"Who authorized you to perform this ritual in the Great Library of Harmonious Scripture? Or in Heaven, for that matter? Did you ask permission of the master of this library?" the archon demands. Kitarlo, for his part, looks a little sheepish.
He surveys the room, the ritual circle, the books, and all the things involved in the purification ritual.
"Your assumptions begin so small that I can barely begin to correct you," the archon booms. All of the sudden, he sheathes his quill behind his back and bows his head.
When he speaks again, his tone is softer and quieter although still stern. "Although you did not seek permission to perform this ritual on these grounds or in Heaven for that matter, it is the will of Winlas that you be given a chance to remedy your error and purify the evil that you have loosed upon Heaven.
"The demon souls are too impure to exist in Heaven, so they have formed bubbles of evil. It is your penance to hunt down and collect these three shattered souls: two evil and one unweighed. Kitarlo, you will stay here in the library and continue to study the ritual that you tried to perform. There may be some way to save the mortal."
Valais continues to lay catatonic on the floor.
"Akarah!" the archon shouts. The lantern archon teleports into the room. "You are relieved of your duty." The glowing ball of light flickers a weak blue light. "Furthermore, you will serve as a guide to these mortals to ensure that they do not cause further damage to Heaven."
"When you return," he says to the rest of you, "I will pass judgement on your reckless behavior. If you are found wanting, Kitarlo and all Pathfinders from now until eternity will be banned from Heaven."
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Loam assumes the archon will not take kindly to questions, even if they are about the loosed souls. As bureaucracy does. But why were there three? She resolves to ask Kitarlo if the archon leaves before the azata.
'Oh, all Pathfinders from now until eternity will be banned...' Audacious twit, Loam plays over in her head, annoyed. She is grateful for the celestial's size and presence. Had the messenger been normal-sized, there could've been the slightest possibility they'd get shot.
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It dawns on Jeskit how polar this place is, the very origin of "good". That the mere existence of some evil would cause it to revolt so badly. This is not a place of balance, it is the balance with another place. We must rectify the cancer we have unleashed on Heaven.
I understand now what we have done. We will see it removed immediately as is our duty. Jeskit is ready to hunt down the malignant entities.
"Be wiser than you have yet shown yourselves to be," the archon answers Tok enigmatically. "Akarah, lead them back to Heaven's Shore and do not let them out of your sight."
The lantern archon flickers in what must be the equivalent of a subservient bow.
You are swiftly ushered out of the library. The Scrivner stays in the room with Kitarlo as the azata immediately begins to explain the ritual to the archon.
It takes several hours to descent the mountain. During the hike, Akarah is uncharacteristically reserved and quiet, although he answers any questions posed him promptly. Once you reach the gates to the city, you find Zepha waiting for you.
"I heard about what happened at the library," he says, his tone sad. "I feel partially responsible. I should have known that Kitarlo would forget to go through proper channels in his haste to do good. A common foible of the azata. By way of an apology, let me offer you some advice.
"There are reports of a disturbance in the Unbent Forest just outside of Heaven's Shore. There is another rumor of a malign entity haunting the Garden of Laughter--here in the city--where children gather to watch puppet shows, plays, and light-hearted comedies.
"I'm afraid that none of heard of where the third piece of the soul--the mortal piece--might have gone, but I will continue to query my contacts in Heaven while you deal with the other two. Akarah should be able to lead you where you need to go."
"Before you go," Zepha says, clearing his throat. "I have some practical help."
He hands you a flask. "This is a vial of sacred breath."
Akarah leads you to the Garden of Laughter.
Inside this trimmed clearing, you find no corrupted grounds or tormented children. No, you find, an assortment of acrobats, mummers, and dancers twirl about to the delight of dozens of spectators. A chorus of laughter erupts from a group of children nearby, gathered around a colorful play wagon decorated with ribbons and filled with marionettes. Perched atop the wagon is an angelic figure, roughly the size of a halfling, with iridescent wings and flowing silver hair.
With a broad smile, the angel approaches and speaks, “Hello, mortals! I am so glad you have arrived. My name is Oneol. I believe I have something you are looking for.”
Leading the way through the crowd of children, Oneol opens the back of the wagon to reveal a miniature puppet stage. A hazy bubble covered with splotches of black fills the inside of the wagon. Dimly visible inside the bubble, a fearsome demonic puppet stands in the garden of an opulent manor and silently yells orders at servants unseen.
“I have captured the soul of Laktharis, the kalavakus demon that you set free,” Oneol says with a grin. “After his release, Laktharis slithered his way down to Heaven’s Shore, looking for creatures to subjugate. It is the nature of kalavakus demons to control and enslave, you see. Well, naturally, when I sensed the presence of an evil slaver, I pulled the demon’s soul inside my marionette display. Now, the puppet demon has subjects to rule over that befit his status. He is a King of Strings, a ruler of puppets.”
With another sly smile, Oneol steps away from the crowd of children and whispers, “I was hoping you could help me put on a show to entertain the children. Enter the bubble of evil, defeat Laktharis, and make him look silly. The soul of this demon craves domination, so any way that you can deny him that satisfaction will make him weaker. Let us teach these children that sometimes even great evil can give rise to laughter.”
