Summoned for an operation that's been in the works for quite some time, you find yourselves in an immense entry hall hewn from the rock itself with a vaulted ceiling soaring 60 feet overhead. The large alcoves to north and south feature grand staircases, one ascending to unseen rooms and the second plunging deeper into the bowels of the mountain. Pathfinders have lit torches on the raised platforms, and a series of cleverly placed mirrors fixed high on the columns reflect the sunlight from the entrance to illuminate the center of the chamber. Even worn by the ravages of time, the ingenious lighting, expertly carved runes, impressive statutes, and images on the walls are a testimony to the engineering mastery of those ancient dwarves who called this place home.
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"Greetings. My name is Valistar. I know a great many things, but 'what's happening here' isn't one of them."
Valistar is every bit the stereotype of an elf. His countenance is slightly supercilious. His attire is perfectly clean with nary a wrinkle. He smells of both the forest... and spell components.
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A red-scaled kobold in leather armor slinks out of the shadows, a top hat perched incongruously on his head.
"My, my. Quite the ingenious lighting apparatus. I don't know that I've ever seen its equal." He doffs the hat and offers the group a half-bow. "Arthur Worthington, of the the Abasalom Worthingtons, at your service."
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A soft whispering of leaves and the sound of something coarse scraping against the stonework precedes the arrival of a funny little creature about the size of a halfling that seems to be made entirely of vines and leaves, twisted into a humanoid shape. An especially large cluster of leaves forms a rudimentary face, with two round eyes, a small hole for a mouth, and no nose to speak of. Framing its face are several daisies, twisted into the vines and leaves of its body, bobbing gently with each of the creature's movements. Though it wears no clothes to speak of besides a small lamellar cuirass, a backpack is slung over both shoulders and it does appear to be carrying weapons - most noticeably a longspear.
It pauses and studies the three individuals gathered around for a moment and then replies, "What's happening here? I don't know. Poffis just told me that the fleshy leaders needed many of us for an important task - from the great oaks all the way down to sprouts like you and me. And so here I am!"
The plant-creature falls silent and it seems as if that might be all it has to say. But then, almost as an afterthought, it adds, "Today I'm Soddy Daisy. Maybe tomorrow I'll pick a different name but Soddy Daisy is who I am today."
A voice carries out clearly over the noise of all the Pathfinders gathered in the Great Cathedral. The talk soon dies away, leaving you to hear the announcement. ”Greetings, intrepid Pathfinders! I, Master of Scrolls Kreighton Shaine, welcome you to the long-lost Sky Citadel of Jormurdun! For the upcoming operation I recommend you work in small teams, so speak with your comrades here, find a place, and check to make sure you have all your gear. I will brief you all momentarily.”
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A half elf with a long spiked hammer slung onto his back approaches. He wears a collection of baubles, notably including a ring marking him as having the favor of a high priestess of Sarenrae, and an amulet set with the largest tiger's eye you have probably seen, "Well met. I'm Styrian, and looking forward to working with everyone."
Within a few minutes of this announcement, a small female halfling pops up before you -- quite literally. She resettles her clothing from having crawled between legs and shimmying in between people before cheerily grinning up and the group and giving a small wave.
"Howdy! Aren't you just so excited to be here? This is going to be so great!" she greets you, clearly brimming with enthusiasm. "I'm Giarra Fullen, from Andoran -- I've been working around here for the past year working on getting supplies and helping the Mendevian Crusaders with a bunch of random odds and ends."
Squinting carefully up at some of the group, she adds, "Are you sure you've got everything you'll be needing? And feel free to ask any questions! I know a bit about what's going on given this year, but I'm sure you guys aren't exactly novices, either!"
the city.
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A small woman with mousy brown hair tied into a long ponytail rushes into the room. She wears a deep, almost regal blue gamberson laced over with pieces of deep brown leather armor covered in small plates of metal. She redjusts the longbow on her back and double checks the quiver of arrows on one hip and the longword on the other are in place and accesible. Satisfied she approaches the group. "I just missed the announcement. You wouldn't be able to summerize it for me could you?"
