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Keeping his face and voice neutral, Kai simply nods. He has negotiated with too many criminals to know not to take everything at face value. "Indeed, this information is most intriguing. If I might ask, what exactly is the nature of this artifact that you wish to acquire? I know, it might not be of my business, but seeing how we would be entering into the danger zone, whatever information might be useful." He pauses here, as if considering something. "Hmm, these dream crystals mutated poor Sonarisa? Would it not do the same to us?"
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"I see. So you believe those lies, do you? Hmph." She points her chin skyward, and her face suddenly twists as she scowls at you. "You want to know so much about the artifact. Can't you see? You're my mercenaries! You shouldn't care as long as the pay is good. I don't need to explain myself further to get your help!"
The robed woman waggles her long hands. "If you won't do it for coin, you'll have to do it in exchange for your lives!"
Abtaroh begins gesturing arcanely, and thick, ropy tentacles shoot from the ground, grabbing everyone's feet!
-- Bold is up --
Abtaroh
Sirettis, Uesugi, D., Mr. Peppers, Kai
Cultist Red
Gallix
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As the woman weaves her spell Mr Peppers shakes his head in disappointment. At just the right moment he speaks but a single Elven word and the magic fails to complete.
"Didn't I just mention I was the Master of the Arcane? Were you not listening?" He says with all seriousness, but a small smile perks his cheeks.
He loves it when they forget though.
The tall, pale Arcane Master takes a step to clear the others then sends a trio of fiery blasts towards the woman's face.
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"Thank you, Mister Peppers." Sirettis exhales as the tentacles wither away. She turns to the witch. "Your lies are as empty as your soul. We will get Sonarisa the help she deserves. But you are beyond saving."
Assuming Abtaroh doesn't survive the incoming onslaught, Sirettis turns her attention to the cultist. "First, sleep. Then, you will meet your master."
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[dice=Counterspell/Dispel Check]1d20+10+2
As the woman weaves her spell Mr Peppers shakes his head in disappointment. At just the right moment he speaks but a single Elven word and the magic fails to complete.
"Didn't I just mention I was the Master of the Arcane? Were you not listening?" He says with all seriousness, but a small smile perks his cheeks.
** spoiler omitted **
The tall, pale Arcane Master takes a step to clear the others then sends a trio of fiery blasts towards the woman's face.
[dice=Casting Scorching Ray, +2CL (1st Ray):Ranged Touch Attack/Caster Check/Damage]1d20+8;1d20+18;4d6
[dice=Casting Scorching Ray, +2CL (2nd Ray):Ranged Touch Attack/Caster Check/Damage]1d20+8;1d20+18;4d6
[dice=Casting Scorching Ray, +2CL (3rd Ray):Ranged Touch Attack/Caster Check/Damage]1d20+8;1d20+18;4d6
"You are most welcome."
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The tentacles quickly subside as Lord Peppers dismisses the spell with a single word. "Blasted elf!" She grumbles. D lobs a blast of sand at Abtaroh, knocking her flat on her back. Mr. Peppers fries her with a couple scorching rays, and then Uesugi drives his dagger deep into the frail sorceress' belly, instantly killing her.
The lone cultist looks around sheepishly. "Um..." He steels his mind against Sirettis' hex, but Kai's spread finds its mark deep in the cultist's flesh, the pain knocking him unconscious.
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"Quickly, see if either of them can be saved for questioning!" He looks to Sirettis and Kai as hopeful medics.
This woman and her minions were definitely as useless as a gnomish house keeper. Also a good lesson to keep thicker friends in front of you. He thinks as he looks at Uesugi, Kai, and Gallix with a smile.
He listens for any other approaching reinforcements before starting a thorough search of the room.
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"How foolish of me. I should have expected her treachery from the start." Sirettis sighs, uncomfortable. "We did get valuable information from her, though. Like the ship and the flesh eating beasts. We should prepare for that."
She turns to Sonarisa. "How are you doing? When we return to town I will need to you wear a cloak and avoid flying during the day. I will keep you fed and make sure you get some rest. Do you understand?"
<Of course she does, she is your thrall.>
Sirettis shakes another terrible thought from her mind.
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"A cloak. Sonarisa will wear a cloak." The mutated woman looks at Abtaroh and the cultist unconscious. "My friends are dead. I do not understand. Your friends killed them. Oh." Sonarisa shuffles forward towards Abtaroh's corpse, but stops and turns back. Then turns and walks back towards her, and repeats this process over and over.
