The rogue tells you that she saw three skeletons kill the woman. They just came out of nowhere and murdered her with their skeletal claws and swords!
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Igor gives his quick report on the cause of death, dampening the mood, and the person standing directly across from him even more from when they first arrived.
"That is a lie....
"No Mathter, I really could uthe the thack. Otherwithe there will be a long dribbly meth wherever we drag the remainth. It'th the thort of thing that bringth out the mob with the torcheth and pitchforkth. Trutht me Mathter, I have theen it before."
"...Is the woman still here?"
Igor looks at the dead woman laying in the street, and gives a knowing look to Scraps. It was a look that said "Yes. This is exactly how a proper Master should act."
"Yeth Mathter, thhe ith laying right over there."
The woman glares at you when you confront her with the lie. She just keeps telling you that IT WAS SKELETONS, even though you can see through her deceptions.
Jyrrar spots that not only have all the valuables been taken, but the proclamation was taken, too! Indeed, he finds a hidden lining in the messenger's bag, but it too is empty!
Realizing that time is a-wastin', the heroes head deeper into Misery Row. But their path is soon blocked by three large thugs, who crack their knuckles from behind an overturned horse cart that blocks the narrow alley. "Sorry, guv'nors, street's closed. Lord's orders."
The thugs quail, but hold steady. "Can't mate. Lord Nevvem'd have our 'eads. Doing our jobs, ain't we. Followin' orders."
"Like I said, mate, legal orders from Lord Nevvem. Can't step aside. We's legal, see?" The man regains some of his bluster as he revels in the fact that, for once, he's got the law soundly on his side.
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"No, not that--What?" he gives a startled reply to Igor's comments. "The live one. The one Nyshka spoke to."
"Oh, my mithtake Mathter."
Igor quickly collects his things, and whatever good bits he can from the corpse.
++++++++++++
Igor looks at the bruised knuckles on the big slab of a man. He considers.
"Oh, I don't think we need get by thith fine fellow." Igor says meaningfully.
"I take it you don't let anybody path" Igor sprays, "even offithal courierth with newth do you?"
His hand comes up out of his pocket holding something. "Tell me thir, have you theen thethe eyeth before?"
The thugs go a bit green when eyeballs are raised. "Don't know whatcher tryin' to do here, mate. We got the law on'r side."
"We got our orders from the Lord hisself. That's all the law berks like you lot need to know."
"You ain't got no proof of that!" The thug says, but his eyes dart sideways and he looks nervous. "No proof at all."
"Witness? Whatcha mean you got a witness?" The lead thug says, his face paling. One of the others mutters, "That creepy one's got 'er eyes, mate. I don't reckon his lordship'd be keen on us gettin' nicked for murder, mate." The lead thug seems to deflate somewhat. "Never meant ta kill 'er, eh? Meant ta rough 'er up a bit. Curse it. We're goin', lads. Let 'is lordship deal with this, outta my pay level. He tol' us to stop youse from giving out your proc'mation. Ye can talk ta Lord Nevven, was 'e gave us the orders."
The three thugs slink away, looking dejected.
You head into the Slave pits, seeing the rows of slaves toiling away. The White Ape raises his voice and reads the proclamation to a mass of slowly brightening faces. When he finishes, the slaves cheer and you break some chains to free the new recruits!
When you report back to Tamrin, he indicates that Amenopheus of the Scarab Sages was seeking some assistance. He sends you to Starhall, the Pathfinder Society's HQ. When you arrive, you spot Tahonikepsu and the Sapphire Sage peering through old scrolls and books to seek some secret knowledge to help the cause. Amenopheus breaks away to greet you.