She then gives a small gasp of realization, adding "Oh, I never introduced my self. I'm Kvina Oathsworn, Daughter of the Oathsworn Clan, and bowhunter in service to Iomedae. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Guess I was standing outside for too long. Though the sculptures of Torag and his family are certainly impressive. But I swear I saw one of Droskar, the dwarven god of toil, slavery and cheating. I thought worship of him was outlawed in dwarven settlments. Was the Sky Citadel different? Also do you have any oils of align weapon or some Cold Iron washes taht we could use to hurt any demons that might attak us?"
Her voice then drops to a near whisper, and she quitely adds, "I know I'm not one to be asking, but are we sure that the Master of Scrolls is able to oversee this large of an operation? How has he been handling it so far?"
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"I'm not too familiar with Sky Citadel. I only know that the chief god of the dwarves is Torag, god of the forge, protection, and strategy. Hard work and respect are core elements of his faith, and failure to maintain one’s tools is considered a sign of disrespect.
Family is very important in dwarven culture and religion, and most of the dwarven pantheon is part of Torag’s household. His wife, siblings, and children each direct another aspect of dwarven society such as oaths, warfare, cooperation, and strength.
The worship of Droskar—the god of toil, slavery and cheating—is frowned upon if not outright forbidden in a typical dwarven community. After catching Droskar copying the work of others and claiming it as his own, Torag cast him from the pantheon and cursed him."
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Soddy is silent, taking in all of the information that her fellow agents are throwing out - though she does pull out a small dagger when the mention of cold-iron is made.
"If we encounter any demons then I will stick them," Soddy nods, completely serious.
"Fleshies usually don't dig much into the earth unless there is something to be had," she remarks and then looks around the cathedral. "This place is old...fleshies like to study old things but the Masters must also think there's something important here. I think fleshies call them 'artifacts'?"
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"Interesting. Interesting indeed." Unfortunately Valistar doesn't really elaborate on his response.
Once faces turn to him expectantly, he gives voice to his thoughts, "The sky citadels are massive fortress-cities the dwarves built millennia ago. Each one is heavily fortified and can weather the mightiest assaults. The most prevalent language in a sky citadel is likely Dwarven, so an explorer would do well to have at least some means of translating text. Supposedly there were 10 sky citadels, though four of those are considered lost. Even the names are forgotten, though the dwarves have not forgotten Koldukar, which was captured by orcs thousands of years ago. It’s assumed that any lost sky citadel met a catastrophic end. Based on the Pathfinder Society’s research, it appears the dwarves left Jormurdun willingly. In fact, from the state of the outer keep that leads into Jormurdun, it’s as though they were trying to keep something in as much as they were trying to keep someone else out."
To Styrian he adds, "Most demons are resistant or immune to acid, cold, electricity, and fire. Some are able to resist an even wider range of damage and magic."
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Arthur narrows his eyes as he peers at the dwarven structure around him. "We should step gingerly. According to my research, the dwarves abandoned Jormurdun willingly, and it appears to me--looking at these fortifications--that they attempted to blockade something inside. Whatever they fled may still be in there."
The halfling shrugs, shaking her head. "You haven't missed much - Shane's only just reminded everyone to get their gear in order. He's been doing great so far, but I'm only one opinion in this crowd." Her lips quirk as she gestures at the sheer number of pathfinders in attendance.
When Kvina begins talking business, though, her eyes perk up a bit. "Well, do I? Of course I do! If you've got the funds, I can procure just about anything hereabouts!" Winking, she adds, "One of the side effects of working here so long, I suppose."
She listens as the party speaks, nodding at some points. "I'm glad you know that about demons," she commends Valistar. "With the variety of missions we've been distributing to everyone, there are plenty about that still aren't sure what's effective against them."
"All but the weakest of them have the ability to teleport vast distances, and virtually all have some kind of spellcasting ability. Concealing the battlefield with darkness is a fairly common tactic, too, so you might want to be on the lookout for that!"
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"Mother and father swear by a basic Darkvision potion, though if they're using magical darkness, even your darkvision won't help..." She gives a glance at their halfling friend. "The talk of cold iron being necessary has me worried though. You wouldn't happen to sell arrow heads made of things other than steel would you? For example, Cold Iron or Adamantine?"
”I require both silence and your attention, if you please! Once more, greetings. I am Kreighton Shaine, Master of Scrolls. It is my pleasure to welcome you to Jormurdun and thank you for the parts so many of you have played in getting us here today. The entirety of a dwarven sky citadel lies before us. It is our unique privilege to explore its halls and be the first to study its millennia-old treasures. If other sky citadels are any reference, Jormurdun is immense and would take a less ambitious expedition years to catalog appropriately. Of course, other expeditions are not deep in the Worldwound, so we do not have the privilege of taking our time. Every day spent here is another day that powerful demons might learn of us and attack. Study what you find, but also take care of any hazards you come across. I can only speculate at what kinds of defenses the former occupants left to protect their city.”
