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Although the city of Nantambu is hot, the interior of Sharrowsmith’s Exports is cool and dim. Aya Allahe gestures to a sideboard of iced drinks and jungle fruits as she settles in behind her tidy desk. “Please, refresh yourselves, for I’m about to ask you to journey far from the comforts of civilization.” The only other person in the room is a half-elf named Fola Barun, who has curly hair and dark skin painted with delicate designs. Fola stands behind a massive oak table, meticulously adding details to a half-finished map.
Allahe’s brow wrinkles over her golden eyes, hinting at her worry. “North of Bloodcove is the mountainous Terwa Uplands and a scarp called Azlant Ridge. For more than six years, Pathfinder archeologists at Azlant Ridge have been excavating an Azlanti outpost of vital historical significance; it’s perhaps the only Azlanti outpost on the Mwangi coast.” Allahe pauses. “Fola, you mentioned to me before that you wanted to learn how Pathfinder agents begin a mission. Why don’t you hold off on that map for a few minutes and listen?”
The half-elf carefully sets her cartography aside and strides over behind the desk. Allahe nods approvingly and continues, “My good friend, Juliet Dias, leads the expedition
at Azlant Ridge. During their first year, the expedition was beset by a horde of ape-men,
but was saved by the timely intervention of a group of Pathfinder agents. The site has been
mostly quiet ever since—Juliet provides monthly reports. Archeology is a slow and careful science, as Juliet is keen to remind me. Not all Pathfinders are reckless thrill-seekers.” Allahe flashes a conspiratorial smile.
Fola Barun speaks up. “Juliet Dias’s monthly correspondence is a week overdue. Her last missive described a strange light emanating from somewhere deeper in the Terwa Uplands, and her intense curiosity about it.” She slides a folded letter across the desk.
Aya adds, “I fear for my friend. Go to Azlant Ridge and seek out Juliet Dias. If she has met danger, please assist her. If my fears prove true, and Juliet is injured or worse, please ensure that the Pathfinder archeologists under her supervision are safe and continuing their valuable work, and then bring Juliet back to me. I have a riverboat to Bloodcove ready to depart, and I’ll provide you directions from Bloodcove to Azlant Ridge. Although I ask that you hurry, it is important that you ask whatever questions you may have before departing.”
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Bolty is a short well tanned Garundi man with some sort ridiculously heavy and complicated looking crossbow handing from his back.
His well worn boots and backpack are clearly those of a seasoned adventurer and his increasingly thinning hair betrays his age as well.
Bolty asks bluntly "Ain't Bloodcove an Aspis den?"
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Petrok taps his lips thoughtfully before addressing Aya Allahe. Your friend Juliet Dias, noted Ape people attacked them, did she happen to note their race or offer a further description? Could they be responsible for her disappearance? Has there been any interference from the Aspis consortium regarding the dig? How long is the journey from Bloodcove to Azlant Ridge?
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A young blonde-haired woman, her hair flowing over her shoulders and light blue cloak, steps forward. Around her neck she wears a simple but elegantly gold-trimmed wooden symbol of a screeching hawk and on her back is strapped a bow and a quiver of arrows. Her eyes twinkle like diamonds in the sunlight and the shadow that the sun casts behind her bears wide angelic wings that don't physically exist on her body.
As if her appearance wasn't breathtaking enough, when she opens her mouth to speak it sounds is as if a finely tuned harp was being strung with every word. "Greetings all, the name's Pethwen. It is a true pleasure to meet you. I have recently undertaken some study in preparation for this mission and can let you know what I've learned.
"Several millennia ago, the western Mwangi expanse was a contested battleground between the declining serpentfolk empire and the cyclopes of Ghol-Gan. Although the Azlanti were not generally allies of Ghol-Gan, they had the insidious serpentfolk as a common enemy. The Ghol-Gan cyclopes were renowned astronomers and worshiped celestial bodies."
She then pauses for a moment as she considers what she had learned in conjunction with the details of the briefing. "This light that Juliet reported, you don't suppose it could somehow be of Celestial origins?" The thought brings an excited smile to the aasimar's face.
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"Well, let's see. The Aspis control of Bloodcove is significant, but it is far enough from Azlant Ridge that you're not likely to be bothered by city forces. We have not had any reports of Aspis meddling yet, just something to be on guard about."
"As for the light, I know nothing more than Juliet put in her note. However, there is a large ivory sphere at Azlant Ridge that started glowing six years ago, when an Abyss-touched monster attacked that site. It ceased glowing once the monster was defeated, and hasn’t activated since. Perhaps the glow Juliet reported was a similar phenomenon at a different site.”
