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"The gate was dedicated to the hero Ankilhi. The dedication warns those seeking to proceed further that they must honor Ankilhi as they retrace her steps to visit with 'Old Man Mountain.' The guardian spirit expects us to complete this ritual."
Wyran looks up the stairs. "An arduous task, but a noble one."
"The prayer wheels were a brief history of Ankilhi’s deeds. I might be able to puzzle out the inscriptions."
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Didn't Kiyoshi say he passed through this area once? Hm...Yes, that's right- he told me about the "68 steps" legend too, didn't he? The enchantress recalls a story she heard once from a Tien merchant who bought her company back in Absalom.
Armed with that information, she informs her companions and follows their lead as the party makes its climb.
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Wembly dismounts Whiskers as he watches as Ansha makes the climb.
Wow, she makes it look so easy, Whiskers. I best try this afoot. I will call you back once I reach the top...I promise.
He unsummons the green cat which disappares with a flash of the matching green gems on both their foreheads.
Ok, let's see if I can remember all of this.
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With assistance from Wyran reading in Tien and Kalangkang's comprehend languages. Ansha recalls the deeds in great detail, kneeling on each step in a measured and steady way she proceeds up the steps. Reaching the top she feels that she has definitely given honor to the hero of old. Wembley goes next and has little trouble with the climb, reciting as he goes. Kalangkang is next and does reasonably well, but the first half of the climb leaves him winded, though he summons some inner strength for the last set of steps he finds that he feels quite fatigued after the ascent. Enora has little trouble recalling the deeds and is going quite strong until around the half way point, when she begins to feel the effects of the thin mountain air, she pauses a little longer on each step and finds herself out of breath. Once she reaches the top, she finds herself fatigued as well.
"Oh god that was so exhausting! I would not have believed that this will take so long ... and my legs are so short!" Enora says out of breath.
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Gas
D
Wyran and Ranalus perform the honoring ritual following the others. Ranalus goes last and as he gets toward the top he starts to run out of steam, but he digs deep and manages to make it feeling pretty good.
After the stairs you move on. A little while later, billows of saffron smoke pour from several vents in the mountain’s surface, shrouding the area in light fog. Where the songs of birds once welcomed travelers along previous stretches of the Hero’s Path, this leg grows foreboding as the harsh roiling of sulfur and the burping of noxious gases mimic the angry belly of some imagined beast. The gas smells bad.
You see a vision of an ironclad warrior standing over a nearby fumarole. You are strangely compelled to investigate!
You see a vision of an ironclad warrior standing over a nearby fumarole. You are strangely compelled to investigate!
Without saying a word Ansha and Wembly begin to move toward a nearby fumarole. Wembly sees Ansha moving there, as well, and speeds ahead of the elf. Wembly reaches the fumarole first and squeezes himself down low to the ground as if reaching in for something. He pops up triumphantly with a battered helm in hand. It's pitted a iron helmet with a snarling mempo attached!
He raises it up and begins to don it....
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With shouted warnings and suspicion, the group tries to figure out what Wembly is about to do. Kalangkang detects magic and realizes some sort of compulsion is occurring but can determine exactly what...
Wembly begins to pull the helmet down when suddenly he stops! Staring at the strange iron helm and it's menacing mempo. Somehow his will has held out against the urge to be ironclad.
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A gnome's willpower proved strong enough... well they can indeed be willful when they want, but not often when it comes to indulging their curiosity.
Ranalus looks at the helm. "Best you keep it, Wembly. Don't put it on. I don't think I have the right spells to ascertain the nature of its curse , but you have resisted its lure."
Enora steps forward.
”I have no idea what just happened but we need to inspect this item to be sure what kind of capabilities it has and if it poses a danger!“
She casts ‘detect magic’.
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Ansha still seems strangely attracted to donning the helm, as she covertly cast detect magic on the item and reveals the same thing that Enora does more out in the open.
This A stylized, fire-blackened helmet, complete with a snarling mempo, gives off an unsettling aura and it is definitely magical, with a moderate necromancy.
Enora (and Ansha) understand it's properties and even spot an inscription on the item that says Grimgrin.
While worn, this helmet grants its wearer a +1 profane
bonus to Armor Class and a 25% chance to negate extra
damage from critical hits and sneak attacks. Once per day
as a full-round action, the wearer can contort the visage on
the attached mempo (an armored face mask) to become
a horrific amalgam of every onlooker’s worst fears. Any
creature within 30 feet of the wearer who can see this
visage becomes frightened for 3 rounds unless it succeeds
at a DC 17 Will save. If a creature succeeds, it becomes
shaken for 1 round instead and is immune to this effect for
24 hours. This is a mind-affecting fear effect.
Oh and it's definitely cursed!
----
Wyran encourages the group to move on and eventually you do traversing another 2 miles through the sulfurous haze, eventually the odorous gas dissipates, revealing another tori gate that marks the end of the Hero’s Path.
Beyond this gate, a snowy trail continues up the mountain, and just a few miles beyond this marker the snow capped dome of the mountain depicted in Old Pak’s map looms.
Enora shares all information on the cursed helm.
”Wow! This really does not sound good! You guys should definitely not put this helmet on your head! And we really need to think about what we do with this evil and cursed helmet!“ Enora states with a stern look.
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"Let's not be too hasty, Wyran," says Ranalus, "this helm was found in the realm of the powerful jinushigami 'Old Man Mountain.' Didn't you say we should seek him out and consider his advice? He may consider this helm his property. Or, thinking of how Ankilhi bound the graveknight's essence within a tetsubo, perhaps this helm contains an evil spirit, and destroying the helm will free the spirit."