Suddenly, Kreighton looks with alarm to the ceiling of the room and shouts a warning.
”Calistria’s garters, I hate being right about these things. Prepare yourselves!”
Dozens of ropes fall from the ceiling, dancing in the air until dark-eyed, gray-skinned dwarves, bald-headed and bearded, slide down to their dangling ends. The invaders attack with malevolent roars.
The bolded may act.
Valistar
D. Rogue
Styrian Meathier
Arthur Worthington
Nirion
D. Cleric
Soddy Daisy
D. Fighter
Kvina Oathsworn
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Kvina glad to be able to find the supplies she wants, scrambles about gathering the arrowheads and the proper alchemically treated shafts, but with a little embarrased haggling, she gathers them together for the going market rate. She gives her partner in the dealings a smile "Thanks Giarra, I wouldn't have been able to do that without your help!"
She gives the new arrows a look over with a small smile before putting them back into her quiver. Just in time for Master Shaine's speech she listens with glowing pride, glad to be part of such a large endeavor dispite her low standing in the pathfinders and her undeservedness of being here.
She gives a start at the exclaim of surprise and the decending of a group of fighters, clearly readying to fight off the demons and interlopers, but she gives a start as she finds that they are just humanoids, small short humanoids. Her face pales to a deathly white as her mind flings itself back, back to that moment on the practice field, the memory of the bright red blood pooling on the ground freezing her limbs and stopping her in her tracks.
Valistar quickly applies his mage armor to himself, quickly informing the others of just who has dropped in on them so suddenly. One of the three foes disappears from plain sight, becoming invisible as soon as the word leaves Valistar's lips!
The bolded may act.
Valistar
D. Rogue invisible
Styrian Meathier
Arthur Worthington
Nirion
D. Cleric
Soddy Daisy
D. Fighter
Kvina Oathsworn
Nirion's scimitar is knocked aside by the cleric's heavy steel shield and Styrian's hammer is caught by the dwarf's chainmail as Arthur immediately takes advantage of the terrain. The dwarf snarls in response to the attacks and takes a careful step backwards and begins to gesture and incant in what seems to be a foreign language.
The bolded may act.
Valistar mage armor +4 to AC
D. Rogue invisible
Styrian Meathier
Arthur Worthington
Nirion
D. Cleric
Soddy Daisy
D. Fighter
Kvina Oathsworn
The Cleric staggers as he finishes his spell, a bit surprised by the strange, deceptively small object that thumped against his chest so forcefully. The fighter, having landed on the rubble, tries to advance, but missteps and finds himself on the wrong side of Styrian's hammer. The clumsy dwarf is gravely penalized for his lack of dexterity and falls in a crumpled heap.
The bolded may act.
Kvina Oathsworn
---
The bolded may act.
Valistar mage armor +4 to AC
D. Rogue invisible
Styrian Meathier
Arthur Worthington
Nirion
D. Cleric 1 pt of damage, deafened for 1 round
Soddy Daisy
Kvina shoots at the same target as Valistar, not wanting to split their damage since she isn't sure where their third enemy has gone. Distracted, she misses. Valistar's Magic Missile, however, smacks into the cleric, causing the dwarf to scowl.
Arthur's quick preparation is satisfactorily repaid when a loud yelp reveals that the invisible enemy has, in fact, stumbled into his trap, setting it off and getting very burnt. He'll be, perhaps, less happy when he feels the prick of a rapier stabbing into his side from behind, where their invisible enemy has made his presence apparent.
The bolded may act.
The bolded may act.
Valistar mage armor +4 to AC
D. Rogue 7 pts of damage
Styrian Meathier
Arthur Worthington 9 pts of damage
Nirion
D. Cleric 5 pt of damage, deafened for 1 round
Soddy Daisy
Kvina Oathsworn
The cleric groans as the scimitar cuts into his chainmail. Still, despite the pain, he manages to draw his shield up in time to defend against the hammer and the resulting sound is a jarring clash. Seeing that his own chances are slim with his injured and fallen allies, he swings at Nirion himself, heavy mace nearly whistling with the speed he uses to jab it into his foe.
