"Let's check the tower before we cross the bridge," Gabbi says, indicating the small boats pulled up at the shore.
"I happen to have a spell prepared for digging a small pit, if that would interest you, Gabriella."
You use the rowboats to cross the small lake. A slender tower, perched on an outcropping of ancient salt-battered travertine tiles, rises forty feet into the air here. As the tower ascends, it narrows until its tip grazes the cavern’s ceiling. Ten feet below its tip, two bridges exit the tower; one runs east and the other south, each disappearing into the cavern’s walls.
The interior is barren save for a rusted iron staircase that spirals 20 feet to an upper floor. A faded fresco runs along the walls of this chamber, depicting armored knights mounted on white horses charging across a field toward a black tower in the distance. Interrupting the mural, several stained-glass windows depict a woman in armor wielding a rapier. A lone shattered window to the west stands out from the others. A small altar rests against the wrough-tiron banister to the spiral staircase. Two bridges lead out of this shrine, one to the east and another to the south. Both end at red wooden doors.
Since the others do not share Elká's enthusiasm to tear the tiny plantman's head off its adorable shoulders, the changeling merely snarls at the fellow. Luckily for her (and the plantman?), there are other people to find and kill.
She studies the tower and its surroundings as the boat brings them closer to their objective. "If you want, I can scout ahead. Ok, good talk." With that being said, she makes her way forward and does what she does best: being a loner, getting into trouble, and finding a bastard that deserves what's coming to him or her.
As Elka approaches the altar, a psychic manifestation of a priest appears, his face grotesquely twisted in agony. "She's gone, gone forever!" he sobs, then suddenly lunges for the shattered window, shrieking, "If I die, so shall you!" A violent thrust of force attempts to hurl Elka out through the window!
Gabbi follows a little ways behind the changeling. She realizes what's happening at the altar too late to stop it.
Ellie snatches the canopic jar out of the air and looks at it curiously. "Interesting. Bet the Pathfinder Society would be interested in this."
She looks up in alarm as Elka triggers another trap - but too late to do anything to assist.
The changeling hunkers down and tries to withstand the projection of forceful anger. "Oh grow up!", she bites at the psychic manifestation. Sadly, she's too busy not getting blown away by its anger to give him the finger.
Or the claw.
Allie steps forwards as Elka charges off, shakes her head and follows her. Rascal padding alongside.
The apparition disappears, leaving Elka unharmed. Continuing her search, she sees the door to the east is unlocked. The door to the south is barred. Several bent unholy symbols and other ornaments—such as sprigs of dried herbs, scraps of holy parchment, and even a silver- tipped arrow—are affixed to the door.
Elka also finds that this door is magically trapped, set to trigger when somebody touches it.
With a hushed voice, Elká warns the others of the danger ahead. "Do not touch the door. Merely reaching for it makes the hair on my neck stand, no, jump right on up. So, eh, I'm afraid that this sort of trap is beyond my set of skills ... could you dispel it, Ulrich?"
"Certainly. Fair warning, however, I am only able to use this spell once."
Ulrich reaches towards the door handle, rotating his hand in a counterclockwise fashion. Tiny blue particles, like grains of blue sand, shuffle off the door handle and Ulrich flings them into the air where they dissolve.
Ulrich successfully dispels the magical trap. The south door is now safe to open.
Ulrich gestures to the door and takes a step aside.
"Ladies first."
Elká liberates the silver-tipped arrow before passing through the doorway and passes it on to Gabriella, "You never know." Once again, the changeling takes the lead as she eyes the swirling stairs and quietly leads the group to the next source of danger that they'll have to overcome.
Gabriella hesitates for just a moment before taking the arrow. She curls her lip at it before stowing it in her quiver.
"Keep it for him." Allie says quietly, observing her sisters hesitation.
Gabbi gives her sister a short nod in agreement before looking at the two paths before them. "Let's see what's to the east before we continue after the black knights," she says. "I wonder if there's more information here we can find about why Arazni is connected to all this."
"Sure. And remind me to stock up on some of those invisibility potions whenever we go on a spending spree again. Now, let me see ...", the changeling says mostly to herself as she dips down to check the floor for any and all tracks. After all, this place has seen some activity.
This square room is a modest bedchamber. Its furnishings are sagging and show signs of mildew. The phrases “Hold the Line” and “Trust Only the Worthy” in Celestial are carved repeatedly into the wooden crown molding around the room.
An incorporeal creature floats in this room. This disembodied phantom wears black robes that swirl around a maw of sharp teeth. It snarls and begins to float slowly towards Elka but doesn’t immediately attack...
Gabriella pulls the changeling back and readies a spell of positive energy. "Stay back spectre!" she challenges. "If you have a will, know that we won't hesitate to send you to your final judgement!"
"You have come to destroy me! Just like the others!" the creature hisses. "If you are foolish enough to try, then come and meet your doom!"
Knowing that intelligent undead are the most dangerous to deal with, Gabbi keeps her spell close to her thoughts, but continues to speak.
"Who were you in life that you don't feel that you deserve to move on to your final judgement?" she questions.
"I am--I was--Leovon Urthadar, the high priest of Arazni. When I found out the Red Crusader had died, it shook me to my core. I leaped from the window of Rapier's Point to my death. But even in death, I found no reprieve from my anguish, and so I rose again as this twisted mockery of my former self! Now interlopers have come to defile Arazni's holy shrine--you among them!"
Gabriella identifies Leovon as a geist! Geists have the ability to take control of haunts, preventing them from being permanently put to rest. They can unleash a terrifying laugh that panics the living, and their touch drains their victims' vitality.
