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Valryss shakes her head. "Not interested in lore...would prefer one of your souls...not now of course, but when you die. However, if you want to barter in gold, how much gold do you offer?"
Looking at Ursahla, the hag cackles. "You get nothing for free, dearie, I'll tell you how I acquired him...for a price..."
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The hag cackles once more. "You're obviously not used to bartering are you, lass? Make an offer and then we'll go from there..."
She looks back into her tent as she says, "Yes, yes, you must want to see what you're buying...my liege, please step forth."
The wax golem comes out. Upon hearing Ridley's question, he replies, "Owned? I'm a king! One of the Linnorm kings of old! I just await a linnorm to slay..."
He rambles on and on and you get the idea, you'll get no useful information from him as he's convinced he's a ruler from the Land of the Linnorm Kings...
The hag turns back to you. "Now, what's your opening bid for this majestic golem?"
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Zaarah looks at the golem in awe.
"Well, to be honest Valryss, I do not even know if you are the owner or if you control the golem at all. We could make a quick test. Dear golem, if I would tell you where a linnorm is located then you surely would go there without asking this hag lady Valryss for permission, right?" Zaarah asks innocently.
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The wax golem, looking confused, answers slowly, "This lady here has already promised me a linnorm to sl..."
The hag cuts him off. "Dearie, I've been more than patient...if you try to make off with my golem without pay, we'll have a problem."
She whistles loudly...
Another hag appears from a tent to the south and starts coming your way. "You rang, dear sister? Are these folk causing you trouble?"
"That remains to be seen, Nalzini," Valryss replies while turning back to Zaarah. "You're wasting my time. Now make an offer...or BE GONE!"
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The golem fervently shakes his head. "No! I am her protector and she will summon a linnorm for me!"
The night hag hisses fiercely. "There you have it, straight from the horse's mouth." She turns to the golem, "Thank you, King Fahrstad. You may await in the tent while I deal with these malcontents."
The golem nods and re-enters the tent.
Turning back to you, she continues, "If the next words out of your mouth are not an offer, a soul, gold, perhaps magic items, whatever, then my sister and I will have some fun with you to make up for the time you've cost me...you savvy?"
Her sister cackles loudly. Both stand alert, ready to spring if things turn violent...
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Valryss cackles yet again, this time gleefully. ”See dearie, it’s not that hard...”
The night hag then goes over the offer, intently looking at the shields and gauntlets. She casts detect magic and her annoying cackle grows even louder as each item glows. She begins to talk to herself, murmuring, ”These should fetch 4,000...and each of these about a thousand apiece...yes, yes, this will do nicely...”
She looks up at you with a wicked smile. ”We have an accord...unlike usual, I will forego the customary haggling as your offer exceeds what I would have accepted by nearly a factor of two. The golem is yours; as for how I acquired it, it showed up here unexpectedly walking around Shadow Absalom proclaiming to be a king and asking where the linnorm were. It was easy to entice him here...
“My liege come forth...I no longer require your protection. These folk will now guide you to your linnorm...”
Valryss cackles once more as she and her sister gather the items bartered and retreat into her tent.
The golem looks at you expectantly...
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Noble King, if you would accompany us, we have a few errands yet to run to prepare for your return to the Linnorm Kingdoms.
Once out of sight of the hags,
Well that went much better than expected - I was getting ready to start tossing bombs... on to the next item!
I'm expecting we won't be able to get the items from the storehouse without a fight, so everyone make sure you're ready.
When we get close to the storehouse, Ridley will drink his cognatogen, an extract of heightened awareness, the alchemical allocation / heroism potion combo, an extract of see invisibility, and an extract of false life.
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"Seems to me that they got the better end of the deal considering that they tricked this golem and sold him off for profit without a thought. Such are these creatures." Faerin spits out.
The whole affair stinks to her.
Approaching the storehouse, Faerin unhooks Slitherbane and adjusts her grip on it.
She had some steam to release. Hopefully they were serpent men....
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With the golem in tow, You make your way to the Wightir house rather easily. Since it was originally a mirror of the Blakros Museum, you know its location...
Wightir House is an imposing, gothic-style building. As you approach the front entrance, you notice its double doors are wide open...it appears to be dimly lit inside...
The wax golem looks at you quizzically. "Are the linnorm here?"
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Great pillars of hewn black stone support the vaulted ceiling of this building’s grand entryway, visible through its wide, double doors. Braziers mounted on the pillars cast dull blue light from their flickering flames. Two decrepit taxidermy dinosaurs stand vigil in the northern corners of the chamber, their forms tattered and broken in several places. A ten-foot-wide hall extends past the two sentinels, with two doors near this chamber and one far at the opposite end.
Once Ridley steps up to peer inside, a sheet of waist-high blue flame cuts across the chamber from east to west, sectioning the area in two. A circle of similar flame a foot high rises between the two immense statues at the chamber’s northern edge. Then, as though emerging from water, a raven-haired woman with skin of near-alabaster white appears. Dressed in a stylish, dark violet dress armor that shifts as though it were oily liquid, the woman looks out with glowing yellow eyes. She looks at you expectantly...
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Faerin detects nothing at all...it's as if there's nothing there...
The raven-haired woman speaks. "Greetings, Pathfinders. I know not what you're trying to cast, lady dwarf, but you must know now that I'm not really here..."
She laughs lightly and gracefully. “I suppose this is the moment where most of your ‘villains’ would gloat about their plans and how you’ve fallen into their trap. Well, I like to think I’m not a villain, and I would ask that you review your own organization’s history, not to mention that of the Blakros family. I’ve appeared here to let you know that, under my leadership, the Onyx Alliance has little interest in pursuing a vendetta against the Pathfinder Society. Assuming, of course, that you break off your ties with the Blakros family.
