"Rhen, is it just me, or is this lass smitten for you? Just don't smoke at her just yet. Hahaha!.. For the first time since leaving town, Ranok's roughish smile has lit his face.
I narrowly missed that one
Ranok gives Lady Cirthana a toothy grin as he nods his head, his crown somehow giving him an impressive regal look rather than looking silly. "Lady Cirthana. My name is Ranok. Just Ranok. No surname. Not one that I claim anyway."
Cirthana's glowing smile turns to disbelief when she recognizes the crown Ranok is wearing. She knows where it should be. She was there with Rhen when they gave it to Kerrdremak. The glowing smile returns as she politely nods at Ranok.
Niu stares around the study, fascinated by the furnishings. Not what I expected a temple to look like. Don't all powerful priests live in grand temples?
Rubbing at his toothless mouth, he looks down at the rug in the room and notices the trail of sand that he has left behind. "Oh, er, sorry about that, Lady Cirthana. It isn't something I have control over."
Attmepting to brush a few grains of sand off a figurine that he touched, he brushes his arm back and forth causing more sand to fall on the table. Jerking his hand back, he crosses his arms, hiding his hands, then attempts to relax.
"Er, yes, Lady Cirthana. I am Niu. We don't use surnames in Osirian. We have come hoping that you can heal us."
Just then, he realizes that Zeira hasn't introduced herself yet. "Oh, right, follow proticol... Iomedae is big on protocol. Um, I think."
Cirthana is visibly amused with Niu's sand issue. "It is a pleasure to meet you Niu. Do not worry about the sand. I have two kobolds that love to do housework and are usually looking for something to do. What type of healing do you seek?"
Glad to be given the opportunity to speak, Niu blurts out an explanation as quickly as he can. "We battled with various powerful undead in a lost tomb of an Azlanti prince. The host was lead by the animated corpse of the former king of the Truescales, himself a vastly powerful undead creature who had a powerful magic item of some kind in his eye.
Wights drained my life force. A wraith stole health from the others, and Merlokrep stole life force from Ranok. Naturally, the whole place was cursed. I read that we needed to carry the gleam of the stars and we thought it was a Gem of Brightness we had found, but apparently not, because our teeth are falling out.
Oh, and this is the magic thing that may have been powering Merlokrep. We have no idea what it is, even though I tried to Identify it several times."
Reaching into his haersack, Niu retrieves the stone and places it in front of Lady Cirthana.
Cirthana listens intently as Niu of Osirion speaks, making certain to note what they need and what she may be able to help with. As the stone is placed on the desk, she gives it a quick glance and looks down at her desk to concentrate on the matters at hand. After a few moments, she briefly looks at each of you and then returns to her thoughts. After a few more moments she says "I heard that you went to a lumberyard to investigate a slaughter of some sort. This is quite unexpected. I may be able to remove the curse. What do you know of it? Do you have your teeth or did you swallow or loose them?" She picks up the smooth runed jasper stone and begins to inspect it closely. Without looking up she says "Where are you from, Ranok?"
Ranok's smile drops as a troubled look passes over his face. "I hail from the Five King's Mountain area. Nowhere specific. My tribe roamed.". No sense motive needed to tell that this conversation has become uncomfortable for him.
Cirthana looks at Ranok with her glowing smile and nods her head in acknowledgement of his discomfort with the topic. "I shall find you a surname, Ranok. It is just a matter of time." Her attention returns to the stone. She casts detect magic "Well." She casts read magic
"I am sorry I cannot help you further with this." She sets the stone on the desk by Niu of Osirion. " As for the curse, I can prepare remove curse for you in the morning. I can only cast it three times per day. The damage done by the wights and the wraiths will need restoration. I do know of a man here, in Falcon's Hollow, who may have actually raised a man from the dead. If this is true, certainly he is capable of restoration. He is very secretive about his abilities. He presents himself a sage who also peddles magical goods he has bartered for in High market. He has been very successful at hiding his abilities and hushing the few that know of it. I will approach him on your behalf and let you know his response. You may stay here and I will have fire built to dry you off or we can meet at a designated location at a later time."
"My Lady, why did you cast Read Magic? Do you suspect that the runes on that stone can shed light on its function?"
Picking the stone back up, Niu tries it for himself.
Cast Read Magic.
"No, I can't make it out either. Oh well..
Do you happen to have a scroll of Remove Curse? I could use that to learn to cast it myself to assist."
