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"I am suprised he hasn't fallen already." the older man smiles and thinks about Will's suggestion for a moment before continuing, "Your word doesn't mean much, to be honest, we have only known eachother for a few short days. What do you intend to do once you have left the sanctum? What will you report to your superiors?"
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That I found an ancient site that had occupants, some of whom had lost their marbles, but others who desired freedom, and that we facilitated this and made friends for the society. After we leave I intend to introduce you to Belemia, who I mentioned. Why would we leave you trapped in here? What guarantee would you need? What would we gain by leaving you imprisoned here?
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The wizard frowns, "No no no, that won't do at all. By leaving us imprisoner here, you keep your lives." He realizes that the threat would not go far, so he changes his approach, "Since we are having a civil discussion, let us just say that my last remaining brother and i would prefer it if you helped us keep a low profile. Would you say, close leave the ioun stone with us for good, giving us freedom to live the rest of our lives in solace."
He tells his tiger to come to him, and the loyal animal does so. "I will agree to your plan, if you promise to claim that you found the lower levels of Thornkeep uninhabited, after defeating that alien creature tormenting you for several floors. We can tie the ioun stone to my tiger's neck, and he will accompany you through the portal."
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Roran places his sword back in his sheath. "As long as you and your brother keep to yourselves and have no influence on the word outside, we shall leave."
"We will tell the person who hired us that the situation has been handled. And with all the ioun stones in your possession, no one else should be able to make it to the lower levels anyway."
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Togarin nods, "Then we are in agreement." He wanders over to the corpse on his operating table, and casts fabricate to turn some of torn cloth into a simple but delicate necklace, and pull out his hand. "The stone, if you may, unless one of you want to try putting it on the tiger yourselves."
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"WILL." Pietro says in a slightly surprised baritone. "I AM SURPRISED AT YOU, MAN. I MEAN LOOK AT IT. THE THING'S JUST A BIG OVERGROWN PUSSY CAT."
"HERE PUSSY, PUSSY. HERE PUSSY." Pietro says, making his voice sound like what one might image a cute grizzly bear's might be if they could speak. He stalks over to put the thing on the twelve-foot long tabby.
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"WHAT? OH DON'T WORRY. I WON'T HURT 'EM. I USED TO HAVE A FISH WHEN I WAS KID. BIT OF A CHAMELEON HE WAS. CHANGED COLOR AND EVEN SIZE EVERY COUPLE OF WEEKS. NEVER FOUND ANOTHER FISH LIKE I'M. NAMED HIM FISHY, CAUSE I USED TO THINK IT WAS FISHY." Pietro ties the thing up and goes to tie the waistband around the kitty's neck. "IF WE'RE GOING TO BE PARTNERS IT'S IMPORTANT WE TRUST ONE ANOTHER."
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The wizard sighs, "As Nhur Athemon’s defeat grew near, Draegos, Vuzhon, and myself sought to escape his influence." Togarin explains. "We constructed this array of Ioun stones to protect ourselves by projecting the Sanctum into a distant future free of our master's grasp."
The tiger growls as Peitro approaches him, but Togarin raises his hand and the tiger allows the cleric to put the band over his neck. "But obviously we were discovered before the array was complete. Now, with your help we can go back to our work."
He walks you back to the entrance, and waits with you at the portal.
He looks to Will, "I appreciate your discression, and keeping this place a secret. Once you are through, and my tiger is returned, the portal to the Sanctum will close in a single moment in time, stretching into eternity. Goodbye, pathfinders."
The helmet hovers off of Telos's limp body, and flies over to the apprentice wizard. "I guess this is goodbye, new friends! All the best on the outside world! I will stay and help Master Togarin continue his work."
There is an awkward silence in the air of this moment.
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You step through the portal with the tiger, and make your way back into the Enigma Vaults. The large beast growls at you a few times, before turning around and making it's way back through the white fog and back to it's master. After a few moments, the fog disappears leaving behind no trace that there ever was some sort of entrance there.
The Vaults are cold and empty, but it feels like no time at all has past since you actually entered the Sanctum. Peering up from where you left her, Blemia peers back at the group, "Huh? You're back already, that was quick. What happened...errr, nevermind that...i'm huuuungry. Did you bring me back any undead?"
...
The rest of the way back up through the dungeons are slow and uneventful. Your perceptions of time has almost shifted since spending a few days inside the Sanctum, and Pietro is exhausted after carrying Telos's body all the way up those stairs and long corridors.
...
As you exit, the warm evening air is a welcome change to the coldness of the dungeons. Just like clock work, you find a small collection of Goldenfire Order mages and some of the local militia run down and stop in front of the entrance. Behind them you notice Iliara, accompanied by venture captain Adril Hestram.
The captain is suprised to see you, "Are you finished already? ...nevermind that, did you see Rozimus on your way back? He would have only just gone back inside for god know what reason." He continues to explain how the pathfinder began acting strangely, and left another debrief and was spotted making his way back towards the Thornkeep dungeons. "We were about to go in and chase him down, but here you are..."
Iliara shakes her head, "Hestram, can't you see they look like they've been through something. Is that Telos? What happened to him?" She quickly waves, and a pair of her order grab the dead body of the sorcerer and start inspecting him.
And so you start to explain what happened, or what didn't happen. Either way, the leaders quickly take you back into town, and let you rest for the evening. The Goldenfire Order work on resurrecting Telos, while the rest of the group enjoys some well deserved rest.
...
