Madame Adenalar is a wealthy noblewoman fascinated with rare and exotic flowers.
Famish Squinwhisban is a professional architect whose obsession drives him to constantly procure examples of new architectural techniques.
Abeesa Borkalik her older brother Abbashin Borkalik clearly do not like each other; Abbashin is the head of the Borkalik household and would have already squandered the family’s fortune on tasteless and expensive status symbols if
Abeesa didn’t accompany him on his “shopping excursions” to temper his greedy impulses.
The final bidder, Pateba, is a Mauxi citizen of Rahadoum whose adventures as a younger man led him to convert to worship of the goddess Brigh.
You have now one hour to mingle with the others and maybe barter away some of the items you found in the mansion
@ you found a bust, the packet of seeds & the dagger and also a document:
a linen envelope containing a will written in Osiriani by one Abbash Borkalik, naming his daughter Abeesa as his sole heir.
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Bielsi takes the will before Jadger can stow it. He approaches Abbashin when his sister is not around.
He flashes the will at the man before speaking quietly to him.
"Might I suggest that you drop out of the bidding? It matters not to me whether you or your sister are in charge of your father's fortune but I suspect that it matters to you. Do me the favor of not participating in this auction and I will do you the favor of not giving this to her," he says, his tone quiet but undeniably threatening and all the more so because there is a distinct air of menace as though another spirit were around.
Abeesa thanks you profusely and offers you bank notes worth 2,000 gp as thanks before loudly informing her brother that he would be wise to find new lodging and a job.
Anything else you want to try?
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Pocketing the seeds, Manthos approaches Madame Adenalar. ”Madame, your prestige in collecting proceeds you and marks you a discerning merchant. We are interested in a specific item, the shield, and we would be willing to part with some rare seeds in order to secure your consent in not participating in the upcoming auction”. Flourishing the seeds, Manthos allows the Madame to examine them.
@Manthos you manage to add another 2000gp for selling the seeds.
Do you want to sell anything else, or shall I start with the auction?
Showing the bust to Pateba the former adventurer is utterly smitten with the statue. Turning it left and right he smiles at you and offers you 2000 worth of bank notes of it. Happy with his purchase he turns and leaves the auction, smiling happily about his purchase!
The team is able to bid well on anything you might like and succesfully so, after so many other depleted of cash or for other reasons.
Finally with great flourish the shard is announced.
You can see that the remaining bidders are not really interested in it when suddenly there is a crash from above and through the ceiling window a massive beast jumps down, showering you in shards.
There is a major panic and the remaing bidders hasten for the exit.
Alas make a reflex save vs 12 to escape relatively unscarred and remain the presence to shield your eyes to prevent blindness.
Fortunately the beast is VERY Slow, so the pathfinders automatically win iniative.
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"'A true student of the Eye lives seconds ahead of others,'" Recites Alexis calmly as she just happens to head for the refreshment table at the back of the room right before the thing makes its entrance.
The light around Alexis mysteriously dims into an eerie localized gloaming as she turns around and points at the creature, who is suddenly surrounded by a swarm of miniscule pale stars.
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Bielsi looks up as he hears the crashing but manages to look away just as quickly and before the glass comes raining into his eyes.
In a move that is likely to get him attention from the Pure Legion, he summons a weapon from nowhere and sets it to attack the beast. But the weapon is not an otherwordly reproduction of his scythe. Instead, it is a fiery, brilliant scimitar.
@Alexis you are not sure on first glance, it could be a construct or something undead. But you hope for the best and guess it is an undead. So Knowledge Religion please.
@Jadger I will allow a knowledge roll but at -2 as you are blinded for the moment.
Bielesi quickly casts a spell to conjure a manifestation of faith.
The flaming scimitar does manage to bite deeply, but alas his flames do not burn. Yet his blow is telling.
Alexis calls upon the stars and the beast is affected by it.
