts off the head, just to make sure it is dead. Then he checks and is pleased to find that Dalton is still alive. He spends a little bit of time tying him up again, then says “Will need to watch this one, slipped out of the ropes once.”
He calms the villagers that are in the area and waits for some of the people who were frightened away to return.
When Ekira returns, she seems a bit embarrassed about having run.
Once all of your group and Ekira have returned, Tobias looks to Ekira and says “The evidence they gave, plus the appearance of that!” waving his sword in the direction of the quasit “makes me believe these folks are to be commended for finding the real murderer and their accomplice.”
“Do you agree?”
Ekira looks at the quasit, then Dalton. She hesitates, then says “Yes, it seems they were not responsible for what happened here.”
Looking over the quasit you find a scroll, a wand, 4 rubies, and a silver unholy symbol.
The sheriff says “I will want to know what each of those items are — plus any possessions of Dalton — before I can allow your group to keep any of it.”
|
"Hmph...Ah'm not surprised. This symbol belongs t' Shax, The Blood Marquis," Shieara snorts with disgust after getting a good look at the unholy symbol. "An' his sacred animal is a danged stork. Guess that answers that part of th' mystery."
When it comes to identifying the other items however, Shieara just shrugs and points to Phinellippa and Damiar. "Dunno, you'd have t' ask them what these things do. Ah'm more interested in what Dalton here has t' say for himself once he wakes up!"
Although puzzled by the stork comment, Tobias points to the unholy symbol and says “That needs to be destroyed, although I don’t mind if you keep the silver slag after our blacksmith melts it down.”
Looking to Shieara and then Ekira, he says “If either of you want to make sure it is properly neutralized, I have no objection.”
Damiar recognizes that the wand contains the Undetectable Alignment spell and has 12 charges left.
The scroll contains the spell shield of faith.
Frowning, Tobias says “I will want the wand destroyed in that case. I don’t want anything like that around here!”
He smiles and nods in response to Shieara’s offer.
Ekira is somewhat less enthused. Glaring at Shieara she says “I’ll be watching you, Pathfinder!” There is still more than a little venom in the way she says Pathfinder.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Yeah, okay," Shieara sighs, though she does manage to resist the urge to roll her eyes at the inquisitor. "Whatever helps you sleep at night. Ah'm pretty sure me an' th' rest of my mates here are plenty ready t' hit th' road back to Absalom or wherever they send us next once everythin's accounted for so you won't have t' put up with us for much longer."
|
Kleines speaks again to Ekira, giving a respectful bow. "I'll not deny that there are some bad seeds in our Society, just as there are in any organization that large. That does not mean, however, that we are all such, and I hope you will someday allow yourself to see the good we are capable of as well. Until then, I wish you peace."
Ekira is about to scoff at what Kleines said, then pauses.
“It will take more than a few words to convince me of that. I have seen the traitorous behavior of your society, and a single instance of you evidently not being involved doesn’t change that.”
Looking at Tovril’s corpse and then Dalton’s unconscious body, she then says “Perhaps I should give you that chance to convince me though. If that is your wish, we can talk after this mess” gesturing around the area “is cleared up.”
With that, she starts seeing that none of the civilians are hurt. She does glare at Phinellippa briefly after talking to the one townsfolk who was frightened by Torvil and then blinded by her spell.
|
Once the mess is cleaned up, Damiar approaches Ekira. "Fair enough. Would you like to hear stories of our other missions? I and Iovo... Where is Iovo, anyway? Anyway, my sister and I have had a lot of missions together. I've been with this group of Pathfinders for a while, and most of our missions have involved rescues rather than plunder. Would you like to hear some of our stories?"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Back straight, she peers at Damiar for a bit.
“Stories, no. I am only interested in the truth.” she imperiously replies. Looking down at Damiar, she adds “Are you even capable of telling what happened without embellishments?”
Even if she didn’t have the silver holy symbol of Iomedae around her neck, the haughty attitude would have made you suspect who she followed.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"The truth is as Damiar says, most of our missions have ended up being rescues. We saved our friend from a minotaur, we saved a young lady from Galtan kidnappers, we saved another group from Razmiran kidnappers, and another young man from the bandits that had kidnapped him. Along the way, we discovered an ancient temple to Aroden on Kortos, destroyed an undead menace and the necromancer responsible, and exposed the weaponsmith that had been supplying the bandits. Oh, and we met a talking lion statue in a library."
