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"Aaaaahhhhhh, NOOOO!" Screams the wizard as he's suddenly locked in mid-air. Gravity quickly takes over and he goes plunging 40 feet into the caravan below.
Seeing only the aura of a mage armor spell on the wizard as he falls, Mr. Peppers pelts him with a barrage of force missiles.
-- Bold is up --
D.Arth
Mercenaries yellow (shaken), blue (shaken), orange (calmed)
Caravan Driver red
Cup, Mr. Peppers (-5), Sirettis (-5), Longjing
Aurumvorax (-45, blind 6)
Uesugi (-9)
Mercenary pink (calmed), Driver green
Gallix
Consortium Wizard (-31, blind 6, paralyzed 7, fly)
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Cup is sad that she does not have her little pirate friend. She decides to keep her last charm monster spell, and instead she pulls out her wand of ill omen.
She points it at the Consortium Wizard and casts while maintaining her performance for everyone else, because she does not want him to become free of any of his spells.
“Rawwwwwwwwk! Dread Pirate Attack!”
Longjing aids Uesugi’s next attack!
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Still blinded, Goro has no idea where to go! So he sniffs the air curiously, and moves towards where he thinks he smelled D.
D takes a chomp to his leg for the first time in months, though most of the damage bounces of his force ward.
-- Bold is up --
D.Arth (-8)
Mercenaries yellow (shaken), blue (shaken), orange (calmed)
Caravan Driver red
Cup, Mr. Peppers (-5), Sirettis (-5), Longjing
Aurumvorax (-45, blind 5)
Uesugi (-9)
Mercenary pink (calmed), Driver green
Gallix
Consortium Wizard (-31, blind 6, paralyzed 7, fly)
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The pink-eyed mercenary breaks from his calm with the first slice of Uesugi's blade, then immediately falls to the ground unconscious as the second slice follows it. Gallix hops through the trees and gives the Consortium wizard a punch to the chest!
"Please, please, don't kill me!" The wizard pleads as his vision returns to the sight of Gallix standing above him.
-- Bold is up --
D.Arth (-4)
Mercenaries yellow, blue, orange (calmed)
Caravan Driver red
Cup, Mr. Peppers (-5), Sirettis (-5), Longjing
Aurumvorax (-45, blind 5)
Uesugi (-9)
Driver green
Gallix
Consortium Wizard (-51, paralyzed 6, fly)
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D blasts the many-legged beast again, gravely wounding the creature, but not dealing quite enough damage to kill it.
The two remaining angry mercenaries kneel and line up a set of shots at Uesugi.
Uesugi watches two arrows slide through his armor and flesh, and feels a nasty pain spread throughout his body.
Orange wanders into the fog cloud, still trying to get closer to the chest.
-- Bold is up --
D.Arth (-4)
Mercenaries yellow, blue, orange (calmed)
Caravan Driver red
Cup, Mr. Peppers (-5), Sirettis (-5), Longjing
Aurumvorax (-89, blind 5)
Uesugi (-30)
Driver green
Gallix
Consortium Wizard (-51, paralyzed 6, fly)
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Sirettis nods as she sees the drivers cowering. "Good, now I don't have to beat the curse out of you."
She moves up behind a tree and glares at the fallen wizard. "Tsk tsk. Aspis Consortium? No wonder you gave into the Pirate's curse so quickly. I'll put you to sleep for a bit and we'll work this all out later."
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The wizard curls up and falls asleep, and his prized Aurumvorax remains trapped in the fog cloud, still blinded and nearly helpless. The remaining mercenaries surrender their weapons while both caravan guards take shelter in the covered wagons.
The chest remains precariously balanced above a cliff.
Gold bars. Lots of gold bars!
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Cup turns to Sirettis. “Should I ill-omen, while you charm the beast back into his cage? It is not yon beastie’s fault that he is serving that ill mannered land lubber of a wizard, yarr!”
To the drivers, she asks, “We spare ye lives, as we do not need more sailors. Go tell everyone that the Dread Emerald Pixie is the fiercest ship on the sea!”
To D she nods, “And fetch that chest, swabbie!”
A white raven begins circling overhead. The bird is Sheila Heidmarch’s signal that you should wrap things up and head back to Heidmarch Manor with or without the Aspis Consortium’s gold.
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Sirettis charms the Aurumvorox and convinces it back to the cage. She disarms the wizard of his spellbook and anything of value.
"Dread Emerald Pixie...yes, that's a good name. Hehehehe!"
"You mercenaries are smart to lay down. You will live today. But do not follow! We have to get this cursed gold away!" Sirettis cackles into the night.
"...Well, that was fun. We minimized casualties and cut off their supply. Let's get this lost, quickly. We shouldn't bring this close to the Heidmarch Manor."
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Mr Peppers sees the surrender of the remaining forces and reloads and stows his crossbow. He'll take a magical gander over the chest and of course any loot that is found.. particularly he's hoping to find a spellbook from the old man. "Lets just be sure there isn't anything funny going on here and we can be off."