The Sapphire Sage carries a weathered scroll marked with silvery ink. “As you know, rebuilding our ancient order has been the main priority of the Scarab Sages, but we also take a keen interest in wondrous technology from the past and how those discoveries could benefit the present. This isn’t the first time Absalom’s fallen under attack, and there are untold defenses secreted away beneath centuries of new construction. Tahonikepsu and I have recovered several promising leads that—“
Tahonikepsu interrupts without looking up. “Amenopheus! This scroll speaks of a ritual that turns Absalom’s walls into living fire and its streets into carnivorous sand! Such potential! What a sight to behold!”
Wide-eyed with shock, Amenopheus warily turns to look back at his colleague. “To say nothing of that being more dangerous to our citizens than to the invaders, the city patched up that glaring problem several years ago after the Decklands almost leaked it to our enemies.” Tahonikepsu visibly deflates before she grabs another scroll and voraciously continues her research.
“As I was saying, we have identified a more promising and ancient defense described by—and perhaps built by—the wizard Beldrin centuries ago. This so-called ‘Gulgamodh’ is a weapon that lies buried beneath a fountain in the Precipice Quarter. I ask that you identify it, locate it, and activate it for use in the battle to come.”
Amenopheus passes you a key and a yellowing map with the location marked as 'Titan's Fountain'. You head off!
A curious ten-foot-tall fountain stands at the center of a plaza in the Precipice Quarter. Shaped like a giant fist and built from steel that hasn’t become tarnished despite its apparent age, it looks almost as though some titan of old had punched its fist through the ground. As you approach the fountain, the key begins to glow and runes in strange tongues appear on the fountain!
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"I am not familiar with the language, Igor," he confesses.
The White Ape ponders his recollections of stories about Absalom.
Once in the square, he stares at the steel fist at the center of the fountain. "Gulgamodh! Great weapon of Absalom! Now is not the time to rest. Awake! Come forth and do your duty. Defend Absalom!" he shouts at the fist.
Jyrrar begins poking at hidden buttons, hearing faint sounds of gears or machinery from deep under the fountain, while Wymarc starts removing bits of the fountain that were added later! The White Ape recalls a tale of Gulgamodh and calls it forth, which must have had some effect, for the ground begins to shake and rattle!
A metal hand, easily ten feet long, erupts from the ground, attached to an equally sized metal arm! However, from the edge of the square, you hear a voice call out as three men rush toward you!
"You lot! Give us the key and no one gets hurt!"
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It is not given to Igors to meddle in those things so horrible that no sane human mind can comprehend them. Igors always comprehend exactly what horrible things they are doing. In fact, most Igors would say that meddling in things so horrible no sane human mind can comprehend them is what masters do. What else are they good for after all?
"I am not familiar with the language, Igor," he confesses.
"Thrapth and I will jutht thtand over here, Mathter."
The White Ape ponders his recollections of stories about Absalom.
Once in the square, he stares at the steel fist at the center of the fountain. "Gulgamodh! Great weapon of Absalom! Now is not the time to rest. Awake! Come forth and do your duty. Defend Absalom!" he shouts at the fist.
The White Ape recalls a tale of Gulgamodh and calls it forth, which must have had some effect, for the ground begins to shake and rattle!
A metal hand, easily ten feet long, erupts from the ground, attached to an equally sized metal arm! However, from the edge of the square, you hear a voice call out as three men rush toward you!
"You lot! Give us the key and no one gets hurt!"
Igor blinks. First it is in awe of the gargantuan construct slowly surfacing from the street after untold years spent as a public pigeon privy, second that any three men might demand something of the person who just shouted the hill-sized titan into being.
"We 'won't'? Err, and you want the Mathter to let you have it?"
SLIDE 7!
ROUND 1:
Igor, Nyshka
FOES
Jyrrar, Wymarc, Jynath, Sidi!
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Nyshka steps forward and casts a color spray spell at Green and Purple.
Color Spray, DC 14, Purple has -2 will save
The green fellow drops to the ground, looking all sorts of stunned, unconscious and otherwise out of luck. The purple fellow snarls, having resisted your mesmerical wiles!