"I believe the runes to be magical and I suspect successfully reading them would identify it. I am afraid I do not have a scroll of remove curse. You could possibly find one in High Market, but there is no guarantee there. The peddlers there sometimes have magical items, and sometimes they do not. I am still curious. Do all you have your teeth that fell out? I am thinking lesser restoration. How will you eat your trail rations without teeth?"
Niu, I will say with that roll, you make out a good portion of the runes. The symbols do not make sense when separated like that, but one is the symbol for safe passage.
"I am Lady Zeira Wyvernrose, Knight of the Eternal Rose, Follower of Shelyn, and this is my lady in waiting Festia" She says smiling without showing her teeth.
While the using continues, Ranok decides to throw his hat in as well with read magic.
He takes a look at the Rock.
Then casts read magic
Retrieving his teeth from his belt pouch, Niu says "Yes, of course we kept the teeth. Here they are. Ranok does have a wand of lesser restoration, if you think that will fix the teeth issue."
Gazing at the runes on the rock, Niu taps his chin. "This one appears to indicate safe passage. Perhaps this was the gleam of the stars we needed to avoid the curse?"
Shrugging, Niu picks the stone back up and stores it in his haversack again. "How much will this healing cost, My Lady? We may need to see about selling some items before we have the funds to pay you."
"Lady Ziera Wyvernrose, it is a pleasure to meet you. I noticed Shelyn's symbol on you and thought you may be of the clergy. A knight, very good. Our churches have a very good relationship."
"My apologies, Niu of Osirion. I meant lesser regeneration. I am currently working on learning that spell and unable to cast it for you. I believe our greatest concern is to remove this curse. It may not have run its course and may have more surprises for you. I typically ask for a donation to the church when performing my services. As you are taking great risk to help this community, I could not ask for such. I will gladly help you in any way that I can without remuneration."
"Shall I have a fire built for you so that you may dry off while I seek this man?"
"Drying off would be beneficial for your furnishings, I am sure, My Lady.
However, perhaps we should take a quick trip to this High Market to inquire about the scroll. I mean no offense, but Remove Curse is notoriously unreliable, and it makes sense to have as much help as possible.
What do you think, Rhen? Perhaps it is a fool's errand to even suspect that they might have an arcane scroll of Remove Curse."
"Yes this wasting is awful and the wounds burn. It's exhausting." She says as she looks to her party then Cirthana.
"Iomedae is a wonderful goddess, our churches have no issues with each other, in fact, we often have worked together, many a wonderous work of art have been created and preserved due to our corroboration! I am grateful for anything you can do for us, Thank you so much"She says bowing.
"Lady Ziera of Shelyn, it is my pleasure to help those who fight for the good people of Falcon's Hollow. Well, it seems we both have business in High Market. Shall we?" She leads you to the door of the church and joins you in the walk to High Market.
As you head out to High Market, the rain is ending with a light sprinkle. Once there, Cirthana excuses herself and begins looking for the man while you begin looking for scrolls.
The base value of Falcon's Hollow is 1,000 gp. The cost of a remove curse scroll is 375 gp. Falcon's Hollow can have 3d4 minor magical items and 1d6 medium magical items. . There is a random item generator at http://dxcontent.com which is approved and recommended by d20pfsrd. You search high market high and low for scrolls. You find the following:
Minor Scrolls
Sorcerer Scroll:
2nd Recoil Fire CL: 3; cost 150gp (ultcom)
2nd Obscure Object CL: 3; cost 150gp (core)
Bard Scroll:
2nd Mad Hallucination CL: 6; cost 300gp (ultmag)
1st Chord of Shards CL: 1; cost 25gp (ultmag)
1st See Alignment CL: 1; cost 25gp (ultcom)
Wizard Scroll:
1st Protection from Good CL: 1; cost 25gp (core)
3rd Dominate Animal CL: 7; cost 525gp (core)
2nd Masterwork Transformation CL: 4; cost 200gp (ultmag)
Ranger Scroll:
1st Endure Elements CL: 1; cost 25gp (core)
Medium Scrolls:
Cleric Scroll:
4th Planar Ally, Lesser CL: 7; cost 1,200gp
4th Air Walk CL: 7; cost 700gp
2nd Silence CL: 3; cost 150gp
3rd Magic Circle against Good CL: 5; cost 375gp
Rhen introduces all the party to Lady Cirthana, turning to Ranok "I save the lass from an affliction then brought her back ta here. She will be a Mighty fighter some day but not learnin' from me." Rhen says.