Out of earshot to the others Mr Peppers suggests to Uesugi "That sword of yours would be quite useful to disable that wagon, and we could borrow those horses for most of the trip back. Timely pursuit would be a bad thing."
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The mercenaries and drivers, thoroughly terrified of the Dread Pirate's curse and of their recent failure in defending their crate, submit to the Red Arm of Absalom.
Searching around the area, Cup finds a note in the sleeping wizard's pocket regarding the terms of sale of a non-intelligent magical beast for 20,000 gold pieces. The beast was to be sold to one Jorston 'Axetongue' Droaeb, the gamemaster at Serpent's Run, Magnimar's famous coliseum.
Also on the wizard, Mr. Peppers is glad to find the following loot:
a scroll of stoneskin, a scroll of true strike, wand of black tentacles (CL 13th, 2 charges), wand of create pit (3 charges), amulet of natural armor +1, cloak of resistance +1, a headband of vast intelligence, and his spellbook!
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The mercenaries and drivers, thoroughly terrified of the Dread Pirate's curse and of their recent failure in defending their crate, submit to the Red Arm of Absalom.
Searching around the area, Cup finds a note in the sleeping wizard's pocket regarding the terms of sale of a non-intelligent magical beast for 20,000 gold pieces. The beast was to be sold to one Jorston 'Axetongue' Droaeb, the gamemaster at Serpent's Run, Magnimar's famous coliseum.
Also on the wizard, Mr. Peppers is glad to find the following loot:
a scroll of stoneskin, a scroll of true strike, wand of black tentacles (CL 13th, 2 charges), wand of create pit (3 charges), amulet of natural armor +1, cloak of resistance +1, a headband of vast intelligence, and his spellbook!
Mr Peppers quickly and excitedly identifies the belongings of the wizard "This man is well funded! His equipment is quite nice! These wands, scrolls! And I haven't even checked out that spellbook yet!" He gives the Dread Pirate Green Sparkles Gnome a look that can be best described as: ME FIRST!
Two hours before the auction is slated to begin, Sheila Heidmarch calls everyone back to the theater for another emergency briefing. She appears greatly agitated and her tenor is one of immediacy.
“My friends, we have little time and much work to do, so I’m going to make this simple. While you were dealing with the Aspis Consortium, my informants in the city investigated the individuals you reported on from last night’s gala. It seems a number of them have sufficient funds to jeopardize our efforts. In what little time remains, I need you to prevent as many of them from participating in the auction as possible. My agents will provide each of your groups with a mission brief. Once you complete the task, return here to inform us of the results, and we shall quickly set you upon another mission. Again, we need you to complete as many missions as you can before the auction starts. But remember to keep your efforts clandestine and try not to kill anyone important. We’re still trying to win the auction somewhat legally.”
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“Shall we sell the Aurumovox?” Cup asks. “As much as I love having a new crew member, yon beastie seems a mite unruly.”
"S-sell it?" Sirettis almost stammers before catching herself. "I'd rather death over slavery, especially if it's sentient."
Sirettis stands to attention as Sheila describes the new mission. "I'm not surprised. It's not like Aspis is our only competition here."
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Mr Peppers does his best to try reading a spellbook as he rides back to Magnimar on a stolen horse, but he gives up quickly. Damn, can't an Elf get a few minutes of peace and quiet to read a stolen spellbook?
At the briefing Mr Peppers, still a bit agitated at the rush of everything, pipes up "That chest contained lots of gold, it should give us at least the upper hand verses the Aspis. Although it may be prudent to repackage its value into something less obvious as freshly stolen gold."
Tall, dark and agitated winces a bit at Sirettis's statement about selling the creature. "I see your point, maybe we can do some more research on this creature, it seems pretty uncommon..."
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Sheila Heidmarch nods firmly at Sirettis. "I'm glad you understand. Now, do you have any preference as to who you might seek out fist, or shall I give you a rundown?"
You recall the list of names you'd seen at the gala. Sheila also notices the prized auruomvorax you'd returned with. "Oh? You rescued it from the Aspis caravan? That beast looks like something you'd see at Axetongue's Colosseum here in Magnimar. Perhaps you might return it to him?"
"While you're there, be mindful that we’re still a little short on funds and we need to make some quick coin. If you’re daring enough, head over to the Alabaster District and enter a hydra baiting competition at the Serpent’s Run coliseum. The Master of Games, Axetongue Droaeb, has offered a decent sized purse to adventurers willing to get in the ring with one of his ferocious multi-headed beasts. As always, this event draws a tremendous crowd, one whose coin will more than double the purse he pays to contest participants."
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"I would rather gather the funds from this Master of Games. I do not like that we may be used as bandits to stop the other bidders from competing. Against the Aspis I am fine with. Against the others makes me want to reconsider, but first we should see what each task entails."
[ooc]GM is it possible to get a one line summary of the task being asked of us or would you rather just paste the wall of text?[/b]
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Mr Peppers smiles and holds up his hand as Sirettis tries to heal him. "That arrow was merely soaked up by my powerful arcane shield. It is nothing divine magic can repair. I believe D was shot though."