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A finely dressed doll is sitting in the room, much to everyone's confusion. Eventually it looks up and greets the room. "Hello everyone. I am Molly. Please don't be disturbed by my appearance, I assure you I am here to help in any way I can."
"Oh, I am afraid I have not been to Mwangi often.. Or if I have I don't remember it." She looks at her dress. "Would this be appropriate attire?"
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“The terrain between Bloodcove and Azlant Ridge is dense jungle, so bear that in mind. Once you get there, though, the area around Azlant Ridge is mountainous and mostly above the jungle canopy. Creatures such as snakes and monkeys are common, including the violent charau-ka ape-men. There aren’t any communities nearby; Azlant Ridge is quite remote.”
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Molly will enter her seance. This will be her hour that she will channel the Archmage spirit.
Chosen Archmage Spells: Cantrip - Ray of Frost. 1st - Magic Missile. 2nd - Glitterdust.
Full Spell List
Cantrip/Knacks - Ray of Frost, Ghost Sound, Haunted Fey Aspect, Daze, Grave Words, Stabilize.
1st - Magic Missile, Oneiric Horror, Calm Spirit, Ill Omen, Murderous Command.
2nd - Glitterdust.
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Fola provides you a map of the region, and Aya will outfit you with the gear you need to traverse the jungle.
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After days of exhausting jungle travel, Azlant Ridge finally emerges above the canopy, as a series of thin switchback trails climb ever higher out of the jungle. Near the top, a dilapidated camp comes into view. The camp is surrounded by a wooden palisade wall forming a semicircle that both starts and ends at an imposing cliff face looming hundreds of feet above the camp. A gatehouse towers over the palisade, guarding a wooden gate. Near this gate is a large gap of splintered wood, as though some enormous creature recently smashed its way through the wall.
”Um, that’s far enough!” a nervous voice calls out to you from the guard-tower. ”Who are you, and what do you want?” Looking up, you can see a scholarly half-elf with a very worried expression on his face.
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"Oh, yes, ok. Just a moment, and I'll open the gate for your." The nervous man disappears from sight, reappearing a few moments later as he opens the gate. "Come in, come in." He nervously glances out behind you before swiftly closing the gate and barring it from the inside (despite the presence of a large hole in the wall not far away). "My name is Vadlin Whent. I'm an archeologist here, though right now I'm on guard duty. I better get back up there. Um. You should probably go talk to Happ Volz in the camp area over there. He's in charge right now."
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"Why thank you ever so kindly sir." Molly gives a curtsy and then gestures to her companions. "Shall we pay the captain a visit?", before she scampers towards the tent at a high speed like an enthusiastic child. Every now and then her body twitches or seems to shamble but it doesn't impede her movement.
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When you arrive at what is clearly the camp area, you find a red-haired, round-faced man packing up some extra tents, as if preparing to leave. Nearby, six other scholarly-types perform similar work, seemingly preparing supplies to leave. "Oh, hello" the man says when he spots you. "My name's Happ. How can I help you?"
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Pethwhen greets Happ with a wide smile, the sun glinting off her startling blue eyes. "Greetings! My name is Pethwen and we've been sent by Aya Allahe. We hear that your expedition's leader, Juliet Dias, has gone missing and we're here to find her. It seems you're getting ready to leave? Please, the work here is important. Can we convince you to stay, at least until we've completed our investigations? Is there a particular reason you've decide to leave in such a hurry?"
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"When we found out what this place is...what the light means...well,it seemed like the wisest course. This place," Happ says, waving at the cliff-side, "is an arms repository, placed here by the ancient Azlanti. Huge cold iron golems are stored within as some sort of defense station. Six years ago, this camp was attacked by a horde of ape-men, led by an enormous four-armed gorilla. One of the Azlanti monoliths activated to defeat the gorilla champion and drive off the horde, with help from a team of Pathfinders. How exactly it was activated was a mystery, but the site's had only sporadic trouble with the ape-men since.
”That brings us to the present.” He pauses for a moment to wipe his brow. ”A few weeks ago, a steady white light appeared in the Terwa Uplands. Juliet Dias and six archeologists went to investigate. They haven’t returned, though the light appeared to be only a few days away. Meanwhile, those of us that remained here focused our research on the ivory sphere you see over there.” Happ points to the huge ivory sphere, excavated at the Western edge of the camp. ”Through careful study, we’ve determined that its glow doesn’t just indicate danger—it indicates powerful fiendish activity. When a fiend is near, the sphere activates an Azlanti monolith to seek and destroy the fiend. Of course, this made us quite worried about Juliet and the rest, but none of us are qualified to go trek up after her.”