@Alexis you are reasonably sure this enemy is a necrocraft. An undead horror, known for his wicked serrated claws able to open brutal wounds and their toughness.
The necrocraft attacks Bielsi.
Pathfinders
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Ironically enough, given the goddess he reveres, most of Bielsi's spells simulate those of the undead and do little against them. But there aren't many things that are completely immune to being cut by a scythe.
So, even as the hovering blade of spiritual force continues its attack, the Oread lashes out with his weapon as well.
The scimitar does open a brutal slash across the necrocrafts spine. And the Scyte does cut open a broad but shallow gash across its chest. It hollers in pain but alas it does not go down.
The blindness lasts just for one round.
The undead slashes in silence at at Bielsi.
It seems like a wicked slash at first but his armor prevents the worst.
Pathfinder are up.
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Bielsi lets out a little grunt of pain as he is slashed by the stitched together creature.
"Oh no, you're right. I'd much prefer you were fighting this thing than me but was I supposed to summon you in the middle of an auction?" he says, speaking to...no one, apparently.
He continues his attack on the creature.
Under the barrage of weapons the undead goes down.
As you finally look around, you notice after a moment two things.
First, you can hear whistles... as if the guard is comming. And second the shard is gone.
Hearing the noise you think it is the better part of valor.
But then Famish Squinwhisban approaches you and winks you over.
The agitated gnome smiles and hopps in elation that he was not hurt by this burtal looking undead monstrosity. "You have my thanks, yes indeed yes ,y ou do1 Without you that beast would have gutted me and killed me. Or killed me and gutted me. Nevertheless, you have my thanks! Listen, those beast were last seen at the cemetary. Maybe you find some clues there! Yes indeed!"
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Bielsi calls on the blessings of Sarenrae to give him strength to deal with his current crisis as he realized that the shield shard is gone.
"One step forward, half a step back," he says to his companions.
But he hears the whistles and the gnome's clues. "To the cemetery. No doubt, whoever sent this thing grabbed the shard, too. I'm sure we'll find it there."
It takes a copper here and a silver there, but you easely manage to find the cemetary.
A field of arid soil the color of a rusty blade is littered with grave markers arranged in symmetrical rows. Despite the lack of water, the ground and gravestones are covered with mossy lichens, spiny cacti, and knotted, thorny brambles with pale blossoms that bloom in clumps. A few yucca trees stand between the graves, their trunks the color of bleached bone. None of the more
recent, cleaner headstones show any signs of religious patronage, and many of the older headstones bear scars where religious
iconography and aphorisms have been chiseled away or ground to dust. Toward the back of the cemetery stand a few cylindrical
stone structures with tarnished metal doors.
It is a gloomy place and somewhat strange, but you walk closer to find some clues.
to be gold dust. However, closer examination shows this dust is exactly like the strange residue left behind by those
afflicted with aurum death. The stone walls of the structure themselves appear to have once been covered with ornate,
carved illustrations which have now been sanded or acidstripped away.
You recognize that the unique shape of the building and doorway indicates that this is most likely an ancestral tomb reserved for one specific family, and that some of the residual “ghosts” of the illustrations on its outer
walls could be forms associated with a deity (though it’s now impossible to tell which one).
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"Look at this: More of that gold-colored dust - I hesitate to say true and proper gold dust. And these walls have been...no, this is different." A look of sadness crosses her face as her hands pass over walls that once held ornate illustrations and carvings.
"This is most likely an exclusive family crypt. It must be an old family, too, older than Rahadoum's 'Age of Man', because I am fairly certain these walls used to hold depictions of the deity they worshipped - but one can only guess at Who it was, because they've all been scoured off by way of sand and acid!"
Her expression hardens. "To paraphrase a renowned investigator of the occult, I am not anti-atheist, but I AM anti-vandalism."
The door opens onto a long set of stone stairs that descend along a 15-foot-wide passageway, dimly lit by flaming torches set into wall sconces. The stairs descend to a small room with marble floors before descending further.
You find another way down!