Heryn gathers the new Pathfinders and escorts them to the cellars below, where she leads them to where Drandle Dreng’s requested vintage is stored. The basement of the Wounded Wisp is a stonework affair, having had its foundation strengthened following a significant donation by a Society member only to suffer damage during the quake of 4698. A set of wooden stairs descends from the main floor into this tightly packed storeroom. Barrels, boxes, and crates of assorted foodstuffs and drink garnishes are pushed against the walls or under the stairs.
She takes great care in warning them about the treacherous footing in chamber at the bottom of the stairs which was formerly a meeting room where the staff of the Wounded Wisp could converse or take time off between shifts. Several fissures split the floor, leading down to an equally damaged section of the city’s sewer system. Heryn notes that she plans on having the wooden board replaced — an inexpensive strategy the Wisp’s staff have favored over committing to more extensive, and hence expensive, repairs.
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Ēoswulf grimaces a little and carefully makes his way over the plank. He looks relieved once safe on the other side.
-Posted with Wayfinder
As your party crosses the rickety plank, Heryn stays on the far side and says, "So Drandel Dreng's requested vintage is a CHÂTEAU LAFITE, 1487." as she reads off a small slip of paper which she slips into her apron when done. "To be honest, I am not sure we even have that bottle, it is, after all, very rare. We really don't have a system for our wine storage... even though we have a lot of bottles. It seems it has become tradition for Pathfinders to bring us a bottle from their adventures, so we have wine from all over the world! I'll allow you some time to search, but no samplin' my wares! I'll be up in the kitchen if you need me, Haggis night is ALWAYS our busiest." With that she heads back upstairs.
Perception!
After about 10 minutes of searching, your newest member, (and also the shortest) Enith the Halfling, finds the bottle in question. It was on the lowest shelf where few would ever look. As she pulls it off the shelf, the wine rack slides back into a short stone tunnel that leads into a hidden room.
A sturdy silver chain jutting from the ceiling ends in a glowing orb that radiates yellow light across the rectangular room. A simple desk of polished wood, stacked with documents and scattered notes, shelters a pair of wooden chests against the south wall. A series of cracks along the eastern and western walls form makeshift entrances into exposed caverns.
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Ēoswulf nods. "That would fit his penchant for disguise and such games, yes." He makes his way into the room and has a look around. "Perhaps we need to retrieve the contents of the chests?"
-Posted with Wayfinder
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Enith glances back and forth between Fillia and Ēoswulf, visibly struggling to contain her excitement. We found a secret room! Behind the wall! Literally the best thing ever...
Taking a breath, she says diplomatically, "Or maybe we could do both? We could take a look around..."At all the shiny new things!"And see what there is to see while we wait for the nice Lady to come back."
As she says this, she steps into the room angling for the desk. The bottle, quite forgotten, still hangs in her hand.
As the group explores the chamber, and before you are able to make any discoveries, Fillia notices out of the corner of her eye movement from the southeastern tunnel. She barely has time to raise an alarm of warning before 2 man-sized cave scorpions rush into the chamber.
Bold party members are up!
--------------------Round 1--------------------
Fillia
Geoclunicus
Hinkle
Scorpions
Enith & Wolfie
Eoswulf
Ezren
Arrows from our silvan companions fly: one finding its mark is the softer parts arount the compound eyes, one harmlessly bouncing off the scorpions thick, rocklike armor.
Fillia- shoots/ misses
Geoclunicus- shoots/ hits, hard!
Hinkle- up!
Scorpion red (13)- TBD
Scorpion blue- TBD
Enith & Wolfie-
Eoswulf-
Ezren-
-Posted with Wayfinder
The Gnome Cleric assumes a Total Defensive posture (+4 Dodge Bonus)
The red hued scorpion, shreeks in pain as the arrow drives into its face, and strikes wildly at Fillia, hitting the ranger with its right claw and stinger.
Fort DC12 Check vs poison please Fillia...
The blue tinged scorpion clinbs up the wall and over the desk and attempts to sting the Gnome, but his chain shirt denies the barb any penetration into flesh.
Bold party members are up!
--------------------Round 1--------------------
Fillia (-8)- Arrow, miss
Geoclunicus- Arrow, hit red...hard
Hinkle- Total Defense
Red Scorpion (-13)- Claws and Stings Fillia
Blue Scorpion- climbs + tries to sting Hinkle
Enith & Wolfie
Eoswulf
Ezren
Despite Ezren's well placed aim, the red scorpion still barely survives!
The half-elf did suffer from the creatures rage, but her own fortitude is strong enough to fight off the effects of the scorpion's poison.
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Ēoswulf draws his longsword and gives out an Ulfen battle shout as he tries to slice the scorpion in twain.
for
-Posted with Wayfinder
With a deafening roar, the Ulfin Barbarian strikes a mighty blow. His sword slices through the think carapace that encase the arthropod's vital bits and pieces, severely damaging the blue hued scorpion.
Bold party members are up!
--------------------Round 1--------------------
Fillia (-8)- Arrow, miss
Geoclunicus- Arrow, hit red...hard
Hinkle- Total Defense
Red Scorpion (-15)- Claws and Stings Fillia
Blue Scorpion (-14)- climbs + tries to sting Hinkle
Enith & Wolfie-
Eoswulf- slash, hit blue...hard
Ezren- throw staff, hit red
Your newest member, Enith the Halfling druid, swings the vintage bottle of wine at red but misses... yet her canine animal companion launches itself up on the desk and mauls the desperately injured blue hued cave scorpion, ending its existence.
Bold party members are up!