"Interlopers, us?!" She only barely manages to hold her tongue and gives the man a look of disappointment and contempt. "Pharasma has led us here so that we can right what's wrong. Yes, a bold claim, but it's the truth. Now, would it ... do you any good if I go into the water down below and see if we can collect your bones and give you a proper burial?You've suffered long enough, Leovon."
"The water? Did he not die from jumping out the window?"
"As my companion has stated, we will see to the proper internment of your bodily remains and that the appropriate blessings are said. That will ensure that you pass on as you were intended. So you can face the Lady of Graves as She has commanded,"
”I fear Pharasma will not be so kind to be when I finally stand before her. No, this is my domain, and I will not leave it willingly. But the other interlopers are desecrating Arazni’s inner sanctum. Their wards keep me at bay. If you swear to eradicate them, I will ensure the many other restless spirits here do not menace you.”
"Defeat the interlopers?" Allie adds with a nasty grin. "Don't mind if we do!" Her enthusiasm is quite impressive, if a tad offputting, and very sincere.
The geist cackles at Alessandra's assertion, his morbid grin spreading even wider. "Ha, ha, ha! I sense a kindred spirit... There is a comforting darkness within your soul... If you will have me, I will fight by your side to slaughter the interlopers..."
Gabbi turns to glare at her sister, but then turns back to nod curtly at the spectre.
"Fine, then let's get a move on," she says in a clipped voice.
Searching this room before you leave turns up a magical rapier--Red Crusader's Quill. It is a magnificent weapon, with a golden hilt and a lotus petal guard.
Slot none; Price 25,320 gp; Weight 2 lbs.
The tip of this narrow +3 rapier can be used as a mundane writing instrument, producing any color of ink the wielder desires. Once per day as a free action when the wielder confirms a critical hit against a creature with the Red Crusader’s quill, she can inscribe an arcane mark on the creature. Once per month, the wielder can instead inscribe a mark of justice; this mark ends immediately if the wielder inscribes another mark of justice with the Red Crusader’s quill.
You head through the door that was protected by the magical trap. Trinkets dangle from the ceiling of this irregular room, twisting on hazy air currents wafting up from dozens of incense sticks. Armor stands and weapons racks are jammed together in alcoves, while a large prayer mat decorated with scowling moons fills the chamber’s center. A single door exits from an alcove to the north and a wooden double door leads south.
A female tengu is here, rearranging the trinkets on the ceiling. Larger than most tengus, she has black feathers and large, dark eyes. She wears heavy clothing and over a breastplate, and a heavy flail hangs on her belt.
The tengu's eyes widen she sees the spectral Leovon floating among your group. "No! Keep that spirit out of here!" she shrieks, reaching for her holy symbol--the grinning moon of Groetus!
"That symbol won't do you any good with where you are going!"
Ulrich gives the ghost priest a good clap on the shoulder with a magically treated hand with wisps of necromancy, and says "I'm sure you're hungry."
Kamosh is upset. So frikken upset! He's not okay with this, even if it isn't Ulrich's direct fault. He's not having any of it and refuses to help.
Gabbi begins drawing mystical arrows and loosing them at the avian cleric as Elká tears into the creature.
Ellie moves forward and aims to trip the tengu.
If that works, she smacks it as it falls.
The unfortunate tengu is unprepared for your furious assault. Bolstered by Ulrich's power, Leovon swoops in and takes a bite out of the cleric, draining her life force. Elka slices her claw across the tengu's belly, Gabby shoots her twice, then Elly trips her and shatters her skull with a strike from her flail. The cleric lies still in a pool of blood.
The jumbled weapon and armor racks contain two masterwork longswords, 15 javelins, two masterwork breastplates, and three heavy steel shields .A box of incense is hidden beneath one of the shields. The box contains 10 sticks of exotic incense worth 15 gp each and a single stick of incense of corporeality. Only one of the items hanging from the ceiling has any value: a delicately engraved platinum mirror worth 500 gp.
The room's single exit is a set of double doors leading south.
"A priest of Groetus?" Gabbi questions with a shake of her head. "Talk about a bunch of nutters."
Once the valuables are gathered, she indicates the double doors. "Elká? Could you check that for traps before we head that way?"
Elka doesn't find any traps on the doors.
This great hall contains two sturdy dining tables with bench seating, a sleeping area partitioned off with hanging blankets, and a makeshift kitchen with a cooking hearth. Barrels and crates scattered throughout the room overflow with supplies.
Having heard the commotion from your fight with the tengu, the four Seal-Breaker knights here have turned over the dining tables to serve as cover. They cry a challenge as they raise their javelins!
Gabriella cries no challenge, she simply declares Pharasma's judgement upon them as she draws her bow and fires at one of the more distant knights.
Ulrich grins as he gets ready to try his new spell. He chants in Necril "Swallow them. Swallow them. Rise up and swallow them." He smacks the bottom of his quarterstaff upon the floor, and suddenly the floor begins to quake. The floor around the knights shatters, and desiccated hands reach out from their graves to pull the knights to their doom.
Allie grants vampiric speed and reflexes to her companions.
Rascal, bolstered by the spell, scampers round the table to trip the knight Gabbi shot.
"Wait! Don't do it wolf pup!"
Elká eyes grow wide when otherworldly apparitions answer Ulrich's call and start clawing away at the knights.
Leovon swoops in to bite at the nearest knight. Elly follows in the geist's wake, tripping the knight and setting him up for a follow-up attack from both her and Leovon. Elka pounces upon the man, finishing him off.
Gabby scores a hit against the next knight in line, then Rascal moves in to bite and trip the man. Ulrich casts his spell, and the hands reach for the knights, but only manage to grab one of them.
The prone knight uses the table as cover to stand up and attack Rascal. One in the back hurls his javelin at Elly, while the grappled one tries in vain to escape.