322 shrugs at Aquila's question, and doesn't offer a clear answer to the question.
"So are we doing this or not? Engram for access? Questions of philosophy and soothsaying can wait."
322 nods and steps forward toward Aquila and looks him up and down.
"Just you, not the eagle," she states matter-of-factly, pointing at Garra. "Is that a problem?"
322 shakes her head. "No need, I can draw on the energies of the Dreaming Dark to give me that form and ... I was thinking the same thing. Strange." She then gives the halfling a strange look before placing a light hand holding a tuning fork on his shoulder and intoning words of magic while making the requisite gestures for the somatic component.
Aquila experiences a strong sense of vertigo and is momentarily disoriented as the Serene Circle of Irori disappears around him and is replaced by a back alley in a large city on Golarion.
"A moment," 322 intones as her form shifts again to that of his eagle, Garra. She flutters for a moment then sits on his shoulder.
"All right, let's go. Try to act natural. We are only a street or two from the entrance to the Grand Lodge."
322/Garra seems very suspicious of the offer and does not take it, making a squawking sound to show displeasure.
The pair quickly make their way from the back alley to the main street that leads to the entrance of the Grand Lodge. Getting past the guard at the door seems no problem as he recognizes Aquila and gives him a short nod as they pass.
It is evening in Absalom, and the Grand Lodge is abuzz with Pathfinders moving about. The entrance to Skyreach is unguarded and Aquila quickly makes his way inside.
"Down the hallway to the left," she whispers to Aquila in Halfing, her words greatly hampered by the eagle's beak and tongue, yet somehow perfectly understandable to the halfling.
Once they arrive at the requested destination, 322/Garra looks around to make sure no one is watching and hops off the Aquila's shoulder, transforming into a halfling the approximate size and shape of the shaman. 322's disguise could even be a distant relative by Aquila's estimation.
"I'll be right back," she states in Halfling. "Wait here," then disappears down another hallway and around a corner and out of sight.
Less than 10 seconds later, Aquila turns around to see Ambrus Valsin striding purposefully down the hallway. He seems to be on his way to somewhere () and nods politely to Aquila.
"Evening, Audax," he says as he passes.
The Venture-captain stops himself just as he passes Aquila and turns around.
"Say," he says, holding out a finger in the air in a gesture of a man trying to remember something. "Didn't Westyr send you and a crew to Axis early this morning?"
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The Venture-captain stops himself just as he passes Aquila and turns around.
"Say," he says, holding out a finger in the air in a gesture of a man trying to remember something. "Didn't Westyr send you and a crew to Axis early this morning?"
"Yup, working on that mission at this very moment! I'll explain everything in the report. Explore, Cooperate and Report you know! Don't let me distract you longer."
The Venture-Captain takes a moment, but then nods in agreement with Aquila. "Yes, yes, very true, the good old ECR, can't beat that can you? Carry on, carry on."
Valsin then turns around and stalks off down the corridor.
Less than 5 minutes later, the familiar-looking halfling returns holding a sealed, wooden box big a bit under a half-meter in all dimensions. She is stuffing it into what looks to be a handy haversack, which she then swings over her shoulder.
"All done," she states matter-of-factly, then transforms back into a bird and lands on Aquila's shoulder.
"Any trouble while I was gone?"
The bird nods and gestures for Aquila to leave the way they came.
All goes smoothly until the two are just about out of sight of the main gate, when 322 suddenly and unexpectedly transforms while still riding on Aquila's shoulder and tumbles off in her true form onto the cobbled street of Absalom.
In an instant she is up again and stares back toward the front gate of the Grand Lodge to see if her change was spotted. Aquila whips his head around as well, but sees that the guard seems to be talking to a group of Osirian tourists, and seems to have seen nothing.
322 grabs Aquila by the collar and quickly drags him back into the side alley.
"That was close," she mumbles in Halfling, and pulls a different colored tuning fork than the one Aquila saw before out of her satchel. "My transformations can be a bit unpredictable. Let us return to your cohort."
And with that she intones the words of power and Aquila feels once again the intense rush of vertigo as the street suddenly drops away beneath them and is replaced by the off-white sand of the Serene Circle of Irori.
The other Pathfinders are standing about 50 yards away, and while the other people gathered nearby note the sudden appearance of the halfling and the elf, none seem to give it much thought.
322 pulls a bag out of her satchel, a small bag that seems to contain an object about the size of a human child's fist.
"Here, as we bargained, Pathfinder." 322 intones, but she speaks not in her cool, disaffected tone, but with some dredged-up emotion that is hard to pin down.
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"Thanks."
Aquila accepts the bag and checks the content.
"You are aware that taking things from Skyreach wasn't actually part of the agreement. 'a bit of snooping there, nothing more' is what we agreed on. I guess you feel entitled to the thing you took. Would you be so kind to let us know what it is, so we don't have to worry you took something dangerous?"