--------------------Round 1--------------------
Fillia (-8)- Arrow, miss
Geoclunicus- Arrow, hit red...hard
Hinkle- Total Defense
Red Scorpion (-15)- Claws and Stings Fillia
Blue Scorpion (-14)- climbs + tries to sting Hinkle
Enith & Wolfie- Bottle smash red, miss; Bite blue, Hit and Kill
Eoswulf- slash, hit blue...hard
Ezren- throw staff, hit red
--------------------Round 2--------------------
Fillia (-8)-
Geoclunicus-
Hinkle-
Red Scorpion (-15)-
Blue Scorpion (-21)-
Enith & Wolfie-
Eoswulf-
Ezren-
It is fitting that the archer that drew first blood in this melee also deals the final blow. With Geoclunicus's arrow burrowing deep inside the inner workings of the cave dweller, the red scorpion looses grip on its existence.
This chamber was once the private sanctuary of famed Pathfinder Selmius Foster in the month before he departed on his fatal voyage to distant Bhopan. Only his assistant Adolphus visited this place afterward, and only then to add further insights to his master’s work before leaving to found a lodge in the Nexian capitol of Quantium. The desk contains various notes and leads penned by Selmius with Adolphus’s later annotations.
With the creatures defeated, the Pathfinders can properly examine the files on the desk. The papers chronicle the personal exploits of Selmius Foster, the famous Pathfinder whose name your group recognize from their training as Pathfinder agents. Most of Foster’s more infamous adventures appear here in varying amounts of detail, but it is evident there is another investigation he had been pursuing before he died: the lost records of a Society agent named Eylysia. (see the notes here (link))
Based on the commotion and the mighty Ulfin battle-cry, Heryn quickly comes downstairs to investigate what has happened. She awaits on the far side of the rickety plank.
Fillia grumbles as she attempts to bind her wounds.
Heryn, seeing the bleeding Fillia emerge from the wine cellar, gasps in shock. "Did the bottles fall on you? Oh dear... that looks pretty bad. One moment, let me fetch you something."
The Bar-matron returns downstairs in minuites and offers the ranger goodberry(ies)(link) and whispers, "Take these dearie, they should help a little. Now how many bottles of mine did you break?" as she reaches for a mop and a bucket.
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Geoclunicus looks over all the information on the papers.
"I think Dreng sent us on this task, to prove ourselves. What do you think? "
Whether anyone agrees or not, Geo continues. "I think we should look for this key in the final resting place of this Arkath. Maybe this Fimbrik could offer some advice, but looking for a key seems to be simple enough."
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Hinkle nods in agreement. "So report to Drendle, then off to the burrial site."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Fillia smiles in appreciation at both Heryn and Hinkle. Her wounds heal up swiftly with no mark on them to indicate her wounds in the first place as both berries and Wand do their work. "We should report to Dreng as it was he who sent us in."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Your group decides to return to where you first meet Venture Captain Dreng. Although the rain has passed, apparently so has the Venture Captain. Dreng has abandoned his street corner and returned to the Grand Lodge. after you inquire and locate his chambers, the venture-captain is happy to see you, especially Enith and Wolfie. As you explain what you have found, Dreng is eager to urge the Pathfinders to follow up on Selmius’s leads—as he says, “It is important that Pathfinders respect the finds and claims of their colleagues, and this exciting mystery is yours to pursue.” The venture-captain does request that you give him any documents not related to Eylysia so that he can begin assigning other agents to decrypt and collate the contents for proper study and comparison to exploits published in the Pathfinder Chronicles.
By now the hour is late, but this may just be an advantage you need to pursue this mystery; or it could be a hindrance... who kows. You will have to decide what your party wants to do next. As you prepare to leave his chambers, Dreng mutters, "And, um, what of the package?" he asks, almost lustfully. "Any luck on that front?"
Dreng eagerly accepts the bottle, despite the torn exquisite label and a chip missing from bottom. He all but forgets you are in the room as he fawns over the wine, examining the bottle from every angle. He walks over to a cupboard, removes a basin, a towel and a sturdy pewter tankard... He wraps the bottle gingerly with the towel, places the bottle in the basin, and assaults the vintage with the heavy tankard! The smell of rich wine fills the air, and eventually he opens the towel and removes the cork. Tossing it nonchalantly into a basket of literally thousands sitting in the corner, he ends with, "My passion is corks... I never drink the stuff, I'm just fascinated by stoppers of all kinds!" -Posted with Wayfinder
The following morning you awake rested and ready to continue Selmius' and Adolphus' work. The storms of yesterday are replaced by glorious weather and you head off for the burial location of the stonemason.
Details left by Selmius Foster indicate the location of Arkath’s burial site: a plot of land in Eastgate operated by one of the more popular faiths. Buried in a mausoleum on the church’s property, Arkath apparently paid a substantial sum to have his remains guarded. A fence surrounds the necropolis grounds, and although members of the faith and city guards routinely patrol the property, it is still legal to enter the grounds to respect the departed.
Patrolling the grounds is a 20-something female attendant. Marked by a streak of white in her otherwise dark hair, this somber woman appears disinterested in her charge of guarding the necropolis.
This is a disciple of Pharasma, The Lady of Graves. She is the goddess who shepherds Golarion's recently-departed souls to their final reward. Upon death, souls migrate to Pharasma's Boneyard in the Outer Sphere, which sits atop an impossibly tall spire that pierces the Astral Plane. Pharasma makes no decision on whether a death is just or not; she views all with a cold and uncaring attitude, and decides on which of the Outer Planes a soul will spend eternity.