He nervously glances at the hole in the palisade. ”Two days ago, another of those monoliths activated, smashing its way through our camp and plodding off toward the light. Several of my people immediately fled for Bloodcove, but I’m not willing to just abandon this site so quickly. We’ve spent the last few days covering and preserving our dig, so that hopefully it can be reopened someday. We’re going to set out first thing tomorrow.”
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"Of course, feel free to examine whatever you'd like, and you're welcome to stay here for the night."
Happ leads you over to the sphere, clearly more in his element as he tells you about the dig. A precise and professional terraced dig site surrounds what appears to be a half-sphere of a smooth, almost mirror-like white material resembling polished ivory. A large sheet of rolled canvas is near the sphere, as the archeologists intend to cover it before they depart. "Six years ago, this sphere began to glow just before an abyss-touched champion attacked the camp. We suspect it is some sort of ancient Azlanti warning system, and we're fairly sure it's connected to the golems in the cliff. It hasn't glowed since, though I worry that the light Juliet went to investigate is something similar."
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Petrok advises his group to stay the night and leave in the morning as it's most likely a one or two day trip according to Happ's description of the mysterious light. I hate to say it but Juliet has been missing for a while now...another day most likely won't make a difference. However, we'll need all our energy and all the daylight we can manage in order to travel both quickly and safely. Let's stay the night and start fresh our search in the morning.
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"Not that I've seen. I think Juliet was working on a report to the Society when she left, which you're welcome to look over. It's still in her tent, along with some other supplies. I'd appreciate it if you'd deliver them to her when you--"
Voltz is interrupted by a screech and a crash as ape-men start pouring in through the breach in the wall, along with swarms of smaller monkeys!
Initiative:
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For every 5 by which you beat the DC, you may ask another question.
For every 5 by which you beat the DC you may ask another question about monkey swarms.
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Petrok is only mildly surprised at the sudden attack..his heightened awareness allowed him supernatural awareness of his surroundings. He immediately calls on the spirits surrounding him to summon a conflagration of fire and destruction.
The Spirits of the jungle do not accept your rampaging! Be gone or be destroyed! Petrok points his finger and a small globe of fire grows enormous as it travels towards the horde finally exploding in a cacophony of sound and light. Petrok then ascends the hill a little drawing his falchion as he climbs the terrace.
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Molly puts on her glasses from the Archmage Molly set and looks over the ape men.
"Ah yes, these are Charau-ka, small humanoid creatures with the charau-ka subtype. They are known for their powerful shrieks and tendancy to fling things at their opponents with deadly accuracy, really quite fascinating. Also, look out!"
Molly Will then follow up with Magic Missile and target Yellow, Red, and Blue.
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Captain Absalom quickly assesses the situation and determines the best manner to deal with a swarm of these types of creatures.
He then bashes the swarm of monkeys currently accosting Molly and Phosdlon with his shield.
The subsequent attacks would go at yellow or yellow/purple before returning as part of that flurry, respectively. If so, the attacks would be as follows:
- If 1st attack downs white: 2nd attack is on yellow, Attack Roll would have been at a -5, and the 3rd would be at purple, at a -6. (So AC 10/ and 17, respectively).
- If 2nd attack downs white: 3rd attack is at yellow, Attack Roll would have been at a -5, for an 18.
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Captain absalom, bashes the monkey swarm currently accosting Molly and Phosdlon, scattering the creatures and sending them fleeing back into the jungle. He then launches his shield at Yellow, which manages to get its arms up just in time to block the shield. Unfortunately for it, this causes the shield to ricochet into its purple ally, downing the creature, before spinning back around to Captain Absalom!
The yellow creature, incensed at Captain Absalom's hurled attack, begins to shriek maniacally! It rushes forward and hurls a stone at the brawler!
The attack is about as effective as you would expect a hurled stone to be against someone expertly wielding a shield.
Meanwhile, the other swarm of monkeys rush forward and engulf Bolty as he begins to reload, biting and clawing at the ace.
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Phosdlon's first arrow strikes true, halting the forward momentum of the rear creature and eliciting a howl of pain. The second arrow follows closely, spinning the creature around and leaving it rimed with frost and unmoving on the ground.