Aquila opens the bag to find what appears to be the third missing memory engram inside. To check its authenticity, he quickly touches it and receives the expected vision from Hao Jin's past.
This time the vision is of her as a child of perhaps ten, her hair glossy black without a hint of the sorcerer’s signature ruby locks. Hao Jin dances and sings as she explores the wonders of a magnificent museum. She climbs about the displays, enacting mock battles with taxidermied drakes or old suits of armor. As the young Hao Jin climbs atop a suit of ancient Minkaian armor, her foot slips and she grabs at a hanging lantern to steady herself. Suddenly everything is pain and fire, chaos, and then... silence and empty darkness. The silence and empty darkness end suddenly with a burst of pain and a strange pulsating that wracks her entire body.
The scene shifts again and Aquila sees a young Hao Jin, her hair now a brilliant shade of red, her small face crumbling into tears as she learns that not only is the glorious museum gone, burned to ash, but her family has spent almost their entire fortune returning the young girl to life. Aquila is left with a strong, lingering sense of Hao Jin’s regret, as well as her resolve to master the strange new magic burning inside her along with her emotions, so that she is never the source of such a tragedy again.
Snapping back, the halfling shaman look up to see 322 shrug at his question. "You got what you wanted. Next time, get a contract, I guess," she mutters in Halfling as she disappears with a single spoken word of magic power.
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Ruby has a look of disapproval on her face. "I'd like to think that we would have been able to convince 322 to give up on this petty grudge she holds against the Society. I'm certainly not happy about aiding her in stealing something from the Grand Lodge."
"I don't think she holds a grudge against the society at all. I think she just needed to borrow something. I'm sure she'll return it when she's done. Let's focus on the mission: save the contents of the tapestry."
Having acquired the third and final memory engram, your group heads to to the Travel Portal that will take you back to the Empty Court when you interrupted by a very excited-looking Eleven-Sun-Truth.
The inevitable is practically vibrating with pent up energy, especially once he hears that you have recovered the engrams.
"Oh, that is wonderful!" he almost shouts, bopping up into the air before coming back down to eye level. "And I have wonderful news as well! I conveyed the story you brought with you about the demiplane to Hao Jin's tribunal, and they have agreed to reopen her case! They have set her date for tomorrow and it would be a great honor to invite you, her advocates after all, to attend. Judging by my superior's remarks, there will be some very influential judges present. Would you possibly be able to attend?"
You pass through several Travel Portals until you reach the outskirts of the Empty Court. Unlike last time, one of the Axial Monitors is stationed directly next to the teleportation gate, while the other guards the entrance to Aroden's former domain.
The same tent you saw set up on the stage of the amphitheater has been set up next to the Teleportation portal, and after ducking inside you find Hao Jin going through a chest of clothes, trying to decide between several outfits.
She drops her belongings as you enter and looks toward you expectantly.
"Did you find them? The engrams? What I wouldn't give to be whole again after so many years."
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Ruby steps forward to help Hao Jin pick up her belongings.
"Ah, always a task in the Azuranti home: what to wear on an important day. Hmm, this has a rather nice style to it. This would be my choice."
After handing Hao Jin her belongings, she will reach into her pocket and takes out the memory engram she was given by the Maker. "This is the one I picked up. It showed me a vision of you mimicking a weaver at a loom to help formulate the concepts of The Tapestry. It's quite remarkable, really."
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We did find your engrams. They gave us some insight into your life. You seem full of hubris. Intent to do what you will with little regard for the lasting effects. Brilliant as a mage, or so my companions seemed to indicate. But reckless. The cycle of life and death should not be harnessed as one uses a fire to boil water. It is beyond out understanding. Kramac hopes your time here has tempered your ambition.
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We did find your engrams. They gave us some insight into your life. You seem full of hubris. Intent to do what you will with little regard for the lasting effects. Brilliant as a mage, or so my companions seemed to indicate. But reckless. The cycle of life and death should not be harnessed as one uses a fire to boil water. It is beyond our understanding. Kramac hopes your time here has tempered your ambition.
Aquila nods.
Hao Jin takes the memory engrams from the group, thanking you each in turn.
She then turns to Ruby and Kramac to reply to their comments.
"Yes, the weaver was truly a great insight, and one which I could not have foreseen. I found the technical skill with which he created cloth was not only the inspiration for how I bound together the demiplane, but also that his meticulous detail and care conveyed the importance of taking my time and abiding by the multiverse’s laws as I understood them."
Here she turns to look at Kramac in particular. "I understand that what I did was wrong, but at the time I felt I had no other choice. I see now that I should have studied what effects and repercussions my actions would have on the plane and the multiverse as a whole, but you are right. I was full of hubris. But what can one expect from a being only a few centuries old!"