Looking to Kleines with a bit more respect, she says “Tell me more of the circumstances surrounding the necromancer.”
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Although not impressed by his delivery, Ekira does appreciate Garif’s brief but to the point explanation of what happened.
“Seeking out and destroying a necromancer and rescuing hostages are not things I would have expected from members of the Pathfinder Society.” she admits. “I may have been too hasty in my judgement.”
“I will need to meditate on this.”
She bids you good day and leaves.
——
Later that day Corwin Burke, Torum Grunsch and Dakota Spire are released from their imprisonment. The sheriff and Ekira both pronounce them innocent of any wrongdoing. The sheriff gives each of them a jar of jam as recompense for the inconvenience caused them. The Pathfinder agents are eager to return to Starrise Spire for their debriefing and hopefully a mission far from Dawnton.
Word spreads in Dawnton that there will still be a hanging, but only one person — Dalton Krunne.
Iovo shows up with a dwarf in tow, explaining “This is the guy who told me about the man with the straggly beard. Sorry it took so long for me to find him.” She just shrugs when she finds out it is all over. “Glad it turned out all right!”
As the two of them hear what happened, the dwarf comments “Knew that fellow was no good! Anyone thinking that little bit of fuzz constitutes a beard is not to be trusted!” He wanders off shortly after that.
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
"Wasn't the necromancer by the Gillmen already dead when we found him, killed by his own creatures? I was thinking of the one at the funeral in Katheer, who posed as the Pharasman priestess." And what does it say about this world that we've already encountered multiple necromancers, so early in our careers?
|
|
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Garif makes a shushing gesture as Kleines speaks, looking to be sure that Ekira is well out of earshot. "Yeah, yeah, I think you're right. This is why I try to leave Damiar to tell the stories, and I study the rocks. Though I wouldn't mind studying those jars of jam the sheriff has - you think we could convince one of the freed Pathfinders to part with one, since we got them out?"
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Back straight, she peers at Damiar for a bit.
“Stories, no. I am only interested in the truth.” she imperiously replies. Looking down at Damiar, she adds “Are you even capable of telling what happened without embellishments?”
Even if she didn’t have the silver holy symbol of Iomedae around her neck, the haughty attitude would have made you suspect who she followed.
Damiar sighs with relief when Ekira leaves. Still under the Zone of Truth, she admits, "No, I'm not really capable of telling what happened without embellishments! What kind of bard does she think I am?"
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
"Man, Ah knew that Iomedae's flock could be kinda uptight 'bout some things but she really took th' cake," Shieara sighs with relief after Ekira makes her departure. But then an unusually pensive look creeps over her face.
"She said Pathfinders were t' blame for what happened t' Kenabres. Ah know some of those demons got into people's minds an' all but it wasn't their fault. But Ah guess that's a hard pill t' swallow if a person lost friends, family, or comrades because of it," Shieara remarks sadly. "Ah know redemption an' forgiveness are more in Sarenrae an' Shelyn's wheelhouse but Ah hope maybe one day she'll be able t' forgive."
|
In the last adventure (Devil We Know, part 1: Shipyard Rats), you were asked by Venture-Captain Themis of Cassomir to locate a recently kidnapped Pathfinder named Cestis. At the same time, she introduced you to a timid young man named Nefti, explaining that he was the assistant to an Aspis Consortium agent named Kafar who was kidnapped from a secret auction along with the Cestis. Nefti's guided you to a closed dockside tavern where he suspected they were being held. There you fought some druids and their dire rate companions, and found Kafar (but not Cestis). You learned that the rest were taken to a ship docked at a nearby wharf.
Following the trail, you fought a group of half-orc monks guarding another group of prisoners, though Cestis was not among these either. Out of clues, you were attacked by an evil cleric and her undead guards just as you were making ready to leave the ship, and after defeating her you learned the location of another secret hiding place below a nearby warehouse where the remaining captives may be held.
In the first layer of the basement, you found more druids and more rats. Below, you found Dalirio, cleric of groetus and leader of the cult, along with some heucuva minions, guarding dozens of captives, including your missing Pathfinder.
|
|
Venture-Captain Hestia Themis, a woman of small stature, but great importance within Cassomir, sweeps locks of thick, raven hair away from her face. Just as she starts to speak, shrill horns bellow an alarm. Hestia pauses for the signal to quiet, a look of annoyance on her face. As the trumpeting ring fades, her booming voice continues. “Colleagues, the city of Cassomir declared a state of emergency this morning. Late last night, a swarm of rats poured into Cassomir’s streets, spilling from every sewer grate within the Old Cassomir district. As the city guards dealt with this infestation, a large assault force of derros penetrated Swift Prison. Within a few hours, the derros emptied the Swift, and marched their new slaves into the Darklands. Normally we defer incidents like this to the authorities, but I offered our assistance.