At the mention of the Games and Hydras, Mr Peppers will think on what he's heard of the creatures known as 'Hydras'. "Ah yes, Hydra. A magical beast of great renown, and many, many heads."
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"Ah, yes, you wouldn't be Pathfinders if you didn't want all the details, would you?" Sheila smiles.
"I heard Falrig Sneve was trying to conserve funds for the auction, so we allowed him to stay at Haruka House on our manor grounds. Perhaps you might trick him that the Runecarved Key is cursed in some way?"
"We're not sure how much of a threat Dymal Rinks is in terms of winning the auction, but we don't want to take any chances. Rinks owes a debt to someone, and that certain someone may be out for blood. Perhaps we can provide a little guidance."
"I need not warn you how much of a threat Lady Kaddren is to our mission—she is wealthy, powerful, a wizard, and she hates us. Thankfully, our talented informants seem to have uncovered her weakness: scandal! I need you to collect, fabricate, or purchase enough hard evidence to be
able to blackmail her."
"It seems the Runecarved Key has attracted the attention of a small exporting company run by the dubious Vaor family of Underbridge. Head down there and find out the details."
"I’m not sure yet how we can get Doctor Landis to back out of the auction, or if we fail, if we can outbid him; at least not until we know who is acting as his anonymous patron. Go to the museum and see if you can get Doctor Landis to introduce you to his anonymous patron."
"There were two women at the pre-auction who paid their deposit in Minkaian coins which, according to our sources, may have been stolen during a recent caravan raid. The women call themselves the Duchesses and they likely have ties to one of Magnimar’s criminal organizations."
"Prior to the founding of our lodge, the Pathfinder Society had few contacts and fewer resources here in Magnimar. One of our best was an alchemist and a sage name Darga Cranstone. Our organization paid her an advance for some research. Then, she disappeared. I need you to go to Cranstone’s tower and collect the fee she owes us, with interest."
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"Ah, so you'll be heading the Coliseum," Sheila Heidmarch nods, then repeats the objective, somehow word for word! "At the Serpent's Run, The Master of Games, Axetongue Droaeb, has offered a decent sized purse to adventurers willing to get in the ring with one of his ferocious multi-headed beasts. As always, this event draws a tremendous crowd, one whose coin will more than double the purse he pays to contest participants."
Cup and Uesugi know that the Coliseum holds at least three hundred excitable spectators in stone rows elevated up to a hundred feet from the coliseum ground. A group or competitors enter while a gate closes behind them, and the objective is stay in combat for as long as possible - both for rewards, and for crowd popularity, of course.
With that in mind, you make your war to Serpent's Run, where you find the Master of Games, a stout dwarf with a magnificent beard that would make even Zeus jealous. He hobbles up to you. "Here ta enter the tournament? All ya gotta do is fight the hydra for six rounds, and you'll take the whole pot! Ten thousand wee gold pieces!" He pats his bulging belly. "If ya last longer than thae, yer gonna git a bonus! Longer fights means more excitement, more excitement means more betting, more betting means more riches for The Master of Games!" He shouts loudly and obnoxiously. "Now if yer ready, the show's about ta start. Or do ya got other business to attend to first?" He notices you've entered with a fine-looking beast, and bends over to look at it. "Oy, thae looks like the one Barsuvius was supposed ta sell me. I'll take it off yer hands fer the agreed price."
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“Make it last for over six rounds? We can do that!” Cup claps. “Would you like me to stir up the crowd? We can give them a show they will never forget!”
She looks at Uesugi and Gallix. “Do you want to do this without my song? That would prolong the fight more... Or do you have another plan to make this stretch out?”
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"Yer gonna be fightin' a Pyrohydra! Nasty thing," The Master of Games explains. Mr. Peppers knows that pyrohydras breathe fire, of course, and that their heads can regenerate. They're weak to cold. They have six heads, and can bite six times! "... And you'll be fightin' two of 'em! Still interested?" He laughs.
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Mr Peppers begins to sweat a bit as the man says PYRO, and that sweating gets a bit more profuse as he says TWO! Tall, dark and nervous looks to the others to see if they are still interested. All my fire spells.. useless!
"If we do intend to go through with this, I suggest we kill off one rather quickly then play up the fight with the second. Six heads with their own sets of teeth isn't something we should take TOO many chances with just for a bit of extra gold." Mr Peppers pulls out his spellbook and flips through pages, shaking his head and muttering to himself.
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"Well," Gallix says, finally piping up for the first time since the fight the day before, "Sounds like this should be fun." He kneels down and looks up at his companions, drawing out a rudimentary battle plan in the dust. "Alright, Red Arm, here's what I'm thinking. Peppers, I think you should hit Uesugi with that wand that makes him bigger. 'Sugi, slice and dice those heads. The heads regenerate, so it's not a permanent solution, but that will only help prolong the fight and entertain the crowds. Meanwhile, Sir D and I will work on the other hydra. I'll keep the heads twisted up, and D, you can blast away. Again, though, the showier you can make it, the better. Sirettis and Cup, you two be your beautiful selves and help us stay on our feet and help keep the crowd going. That sound pretty good to everyone?"