For his own part, well. Nirion probably doesn't like the spiky bits.
(Also, the rogue-like fellow gives Arthur a smile that's got entirely too many teeth in it.)
The bolded may act.
Soddy Daisy
Kvina Oathsworn
The bolded may act.
Valistar mage armor +4 to AC
D. Rogue 7 pts of damage
Styrian Meathier
Arthur Worthington 9 pts of damage
Nirion 3 pts of damage
D. Cleric 9 pt of damage, deafened for 1 round
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Kvina finally catches sight of the battle going on in front of her, breaking out of her personal horror and realizing that she should act to help her friends. With shaking hands she draws out her bow and a blunted arrow head. She looks around the battle field for the three enemies she'd seen earlier, finds one, then another in a pile of it's own blood. Choking back her rising fear, she looks for the third but doesn't find him. Her eyes skip over the downed one to the still standing cleric as she draws back her arrow and then lets it fly.
The Cleric goes down with a gurgle, clearly surprised to be taken out by an arrow to the gut. The rogue Soddy Daisy attacks neatly hops over her spear point. Valistar, however, tries for something a bit less easily avoidable and attacks with another use of his magic missile, causing the rogue to cry out as he falls to the ground.
Just when you think the fight is over, from overhead comes the sound of breaking glass, followed by a rain of shards from the sunlight-reflecting mirrors above. Gloom floods the chamber as more of the attackers shimmy down the ropes. Fighting from the dais where he addressed the Pathfinders, Kreighton Shaine shouts, “Our assailants seem unwilling to negotiate. Someone capture one and get some answers!”
The bolded may act.
Valistar mage armor +4 to AC
Blue Fighter halfway down the rope
Red Fighter halfway down the rope
Styrian Meathier
Arthur Worthington 9 pts of damage
Nirion 3 pts of damage
D. Rogue halfway down the rope
Soddy Daisy
Kvina Oathsworn
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Soddy squints up towards the ceiling at the descending dwarves and then looks around at her companions. "They didn't seem to plan this out very well...I thought fleshies of the earth were known for cunning," she remarks as she falls back next to the rest of the group and pulls out her crossbow.
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Arthur's arrow misses, as does Styrian's attempt to jab the rogue before he touches the ground.
The bolded may act.
Kvina Oathsworn
The bolded may act.
Valistar mage armor +4 to AC
Blue Fighter halfway down the rope
Red Fighter halfway down the rope
Styrian Meathier
Arthur Worthington 9 pts of damage
Nirion 3 pts of damage
D. Rogue halfway down the rope
Soddy Daisy
Kvina Oathsworn
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Kvina gives a frown at even more humanoidds coming in. She pulls out another blunt arrow and takes aim at the rogue on the rope, realizing that invisibility would be a problem. "I'm goning to try and knock this one out cold! We need people to question, after all." She moves forward a little bit lineing up a shot before she pulls back on her bow and tries to land a concussing, though not deadly, blow on the rogue.
Kvina's attack misses and Valistar takes advantage of the care these new foes take in landing to launch another charge of magic missile at the rogue that appears to have garnered so much negative attention. One of the fighters steps up to Styrian and smashes it into his side! He calls out to his friend, who quickly joins him with his own hammer.
Styrian might feel fear there, for just a moment -- but the second attacker misses!
The bolded may act.
Valistar mage armor +4 to AC
Blue Fighter
Red Fighter
Styrian Meathier 8 pts of damage
Arthur Worthington 9 pts of damage
Nirion 3 pts of damage
D. Rogue 2 pts of damage
Soddy Daisy
Kvina Oathsworn
Styrian's attack misses, but Arthur manages some damage as Nirion gently taps him with his wand. The rogue grimaces at the arrow that's fitted itself right in the soft, squishy part of his armpit. He gruffly yanks it out and throws it to the ground before, as the group had feared, going invisible.
The bolded may act.
Soddy Daisy
Kvina Oathsworn
The bolded may act.
Valistar mage armor +4 to AC
Blue Fighter
Red Fighter
Styrian Meathier 8 pts of damage
Arthur Worthington 3 pts of damage
Nirion 3 pts of damage
D. Rogue 4 pts of damage
Soddy Daisy
Kvina Oathsworn