Mr. Peppers surveys the room. He finds a journal, which seems to be written in Aklo. It would take hours to really read through it properly, but it contains page upon page of notes, and even includes a map.
The tables to the north also hold a number of alchemical and magical supplies.
Abtaroh carried 2 potions of cure moderate wounds, a wand of mirror image with 12 charges remaining, a light crossbow, an amulet of natural armor +1, a belt of mighty constituion +2, an efficient quiver, and a headband of alluring charisma +2.
There are also three more spheres similar to the sphere Sonarisa had with her.
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Kai glances at Mr Peppers, wondering why he is staring. When he sees him gestures to the two unmoving forms, he nods in understanding. Then, rather surprising, the usually collected Kai looks somewhat embarassed "Apologies, but my medicinal skills are somewhat... lacking. It was an area of study that I had always thought of looking into, but somehow it never came up."
Instead, he turns to the items that Mr Peppers has unconvered in searching in the room, sharing what he knows of them.
Kai is most intrigued by the spheres. "Some more of them. One is a curiousity, but four is definitely a pattern. Looks like we might indeed be dealing with something from the Vast."
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Sirettis's face twists into a look of pure rage as Kai describes the potions and their contents. She glares at Abtaroh, ready to kick the corpse until Sonarisa's rambling kicks in. "I am very sorry, Sonarisa. These were not your friends. They... hurt you, deeply." Sirettis weeps, unable to continue.
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Gallix moves over and offers Sirettis a hug. "I know, Sis. These people were awful, yet Sonarisa thought of them as friends. Just goes to show you how good it is to have true friends who look out for you, right?"
Looking around at the group, Gallix can see the wear of the day on several faces, so he suggests the party head back into town. "If Abtaroh wasn't lying about the beasties guarding the ship, we're probably gonna want to go in at full strength. We should go get rested up first."
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Mr Peppers does his own investigation of the reagents and nods with agreement, as a teacher would to a student, to Kai's assessment. "Magical indeed. Strange."
As Kai describes the toxins Mr Peppers quickly loses interest "Alchemical treasures I'm sure. Not nearly as powerful as true magic, but useful none the less."
"More planet representations. I know I should be more interested in these due to my new affiliation with the Concordance, but it just doesn't get the juices flowing."
He does at least get a bit excited as he easily identifies the magical loot that lights up his glowing eyes "Some useful items here... unless someone else could put this mirror image wand to use I'll hold on to it."
"Alright Gallix, you've convinced me. Let's get back to town for a warm bath and a glass of wine. I'll go through that journal over dinner."
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Having looted the Nesher Mines and eliminated all cultists threats within, you depart alongside a cloaked Sonarisa. The half-mutant makes the travel back a little slower than it might have been otherwise, as she's constantly distracted by the stars and night sky, but you're soon back at the Mineshaft to meet Dalviss Crenn and his barkeep, Nalan, who grumbles impatiently as you enter. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like business has gotten much better.
"Oh, and you're back again! And.. with a.. who's she? Is that a snout?" Dalviss walks up close to Sonarisa and looks at her face. "Oh my. What's happened to her? Doesn't look like something the church here would be able to handle! Come on, bring her over. Let's get her some food, at least!"
Leeara emerges from her bedroom and rushes over as well. "Oh, my. It is.. just like it was with me," she frowns, looking at Sonarisa's bat wing.
Nalan sighs loudly and begins preparing food and drink for a late dinner, giving you the chance to fill Dalviss in. It also allows Mr. Peppers enough time to finish reading over Abtaroh's journal. He learns the following...
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Abtaroh has received visions from an entity she knows only as the Emissary from Beyond, a creature that she believes her family has been waiting generations to aid. The visions drove her to come to Dustpawn after a ship the Emissary had infected crashed in the region, and also to gather the strange crystals that fell from the ship and were scattered across the countryside. She details instructions from the visions about how to grind up the crystals and create the potent toxin with which her cultists have laced the drinking water of Dustpawn, and notes that those who drink the water will be graced with bestial dreams to prepare them for a glorious transformation into the Emissary's army upon its arrival.