There’s an item of interest, a church bell called the bell of obedience, that may reside in Swift Prison’s chapel. We want to catalogue it and may never have another opportunity to explore the Swift unsupervised. While investigating the derro invasion, head to the chapel and inspect the bell. If possible, I want you to determine whether the Chapel’s bell is in fact the legendary bell of obedience without taking it from the prison. Cassomir’s constabulary is as of this moment fighting Cult of Nature’s Cataclysm devotees at the south entrance to the prison. The constabulary agreed to distract the cultists there so that you might approach the Swift from its north side and enter the prison from the south gate behind the cultists.”
At that moment, a teenage boy enters through the Cassomir Lodge’s front door and Themis gestures him over. “You remember Nefti. Though he works with the Aspis Consortium, he helped us rescue a fellow Pathfinder when this derro business began. It seems Nefti happened to be serving a debtor’s term inside the Swift when the abductions took place. For his testimony to last night’s events we secured his release. He agreed to escort you to a spot north of the Swift where he will tell you all he knows. Any questions?”
|
|
|
|
"I'm afraid not, Iovo," the Venture-Captain responds. "There are plenty of people in Cassomir that fit that description. As for the bell, I'm hoping you can get at least a few minutes with it to record as many details as possible. While I would love to have official license to examine it properly, this will have to be a rush job, I'm afraid."
|
|
Yeah, I've got a question, Garif thinks to himself, Could you possibly come up with a crazier plan for us to go look at what might be a magic bell than to do it in the middle of a fight with mad cultists at a during a prison break?
Rather than expressing this thought, however, he lays a hand on Nico's thick fur and says, "Not sure how much you'll like this trip, old fellow. But perhaps we'll find that the prison is constructed of some interesting stone, eh? I expect a prison would be grey and dull, but perhaps it's a nice pink granite, with lots of feldspar in it? More likely it's dark with biotite. At any rate, it seems it'll have rats for you to chase."
|
|
"Huh. So what'd th' derro want with a buncha pris'ners, anyway?" Shieara asks as she folds her arms across her chest. "Wouldn't it have been easier t' just snatch people off th' streets last night? Plenty'a chaos I'd bet, wouldn't have been too hard. Unless someone else was wantin' a look at that bell an' the pris'ners were just a handy payment..."
|
|
"There were people seen snooping around the chapel." Iovo points out. "I'm a little unclear about the timing of that though."
She pauses, thinking. "If the prisoners had been there for a while, the derro might have found them easy pickings. They might have already had the fight beaten out of them."
Looking to Phinellipa, she then asks "Assuming we have time, do you want to pick up a wand of Identify or shall I?"
|
|
When Phinellippa points to herself, Iovo nods and says “I will get the next one then, whatever that turns out to be.”
Looking to Venture-Captain Hestia Themis, she then says “So only two objectives? Investigate the bell in the chapel and investigate the derro invasion?”
“Anything specific you want us to find out about the invasion?”
With a concerned look, she inquires “Are we doing to pursue the derro if there is a chance of rescuing the prisoners? They may have committed crimes, but that doesn’t mean they deserve the life of a derro slave!”
Turning towards Nefti, Iovo smiles at him and asks “Why can’t you tell us what you know now? It might make a difference in what we want to bring with.”
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Eh, Ah hate these 'rush in an' hope for th' best' jobs but what can y'do?" Shieara sighs as she shoulders her pack and hefts her longspear. "Can't let them people be carted off like a buncha livestock! So Ah reckon Ah'm ready t' go unless there's somethin' one of y'all think we should nab right quick."
______________
|
|
"Y-yes, alright." Nefti leads you through twisting back alleys and side streets, avoiding nearby skirmishes between guards and cultists you can hear near the prison. Stopping just shy of Swift Prison's norther gate, he gestures toward the nearby walls and the ramshackle buildings within. "Th-this is as far as I go" the nervous boy says. "Beyond the Swift's thick gates are the Ismacco tunnels. Deep below the keep, within the sewers, the d-derros are marching the guards and prisoners into the depths of G-g-golarion. Be careful, though. I'm sure some of those Nature's Cataclysm freaks are still roaming the grounds!"