You meet back with Adril Hestram some time after your rest and de-brief the captain. He welcomes the story, and takes down as many notes as he possibly can for his report to the Pathfinder Society. "I cannot thank you enough, Pathfinder. You have done the Society, and the River Kingdoms a huge service, one that will be etched into history. With the dungeons vanquished, the town of Thornkeep can finally breathe some relief. You also have earned quite the names for yourselves in these areas, both Iliara and Baron Tevrin have offered you positions amongst their ranks."
The venture captain continues, "It was a great pleasure working with you all, and i hope to do so in the near future. For now, return to Absalom, or wherever it is your homes are, and enjoy your rewards. You have become quite experienced dungeon explorers, so i am sure there is more work to be had soon enough." He thinks for a moment, "Actually, i think i might have a job for you, if you are interested. An old friend of mine has recently come in contact with me, and she might be in need of your skill sets. Think it over, and meet with me back in Absalom in a few weeks. Stay safe, Pathfinders."
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After Adril mentions the offer from the Goldenfire Order Telos goes to talk to Iliara about doing just that. He inquires if, perhaps, he could start an expansion of their operations to lands abroad, and perhaps further grown as a small faction within the society. You know some agents really fall for the locations they take missions in, and if they settle down they could set up and run Goldenfire Order outposts in those places! I have to keep on the move, of course... He spends a bit of time selling her on the idea before heading back to Absalom to rest and carouse around the Grand Lodge.
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Iliara nods and thanks Telos for his suggestion, "You are very wise, young Telos. However the Goldenfire Order has to remain in Thornkeep. We are sworn to Baron Tevrin, but our role here is much more complext than you might think. The neighboring encampments of Hellnights and other settlements have similar mages protecting their territories. If we were to spread ourselves too thin, well, that would tip the balance across all of River Kingdoms."
"But once again, thank you for all that you have done here for our town. Please come back and share more of your adventures. Perhaps this place will chance next time you visit. We are lucky to have the Pathfinder Society as allies."
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The Vaults are cold and empty, but it feels like no time at all has past since you actually entered the Sanctum. Peering up from where you left her, Blemia peers back at the group, "Huh? You're back already, that was quick. What happened...errr, nevermind that...i'm huuuungry. Did you bring me back any undead?"
Will quickly thinks about the promises made to two powerful creatures. He cryptically suggests, Nothing to eat quite yet, but I have a feeling that if you hang around, you may find your belly full of 'failed experiments'.
The rest of the way back up through the dungeons are slow and uneventful. Your perceptions of time has almost shifted since spending a few days inside the Sanctum, and Pietro is exhausted after carrying Telos's body all the way up those stairs and long corridors.
Glad Pietro has a strong back.. and Telos isn't terribly heavy
As you exit, the warm evening air is a welcome change to the coldness of the dungeons. Just like clock work, you find a small collection of Goldenfire Order mages and some of the local militia run down and stop in front of the entrance. Behind them you notice Iliara, accompanied by venture captain Adril Hestram.The captain is suprised to see you, "Are you finished already? ...nevermind that, did you see Rozimus on your way back? He would have only just gone back inside for god know what reason." He continues to explain how the pathfinder began acting strangely, and left another debrief and was spotted making his way back towards the Thornkeep dungeons. "We were about to go in and chase him down, but here you are..."
Iliara shakes her head, "Hestram, can't you see they look like they've been through something. Is that Telos? What happened to him?" She quickly waves, and a pair of her order grab the dead body of the sorcerer and start inspecting him.
We don't have much to chronicle about, but maybe something to drink about and celebrate. We managed to finally kill the bastard thats been persistently bothering us the whole time. Unfortunately, he did manage to kill one of us... We found this note that says that all of his possessions should be dispensed to his surviving party members... Wait damn it, it says if he dies an unnatural death and has sufficent resources to be raised he'd prefer to be returned to life... Oh well, I was going to retire rich. What's this job you mention?
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You step through the portal with the tiger, and make your way back into the Enigma Vaults. The large beast growls at you a few times, before turning around and making it's way back through the white fog and back to it's master. After a few moments, the fog disappears leaving behind no trace that there ever was some sort of entrance there.
The Vaults are cold and empty, but it feels like no time at all has past since you actually entered the Sanctum. Peering up from where you left her, Blemia peers back at the group, "Huh? You're back already, that was quick. What happened...errr, nevermind that...i'm huuuungry. Did you bring me back any undead?"
"I WOULD SUGGEST TELOS, BUT HE WOULDN'T MAKE A MOUTHFUL EVEN FOR ME. THAT AND-" *sniff, sniff* "HE SMELLS A BIT OFF TOO."
Glad Pietro has a strong back.. and Telos isn't terribly heavy
The rest of the way back up through the dungeons are slow and uneventful. Your perceptions of time has almost shifted since spending a few days inside the Sanctum, and Pietro is exhausted after carrying Telos's body all the way up those stairs and long corridors.
"We don't have much to chronicle about, but maybe something to drink about and celebrate. We managed to finally kill the bastard thats been persistently bothering us the whole time. Unfortunately, he did manage to kill one of us... We found this note that says that all of his possessions should be dispensed to his surviving party members... Wait damn it, it says if he dies an unnatural death and has sufficent resources to be raised he'd prefer to be returned to life... Oh well, I was going to retire rich. What's this job you mention?"
"OH IT DON'T KNOW. THERE'S ALWAYS REINCARNATION. THAT'S PROBABLY LESS EXPENSIVE. I THINK TELOS WOULD MAKE AN ADORABLE SQUIRREL." puppeteering the corpse, Pietro makes what he considers to be squirrel noises. *Cheep cheep* "BESIDES JUST IMAGINE THE LOOK ON HIS NEW FACE! HAH!"