"Puppets? No!" Oneol tries to reassure Jeskit. "You will be under full control of your bodies. The only puppet is our demon down there. And children love a good swashbuckling adventure. Just make sure it's fun. I assure you; it will make the beast much easier to defeat."
Once you touch the dark orb, you find yourself standing in the courtyard of a fine manor. Intricate carvings depicting Abyssal scenery decorate the manor’s exterior walls. The manor has no doors, and in place of windows it has impassible walls of solid gray mist. Human-sized puppets in simple clothing lurk along the interior edges of the main building’s roof, staring blankly at the courtyard below as if it were a grand stage. Their eyes track your movements eerily.
"You three! Prepare me a feast!" a powerfully built demon with purple scales, broad horns, and enormous claws roars at the puppets. Upon closer inspection, the demon himself appears to be a puppet or clockwork of some kind. There are hundreds of marionette strings attached to the demon.
None of the puppets move. "What good are you fools? Serve me!"
When he notices you, he sneers in your direction. "Welcome, my new slaves. Perhaps you will serve me better than this lot. A thousand lashes for all of you who just stand there staring at me!"
Combat! Round 1. Bold may act.
Roland
Laktharis
Jeskit
Tok
Loam
Quensha
"Oh! I'll show you!" the demon grumbles as he stomps forward. Turning toward you, he launches a weighted rope net from a strange vent-like structure on his back. The net spins through the air...
...and collapses too soon, landing between Quensha and Loam.
"Argh!"
Combat! Round 1/2. Bold may act.
Roland (Start of 2nd round)
Laktharis
Jeskit
Tok
Loam
Quensha
Jeskit tries to cut the string, but Laktharis catches his arm in his hand. "Yes! Demons do move like this!" he growls with sadistic pleasure and slashes the nagaji across the gut. His armor holds, however.
Tok tries to trip the demon puppet but fails so badly that he trips himself and lands on his back. Disembodied children's laughter echoes through the air. Fortunately, Laktharis is too distracted with Jeskit to take advantage of the opening made by the tengu.
Loam's snowball flies wide as does his insult.
Quensha and Roland team up to hurl insults at the demon. Children's voices giggle and snicker. The demon shrinks a little. He stamps his foot and shouts in a higher pitch voice than before, "I'll show you!"
He jabs one of his clawed hands down into the prone tengu's body. The hand comes away bloody, and Tok passes out from pain. The children suck in air in surprise and say, "Aw! The birdie!" As Loktharis turns his attention to the nagaji and swipes a clawed hand against the warrior's armor, a golden hand reaches down from the sky and scoops Tok out of the scene. Unseen, backstage, Oneol tends to Tok's wounds and stabilizes him.
Combat! Round 2/3. Bold may act.
Roland (Start of 3rd round)
Laktharis (-8 hp; status -1)
Jeskit
Tok (-2 hp total; unconscious, stable, in the real world)
Loam
Quensha
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Quensha calls out to the demon, ”You need to stop being such a mean bully.”
As she does, she pulls a particularly large, ripe tomato from her pack and throws it at the beast.
As the tomato splashes juice and seeds over it, she continues, ”You’re not so big and scary after all. You’re just a big moaner who needs a bath!”
"Hah ha--Ulp!" Laktharis begins to crow as he moves to make use of the opening created by Jeskit's maneuver, but he promptly becomes tangled in the marionette strings. The children cheer!
Loam finds that even entangled, the clockwork demon proves too agile for him to land his shot. The children's voices give a sympathetic "Oooh."
Quensha lands her tomato, and the children burst out laughing.
Laktharis, now barely taller than a gnome, growls and it sounds like a puppy's growl. "How dare you disrespect such a powerful demon as I!" he pipes in a shrill voice. He spends a moment ripping the strings free of his body and then swipes widely at Jeskit. The children snicker.
Combat! Round 3/4. Bold may act.
Laktharis (-26 hp; status -3)
Jeskit
Tok (-2 hp total; unconscious, stable, in the real world)
Loam
Quensha
Roland (Start of 4th round)
Jeskit moves to trip the shrinking demon. Laktharis swipes clumsily at the nagaji's opening; his arms are as long as he expected, and the blow falls short. Jeskit sweeps the legs and dumps the demon on his rump. The children howl with laughter. Laktheris shrinks again to the size of a slightly large cat.
As Loam reaches into his pouch to pull out his stone, the air in the courtyard wavers and then, with an audible pop, you find yourself on stage in front of the children. Laktharis stands between you all of two feet tall and completely a puppet. The only part of his body that remains animated is his jaw. "Hey! Hey! Someone pick me up! I demand to have an eagle's view of my surroundings!" the puppet squeaks.
"Well done," Oneol congratulates you as the children cheer your victory.
Tok reclines peacefully in the wings, his wounds bandaged.
"As a reward for putting on such a grand show, please take these," the angel hands you six finely crafted marionettes and a mithril shield. "The shield is a prop that I sometimes use in other performances."
Loam groggily awakens.