|
Osten tosses her over his shoulder. "We can't stick around here. Someone make certain that troll ain't gonna heal up and follow us." With that, he carries Jamila out the door.
"No problem," says Leyten. He turns and casually blasts the ice troll's corpse with another wave of flame. Then he departs after the others.
After a few minutes outside Jamila begins to warm up and start to become more aware of what's going on.
"Who are you? Are you here to claim the bounty?" she asks the group.
|
"That was last week. Now our bosses have made nice with each other. So, I guess this is your lucky day. Now shut up while we get off the street. Pretty much everyone on this rock knows who you are and that we have been looking for you. The sooner we are out of sight, the longer we're all gonna live."
|
|
"You're the center of two wondrous events, Jamila," says Leyten. "One, the alliance between our groups, and two, that was the longest I've ever heard Osten speak. You must be special."
He looks around. "Let's stick to the ground for a bit. We're too exposed when we're, well, flying. We should put some distance between us and the Sleet Saloon first."
"I agree. I can make myself invisible. I have a safe house in Port Eclipse. There's a scroll of sending there that I can use to send a message to Ashasar. Follow me and be as stealthy as possible." She stands on wobbly legs.
The group manages to move through the city without much notice. Jamila leads you toward a squat structure that looks like the entrance to a cave, nestled along the interior stone of Port Eclipse. Unlike most buildings that jut out into the inner space of Port Eclipse, this building is burrowed into the cavern wall. A trio of thriae seers calling themselves the Vanished Triad manage the comings and goings of visitors to the nameless inn. Jamila’s arrival is met with a quick nod from a seer, who hands the janni a key to one of the backmost rooms.
You are able to safely rest and plan your next moves in the luxurious chamber reserved for Jamila. In the meantime, the janni produces a scroll of sending from a hidden alcove to confer with Ashasar in a separate room.
Jamila returns. "Well you were telling the truth. I'm glad you are here. I know where the Horn of the Hurricane is hidden in one of the many airship repair yards on the fringe of Port Eclipse."
Concordance agents tracked the Horn of the Hurricane for some time prior to its arrival in Port Eclipse. We pinpointed it as being used as the centerpiece of a djinni noble’s airship mast. A freak storm wrecked the vessel, and the remnants ended up in an airship junk yard in Port Eclipse. Just before I was nabbed, I'd come to an agreement with the proprietor of the airship junkyard to trawl the wreckage of the ship for the horn."
The junkyard s run by an awakened clockwork and its sizable force of clockwork assistants. I'm sure the automatons won’t be a problem, granting them unrestricted access to the horn. The four word passphrase needed for the clockworks to allow access to the junkyard is the word “balance” spoken in Aquan, Auran, Ignan, and then Terran."
"The tricky part is that they must find the horn by sifting through the debris." She gives you directions to the Junkyard.
I can't fight because I'm too weak due to my imprisonment. I plan to use my plane shift to return to the Material Plane. I plan on returning the following day, hoping the PCs retrieve the Horn of the Hurricane in the meantime."
"Do you have questions?
Jamila repeats the words for Leyton slowly.
|
Lekki listens patiently to her plans. "Oooooh, the Horn is protected by an awakened cauliflower you say? Interesting, interesting. I'm not one for vegetables, but I guess we will have to do what needs to be done. Just point us in the right way to the junkyard. Darn youth, no one ever eats their vegetables anymore, always throwing it out. What a waste! Now one has become sentient..."
Turning to Leyten with his request, "My boy, the word for balance in Auran is vaʻavaʻa. Luckily we have a rock monk to speak the word in Terran. And Laafhadni knows Aquan." He pauses and turns to the large barbarin who's remark he missed because he wasn't looking, "Ooooh Osten, can you find the fire in your heart to speak the word in Ignan? Do they even teach you words in barbarian school, or just how to grunt really loud?" He smiles at the large man.
With the party ready to go, "Shall we do this?"
The shipyard looks more like a junkyard at first glance. Pieces of airships are lashed to assorted metal pylons that float in the air at regular intervals. Smaller scraps are secured with cargo netting, or tethered like garbage kites, onto these pylons. Flying clockwork creatures resembling crabs with various construction appendages, maneuver around the area. Several humanoid clockworks mill about, picking up and maneuvering pieces too large for their smaller kin to handle.
Upon your entrance, one of the smaller clockworks dislodges itself from a pile of junk and greets you. "Hello! How can we help you?"
|
|
Lekki turns to the party, and whispers [smaller]"Okay! Like we practiced everyone. Laafdhani, you first, then me, then Osten, then Rumble. Ready?"
He turns back and with a large smile waits for his companion to start the passphrase.
The clockwork was in fact speaking common. It nods as each of you say the words in order. "That's sufficient. This way please. He flies off leading you through a huge maze of wrecked ships to a specific area. It's in here somewhere. Feel free to search as long as you need to." Then he flies off to get back to work.
Lekki Pioro: 20
Leyten Krovt: 15
RumbleRock: 9
Osten Grimhelm: 5
Laafdahni Riverrun: 4
|
Appraising the section of the junk yard they have to search, Laffdahni sighs. "Hmm... Perhaps we should split up so we can search more efficiently." She concentrates on trying to fly.
Nothing happens. Hmm... It was so easy earlier. She tries again.
She lets out a tiny frustrated huff and shifts her weight slightly in irritation.
Rumble looks around carefully, and thinks that an area more toward the center of the wrecked ships looks promising. Everyone else tries to fly and doesn't do so well. The just don't believe.
Lekki Pioro: 20
Leyten Krovt: 15
RumbleRock: 9
Osten Grimhelm: 5
|
|
"All right, to the center," says Leyten, almost to himself. "You've altered gravity before... how hard can this be?"
Once more, he tries to fly.
He exhales deeply, trying to force anxiety from his mind as he attempts again.
"Lekki, would it be all right if I tied a rope to your foot and floated behind you?"
The party doesn't do so well with flying. As they are concentrating on finding the horn three creatures sweep in. Two from the south and one from the north.
The creature from the north begins to cackle. "Pathfinder's It's good to see you again. I'm sure you don't recognize me. I'm Chalissier. As you can see by my new form. I've been reborn. The Duchess I serve is a divine power. Clearly reincarnation is a simple matter for a being like Hshurha. You have no chance to defeat me or avoid her wrath."
Lekki Pioro: 20+
Elemental 1: 20
Elemental 2: 18
Leyten Krovt: 15
Chal: 12
RumbleRock: 9
Osten Grimhelm: 5
Laafdahni Riverrun: 4
Lekki blesses the party, and then the air elementals fly over to attack. One approaches Laafdahni, and attacks her. It hits her.
The other flys up to Lekki, and swings. His attack his almost doing extra damage, but doesn't quite reach that level.
Lekki Pioro: 20
Elemental 1: 20
Elemental 2: 18
Leyten Krovt: 15
Chal: 12
RumbleRock: 9
Osten Grimhelm: 5
Laafdahni Riverrun: 4
|
|
"You'll have another chance at reincarnation soon," says Leyten.
The kineticist begins to glow. As he raises his arm at the elemental attacking Lekki, his entire form is surrounded by a shimmering, crimson nimbus that emits a loud, crackling noise.
A burst of flame erupts from his outstretched hand.
Chalissier flies across the battlefield and casts Sonic Scream. He catches the majority of the Pathfinders in the cone.
Lekki Pioro: 20
Elemental 1: 20
Elemental 2: 18
Leyten Krovt: 15
Chal: 12
RumbleRock: 9
Osten Grimhelm: 5
Laafdahni Riverrun: 4