He looks around. "Let's bring it with us and hope that Old Man Mountain reveals himself. Onwards and up the trail?"
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Ansha purses her lips as she stands again, curiosity satisfied. "'Grimgrin.' Apropos name. Why don't you throw that thing away, Wembly?" With that, the elf turns on her heel and continues up the trail.
After the party arrives at the end of the Path, Ansha heaves a sigh of relief and complains, "My clothes are going to smell like rotten eggs for days!" Her eyes widen as another thought occurs to her. Taking a handful of strands of her hair up to her nose, she wails, "And my hair! Oh, by Shelyn's colorful palette, I'm going to be smelling this forever!"
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Wyran's wayfinder doesn't pick up a specific evil aura, but rather a general presence of evil in the whole area.
Expecting the arrival of Old Man Mountain you are not disappointed, as soon as you pass through this second gate, a great tremor ripples through the area. Erupting from the snow is an enormous amalgam of stone and scalding magma that takes a roughly humanoid shape. With serene eyes and a slow contemplative cadence, the newly formed figure of earth and flame calmly proclaims, “I am Old Man Mountain, and I have been your constant companion on your journey along the Hero’s Path. All of your actions have measured your character, but the time for measure is over. I know what you seek under my mountain, and I have reason to prevent you from reaching it, but I also desire to rid my range of this blight. Like the mortal hero Ankilhi before you, I offer you a chance to sway me to your cause and ease my worries. If you succeed, you may enter my volcano, but if you fail, you must leave at once. Convince me!”
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Wembly's mouth gapes open for a moment.
Whoa! You really do look like a mountain. And you have been watching us? I hope we passed the test. I was never good at tests. Ignizi, my instructor said I should go into something called astrophysics since I was only taking up space in school. Anyway, yes we are here for a reason and will do our best to convince you. Wait did you say volcano?
Trying to make a good impression. (is this one chance for the group and allow assists, or one where we each must tell our own story)?
to assist Ansha (assuming she is our best diplomat)
”We are very capable and thus believe that we can help you. What evil are you fearing and how did it grasp hold of this land? We actually seek a weapon of adamantine and diamonds. Do you know where we can find it?“ Enora asks calmly.
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Of course I look like a mountain, and the test is still at hand. I know you seek Fossilblight! Well it holds down a juggernaut and does a fine job of it too. I would have thought you knew it was in a volcano! So if you take Fossilblight, do you plan to just let the juggernaut free to reek havoc here in my mountains? You say you have a reason, so what is it? Why do you want the pick anyway? Old Man Mountain booms as he gives you a skeptical look.
As best as Enora can guess Old Man Mountain is a kami, that much is clear, but anything more specific than that is unclear to the arcanist.
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"Great and glorious kami, your power is so vast that it is hard to believe there is any help we mere mortals can possibly give you. You are the spirit of this entire mountain range. But we beseech you to let us recover Fossilblight. We seek to free the benevolent Elemental Lord of Air, Ranginori, from the Untouchable Opal. In time we hope to free all of the benevolent Elemental Lords. Should you wish us to destroy the Juggernaut as the price for retrieving Fossilblight, I will do so or perish in the attempt."
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The enchantress's worries about the sulphurous smell are quickly forgotten as Old Man Mountain makes his appearance. Letting her hair fall to her thigh again, she takes a step forward and calls out with a rhetorical flourish of her hand.
"As my companion has said, we seek to free an imprisoned elemental power, and Fossilblight may hold the key to that power's freedom, just as it holds the key to the juggernaut's prison. We know that you are wise and benevolent yourself, O great kami, and hope to seek your aid, just as you aided the hero Ankhili of old," Ansha says. "You are wise indeed to test those who would seek your aid, as it has been said that with great power comes great responsibility. That you appear to us now in peace and not in wrath can only mean that we have met with your favor, but we seek further favor still. What would you have us do to merit it, and the freedom of the lord of the elements we seek to procure?"
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Ranalus thinks for a moment.
"The greatest foe was the white dragon I slew with my comrades to defend the Twinhorn Tribe. But the greatest threat was no creature but rather a ritual. You see, I defeated an attempt to unravel the very fabric of time and space. A misguided cultist used time travel to try to retrieve Aroden from the past. In the shadow of the descending Starstone, I slew one of her simulacra and, with others of the Society, put an end to her attempts."
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Wyran stands proudly before the kami, but looks down at the wayfinder in his hands before speaking, "Great guardian spirit, I have been to the Worldwound and fought against the demon horde. My team and the crusaders with us secured a weapon hidden in that rift and defeated a powerful shemhazian demon."
"Hmmm ... well, I have uncovered ancient magical artifacts and with these discoveries found my calling as a follower of Nethys! I am a true expert in magical phenomena!"
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Yes, I would say the shemhazian demon was probably the most fierce. But I did not slay it single handed or nothing. The white dragon was also tough. But it was not as powerful as I thought it was going to be. So yes, I will stick with the demon. But with help from allies. Yes.
Wembly looks around, impressed with the other stories of his friends accomplishments.
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I approve! Old Man Mountain calls out. Your confidence shows in your answers.
The wise kami pauses before it speaks its next word.
Your journey is not without cost, for when you remove the diamond pick from the entombed juggernaut, the construct shall awaken. You must be sure to destroy the war machine, lest it rampage down the mountain to the Broken Temple and beyond. Rousing the juggernaut in this way is sure to trigger a volcanic eruption. Tell me, Pathfinders, what is your plan to contain the resultant lava flow? I have the power to direct this devastation, but you must choose its fiery path. North or south, but know that your choice is a death sentence to all in the lava’s path. Decide.
Enora is in a clear moral dilemma.
She thinks of the geography here and which direction would cause the least damage.