Abtaroh notes that the crew members of the crashed ship have all been transformed by the Emissary's dreams and visions into monstrous half-beasts that the Emissary can use as its soldiers and minions. Once the Emissary arrives, those in Dustpawn who have been prepared via the polluted waters will transform as well, granting the Emissary an instant army to use at its whim.
In her visions granted by the Emissary from Beyond, Abtaroh saw a powerful orrery in a crashed ship from the stars, but the orrery was missing some of the planets. The orrery is a powerful item that she wants for herself, and fears for its ability to harm the Emissary from Beyond. If she can control it, she can prevent it from being used against the Emissary, or even offer it as a sacrifice. So far, she's recovered four of the planetary spheres, taking them from a mutated elven oracle from the crashed ship. Abtorah's notes indicate the oracle was obsessed with the spheres and became distraught after they were taken from her. The cultists brought the oracle back to the mine with them, and have her cast create water so they have fresh supplies; all Abtaroh needs to do to enforce her compliance is to hold one oft he spheres out in view.
One of the four planetary spheres Abtaroh has gathered has been stolen by a local huntress-Abtaroh notes that she managed to trigger an id mutation in the huntress, but the woman escaped anyway. Abtaroh suspects the huntress fled into the swamp to the east, and though she recently sent a few of her cultists into the swamp after her, she hasn't yet heard back from them and fears they may have been killed.
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"Yes, Sonarisa was infected. Unfortunately, it is too strong for anyone here to help." She sighs. "She is under my control for now, and will make no trouble. But her mind is almost lost."
Mister Peppers reads the journal entries- Sirettis is much too depressed to read it herself. "Leeara, you took one of these spheres, correct? We will need to control as many as we can. This... Emissary must be repelled."
"We also need to check the water supply- they would need some way to keep poisoning the river. Either we killed all of the cultists already, or we need to stop them now so Duskspawn can recover naturally."
"Who is this oracle? She may know more. Or her mind is lost and we should... put her to rest."
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Mr Peppers nearly spits out his wine when he reads about the tainted water, he looks up at Dalviss and Naran "This isn't made here in town is it? And I think we may know why the town is going nuts... where is the water supply?"
He slides away his plate of food as well. "I believe I've lost my appetite."
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Kai also sets down his mug immediately. Turning to Dalviss, he requests, "Please, bring me to the local water supplies immediately. I need to test which are polluted, and hopefully, find sources that are safe." Turning back to his party, "In the mean time, we might need to find magical means to supply the town with safe drinking water until we can be sure to end the threat of the cult for good. Would the local clerics be able to help?"
"Ageed, Sirettis. We should track down this elven oracle, even if only to ... help her."
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"POISONED WATER!?" Dalviss slams his fist down on his table. "This explains why those cunning cultists had so many waterskins kept in their rooms!" He huffs off to the common room and gathers up armfuls of waterskins, quickly returns and dumps them on the table. "See? How could I have not seen this! Even the most hydrated traveler wouldn't store this many waterskins. Nalan, you should keep a better eye on our guests!"
The barkeep sighs. "Y-yes... I suppose I should. We will have to alert the town mayor immediately."
"I did have one of those spheres, and you found it back in that cave you found me in. I believe the town clerics here should be able to create water until we're able to figure out how to properly remove the toxins from the water," Leeara adds.
Sonarisa's bat ears perk up at the words, and suddenly, an empty mug sitting on the table is filled with water. "Water. Sonarisa helps with water."
"Now I've seen it all," Dalviss face twists. "We've gotta get to the bottom of this. I'll speak to the mayor first thing in the morning, and ensure the water supply is cut off from anyone in Dustpawn consuming it. But! This ship that the journal mentions intrigues me, and it looks like the journal also had a map. That might be the next best place to investigate. Could be more cultists there."
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"I think your bartender is right. You should really wake the mayor immediately about this. A poisoned water supply isn't something that should be delayed. Every moment could count." Mr Peppers then definitely regrets selling off his wand of create water not too many months back. Who'd have thought!
As Sonarisa creates water Mr Peppers smiles "I think we have found our Elven friend... let's get some rest and get to this ship as quickly as possible in the morning."
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"Yes, you're right," Dalviss laces up his boots. "This can't wait until the morning. I'm going to the mayor right now!" He shouts as he throws open the Mineshaft door, cursing as he steps outside.
Leeara finds Sonarisa a place to sleep in the common room, but Sonarisa doesn't want to leave Sirettis' side, so she perches on the table in Sirettis' room and shuts her eyes.