The Tribunal
Once you finish your conversation, Eleven-Sun-Truth arrives to lead you all to the tribunal. Hao Jin stays behind, as she will not be needed until a bit later in the day. She promises in the meantime to begin reattuning herself to her memory engrams and begin the transcription of the "Ark Ritual" that you will take back with you.
On the way through several Travel Portals, he explains that although the Ruby Phoenix was a relative unknown when she arrived centuries ago, she has become the center of quite a bit of attention since then. Her reputation ensures that as word of her trial has spread through several districts, there’s already an immense yet orderly crowd of curious inevitables, glimmering axiomites, petitioners, and off-world visitors gathered around the sprawling courthouse today.
As you step through the final portal, you can see that the inevitable has not lied, and there is indeed a huge crowd waiting to enter the scene of today's tribunal. Eleven-Sun-Truth escorts the you through the crowd, which parts smoothly and politely to make way. Once you are inside, the inevitable lets you know that you are free to explore the courthouse’s expansive, three-story entry hall where a host of barristers, bureaucrats, scribes, and more are discussing a combination of legal theory and the upcoming trials for the day. Eleven-Sun-Truth requests that you remain in the general area while it checks in with its superiors, mentioning that the trial’s set to begin in about 2 hours.
He also suggests that you ask around and inform yourself of today's proceedings and of who the judges in the tribunals might be, as even he has not been told about their identity.
Aquila talks to some of the people who are hanging about the courthouse today and learns an apkallu named Tchekua will most likely be a judge today, as he was part of Hao Jin’s first tribunal. Tchekua was fairly sympathetic to Hao Jin centuries ago and might still be. There’s also word that one of the judges is arriving from another plane for this event, which is rare.
He further learns that Tchekua is an enthusiast of mortal history, having studied and catalogued the lengthy timelines of thousands of worlds. He is an avid archivist who understands the merits of preserving and understanding the past. The prevailing rumor of the off-world judge is that they’re a representative of the Boneyard, based on the group of psychopomps seen alighting and entering through the courthouse’s back entrance. If it’s true, the psychopomps would be especially interested in anything Hao Jin did that influenced the River of Souls (the means by which the dead reach Pharasma for their final judgment).
Finally, a particularly talkative mercane lets Aquila know that Tchekua has a slight bias toward those who speak in ornate ways, and he’s readily wooed by those who demonstrate sincere passion. He also learns that the secretive psychopomp is a yamaraj named Zahal who specifically requested a position on the tribunal upon learning of it.
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Kramac will spend a few moments thinking on what he knows of the planes. If it is ok with Aquila, I will borrow your chronicle for a moment. Then he will cast heightened awareness, and psychically contact the Scarab Sages for advice on the topic (Using a boon where I can consult with a Scarab Sage for advice on a knowledge check, netting a +5 to the roll).
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Kramac will spend a few moments thinking on what he knows of the planes. If it is ok with Aquila, I will borrow your chronicle for a moment. Then he will cast heightened awareness, and psychically contact the Scarab Sages for advice on the topic (Using a boon where I can consult with a Scarab Sage for advice on a knowledge check, netting a +5 to the roll).
[dice=Kn Planes]1d20+9+2+2+5
Both Kramac and Ruby tag along as Aquila talks to the various people hanging about the courthouse this morning. They hear the same thing as the halfling, but are able to use their encyclopedic knowledge of the outer planes and the powers who live there to interpret some of what they hear and translate some of the names of places and people that are mentioned.
An axiomite mentions that Hao Jin’s demiplane offended many of her people who are concerned with the stability of the cosmos, but apparently it perturbed even Otolmens, a primal inevitable demigod of Axis concerned with machinery, mathematics, and physics. She believes she saw the Tenth-by-Third, the herald of Otolmens, enter the courthouse, and it seems likely the herald will serve as one of the judges.
Tenth-by-Third is dogmatic even by the standard of inevitables. The scent of chaos offends the herald, whereas interacting with lawful-aligned beings sets the herald at ease. The herald Tenth-by-Third respects logical arguments and those backed by quantitative data, whereas they interpret impassioned arguments as muddied by emotional interference.
Some bystanders believe that the yamaraj Zahal may be serving as one of the other judges. A yamaraj is an extremely powerful dragon-like psychopomp that operates one of the Boneyard’s courts to determine souls’ fates. Any psychopomp judge would take offense at any interference in the River of Souls, so such a topic should be handled carefully if it’s brought up. Few understand her, considering her a wild card. In the Boneyard, she’s as often chided for her leniency—even for crimes that others would consider unforgivable—as respected for her grim verdicts, though such decisions almost always come down to the context of the deeds.