Rhen listens to the magical people talk, making faces at Jeva as they do. "So we should be searchin' the market fer a spell scroll o' some remove curse? I can help with that, we just sucked on the hard tack ye know, let it moisten in our mouthes then swallowed it. Well least I be doin' that." Rhen smiles his toothless grin
After about 30 minutes Cirthana joins you. "He is not here. I know where he will be this evening. I have yet to enter The Sitting Duck when he is not holding down the same barstool." She then helps you with your search for the scroll.
1:00 pm. Neth, Oathday. Three days past the First Quarter Moon.
Moonset: 1:33am, Sunrise: 6:11am, Moonrise: 2:42pm, Sunset: 4:51pm. High 70 low 53, mosly cloudy with sun breaking through at times.
Niu 30/30(35), Ranok 41/47(67), Ziera 41/50(60) Str 12/14, Rhen 33/39(54) Khonsu 45/45
Festia, with Rhen's pony and the men, should arrive in about two hours. How will you spend your time.
"We have a few hours to spend until we can meet this man in the Sitting Duck then. Should we go on and see the man in charge of this town about our Re-ward? That should at least get us the gold we will need for this other guy's services. Rhen, You know where to find him?"
Niu hangs his head, dejected. "Well, this was a waste of time. Not a useful spell in the whole market.
Some of those spells are evil, too. You might want to keep an eye on these vendors, My Lady."
With nothing else to do, Niu follows the group wherever they choose to go.
"Welcome to Falcon's Hollow, Niu of Osirion. Oh, I keep a watchful eye on everyone and everything at all times. I recommend the same for you. But, I am quite certain you are already at that task."
"Cirthana says she knows where ta meet 'im, in the bar later tonight. We can pass the time drinkin' there till he comes." Rhen says thinking about a tall mug of beer.
"They finished out the kitchen at The Sitting Duck. They now have food as well as drinks. Some days are better than others. It just depends on what they can acquire. Please excuse me, I have duties to attend to. I will see you this evening. Hopefully with good news"
"What about the re-ward? That's not who we're meeting at the sitting duck latter tonight. We need to meet with Teedum's boss to get our gold to pay for our other services. Right?"
Ranok was pretty sure of what he was talking about up to this point. Rhen is beginning to make him doubt himself, however. He looks to Ziera and Niu for support.
Cirthana stops in her tracks. "You are working directly with Thuldrin Kreed?" Cirthana's expression is true disbelief.
"That is who contracted our services, yes. Is there something we should be concerned about?
I do think we will need to collect. Lady Cirthana may be generous enough to offer her services in service of the community, but this other will likely need to be paid. Restorations often require expensive components."
"Aye we be ye, surprised me as well." Rhen says looking a bit dour
"I am glad we had this conversation. You are new to Falcon's Hollow, so you could not have known. Thuldrin Kreed never sees anyone without an invitation. Everyone here knows that. To break that code could only bring you disfavor or even an untimely death. He always has others do his bidding for him. Surely one of his employees offered you the reward. That is who you should speak with." She continues on her way.
"Of course, you are correct, My Lady. Vors Aman was the o e we spoke with. We shoumd track him down and then go to the Sitting Duck."
"Yes and then get healed, this wasting sickness and weakness is not good"
In the crowded market, a passerby bumps into Ranok. "Oh, pardon me sir. It is so crowded here."
Ranok, perception check, DC 18
Niu, perception, DC 20
Rhen tries to keep an eye out for anyone looking suspicious.
Ranok notices the man's hand on his coin pouch. Rhens sees the woman trying to lift something off Niu.
Ranok will turn so that his coin purse is on the opposite side of the man and attempt to let out a threatening snarl while grabbing at the man's wrist. The snarl comes out as a surprised hiccup as his calloused hand reaches for the thief.
"Are you serious? Do you not see the large sword and axe? Do you not see these tusks? Do I look like an easy target to you?"
"Just an accident sir. Is it so crowded. You can let go now."
Noticing the woman attempting to steal something, Niu immediately responds by putting her to sleep.
"Speaking as a former child of the streets, you should really select your targets with more care."
After retrieving anything the woman tried to steal, Niu will scan her and the man held by Ranok for magic auras.
After liberating any magic, he will turn to Rhen. "In Kalesh, they remove a thief's right hand. I am unsure of the law here in Andoren.
What should we do?"
Rhen apprachoes the woman, doing his best to not be seen.
"Ye be best ta let go o' that mans stuff there lass." Rhen says as his dagger goes into the small of her back.