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The morning after, Dalviss has returned with a few jugs of water. "Well! Glad that's dealt with, at least for now. Mayor's got his people handing out waterskins - filled with that magically good created water. Hope it's not too late though!" He dumps himself on a chair. "Goodness. With the town not being so grumpy, maybe I'll finally get some business here!"
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Sirettis wakes up, feeling pretty good. She makes sure Sonarisa is well fed, and gives the woman a bath. She casts Overland Flight and hovers around.
"Good. Using the waterskins will slow down and gradually reverse the poison." Sirettis calls Sonarisa to her side. "We must investigate the ship as soon as possible."
Once they are en route, Sirettis casts Mage Armor to protect herself further.
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Kai awake refreshed but troubled. If the cult could create this level of chaos in a small village, he wonders what level of madness would descend upon Absalom, his home city, should they have struck there. He ponders how quickly the curse would spread through a much larger population that depends on only a few water sources, and how much more challenging it would be to provide sufficient magically created water for all the residents even if it was caught in time. He shudders at the thought.
"Agreed. We need to put an end to this scourge as quickly as possible."
He gulps down the contents of an extract before setting off.
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Mr Peppers rises at his normal hour in the morning, everyone can find him seated in the dining area reading his spellbook as usual. "Good morning. I've been thinking we need to protect ourselves from exposure to this poison. Is anyone able to cast delay poison or some similar magic?"
As the group prepares to leave Mr Peppers grants himself the ability to fly before unlearning the spell for something more combat related He then also applies false life. Saving his shorter term enhancements for their arrival.
"Sirettis, can you ask your new thrall how long it'll take us to get to the ship and if there are any obstacles we need to deal with on the way?" Unless he already knows of things thanks to the map.
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"Good morning. I've been thinking we need to protect ourselves from exposure to this poison. Is anyone able to cast delay poison or some similar magic?"
"Good point, Mister Peppers. I am capable of casting Delay Poison. I will buy 2 scrolls of the communal version."
"Sirettis, can you ask your new thrall how long it'll take us to get to the ship and if there are any obstacles we need to deal with on the way?" Unless he already knows of things thanks to the map.
Sirettis winces as Mister Peppers call Sonarisa her thrall. It was the correct term, but it left a bitter taste in her throat. I have full control of her actions. I must be careful. "Sonarisa, how far away is the ship? What obstacles should we worry about? What of these flesh eating creatures Abtaroh warned us of?"
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"Ship? What is ship?" Sonarisa paws at her furry belly. "Creatures guard home. Wings. Feed on dead. Others like I there too. Friends? Not remember."
"Didn't that notebook come with a map?" Dalviss grumbles, clearly getting impatient with the mutant's broken Taldane. "Let me see it."
Turning to the back reveals a map that matches up with the one you had found kept by the cultist's in the common room. "This place is probably about five miles or so away. A few hours travel, at most."
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"Yes, likely home is the ship. We'll need to make the decision now about how we are going to deal with this mutants. Sirettis here can't dominate them all and I can't do that right now either. I'm assuming their level of aggression will lead to full lethality. Do we know of a cure besides very high level and expensive magic?" He questions the group as they travel.
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Sonarisa guides you south away from the river and through the hills. After only about an hour and a half of travel, you notice fumes wafting into the air from behind a hilltop. Traveling up the hill reveals a great furrow carved between them. The ground is blasted and scorched, and the trees surrounding the area are charred and burnt leafless. The furrow only somewhat resembles a crater for the huge object embedded at its center obviously struck the ground at an angle. This object resembles nothing so much as a streamlined arrowhead of stone and strange crystal. A huge crack along the object's southern side allows brief glimpses into the dark interior, revealing the thing to be hollow. Now and then, crystals along the object's length sparkle and sizzle, sending up a faint plume of strange green smoke. Dozens of large vultures perch atop the object or lurk in the burnt branches of the surrounding trees-the birds are strangely silent and watchful, as if they know death is imminent in the area.
"Sonarisa's home," the mutant murmurs, nodding her snout at the crack in the hull.
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Sirettis flies in and casts Delay Poison, Communal on 5 people, then Delay Poison two more times to cover herself and Sonarisa.
"If we need more than five hours here I will use the other scroll." She looks around. "We should be on the look out for those terrible flesh-eating beasts."