“This of course leads into the ‘why’ question. So, I’ll spare us all the pedantic headache and summarize: For over six hundred years, the Blakros family had an agreement with the Onyx Alliance. The Alliance provided their considerable resources to assist with the Blakros’s early smuggling operations. In exchange, the Blakros family offered up a hefty number of slaves and their eldest daughters from each generation. Without recounting a whole history lesson, my name is Sarnia Blakros, and I am one of those daughters sacrificed on the altar of history and contractual obligations.
“Why would I reveal all of this? Well, because unlike the Onyx Alliance leadership who preceded me, I like to think that my opposition isn’t completely inept. In fact, I fully expect you to overcome the challenges set forth in this building and return to the Material Plane with all the objects you’ve recently come to realize I acquired from the Blakros... from my family’s museum. I even promise that beyond the walls of this building, you’re safe to continue your investigations and find any items you may not have already recovered without fear of Alliance interference.”
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"Even if we were in a position to sever ties between the Society and the Blakros family, you haven't convinced me that we should", Taurus snorts derisively. "And if you think we're going to help you get back at your family, you've got something else coming. If you truly are wiser than the Alliance leaders that came before you, you'll abandon plans for revenge and move on with your life."
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She gives a wry smile. “I'm a Blakros; whom better to know how corrupt they can be. In fact, I was one of the last Blakros daughters to be offered up to the Onyx Alliance before your Society ended their arrangement. I suppose my life is one of extreme degrees of luck and misfortune. If your family had given you up to a life of indentured servitude in exchange for business advantages, would you have just let that go, Barbarian? Looking at you, I think not...”
She pauses before continuing. "I doubt that dear Hamaria would ever consider recognizing my, and my many sisters’, claim to the Blakros family’s fortunes. My beef, and as I now lead the Onyx Alliance their beef as well, is with the Blakros family only. As stated, I bear no ill will to Pathfinders...as long as they disassociate from running Blakros errands. But, alas, I also doubt your Decemvirate would ever risk the Pathfinder Society’s association with my distant relatives. Who knows, maybe you’ll surprise me when you make it back to Absalom and report in."
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"I know now that you aren't here and for what I have being doing. I simply wished to know if evil festered in you." Faerin admits.
"I am however curious. You claimed to be of the Blakros family and that you lead the Onyx Alliance. As per your claims of being sold out by your own family, why hasn't the society not known about this? You want us to bring back our reports and have the society break off ties with the Blakros family. You even given your word that should we leave beyond these walls, which you expect us too, the Alliance will not interfere." she pauses as she considers all that they have learnt.
"You seem to indicate a preference for something beyond what you have told us....like a mediator perhaps?" she adds in the later part after a pause.
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Sarnia Blakros scowls at Faerin, giving her a disbelieving look. "Surely you have heard of the Penumbral Accords? 'Twas the agreement/alliance the Blakros family had with the Onyx Alliance; Hamaria maneuvered you Pathfinders to help break that accord, which you did. It probed helpful to Hamaria's twin daughters who were turning of age so to speak, but not to the many others of us who had been conveniently bartered away to a life of servitude in exchange for a business advantage. If you do not believe me, ask dear Hamaria herself...or one of your leaders...
"And yes, we will not bother you once you are beyond these walls...however, you are not beyond them yet...but as I said before, I expect you to be successful here...this time..."
Looking at Zaarah, she replies, "You poor naïve girl; you should be telling this to your benefactors. You're right, I WAS FAMILY! Did it matter to them? No, I was just a means to an end..."
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I believe what you say is true, and anyone who says that the Pathfinder Society is unshakable in its alliances is incredibly naive. Deciding to sever ties with the Blakros family is above our pay grade. For the moment, we have our mission, and we're going to finish it one way or another. I'm happy to take your message back to the Decimvirate, but we'd be much more convincing in our delivery if we had a show of good faith. Like, say just giving us the items you have here that we are after. Trying to kill us while also seeking to open the channels of diplomacy rings a bit hollow to me. Also, if we don't succeed and all die... well then there is no one to deliver your message.
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Sarnia smirks at Ridley. “Come now, while I recognize that you’ll likely triumph here, I still need to provide some challenge. Besides, if I just gave you all the items back, your superiors would assume that was my intent all along. Of course, you’re going to report back that I expected you to take back the items, so they may think that anyways. What can I say; I like to keep my opposition on their toes!”
She pauses for a second. "However, I will tell you where they are. That...thing took one of them to the western rooms. Don’t ask me about it. It’s really something you need to see and experience for yourself. The painting is in the northmost room, though I suggest you investigate the eastern and western wings before going there. You’ll be better prepared if you do so.”
Sarnia then lets out a long sigh and says, “Well then, I suppose we should get this over with. Best of luck.” Sarnia’s image and the associated flames immediately disappear in blast of smoke. A moment later, the two stuffed dinosaurs begin advancing towards you...
COMBAT! Round 1 - The bold may post!
Faerin
Stuffed Dinosaurs
Ursahla
Zaarah
Taurus
Ridley
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Faerin scowls as she doesn't have any idea what those Accords were about. She planned to go ask someone else about it.
She steps forward and adopts a defensive stance instead, guessing that this lizards will likely charge the closest thing. Which makes it her...
Slitherbane in hand she awaits their charge.
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As Faerin bravely strides forth to face the oncoming onslaught, both stuffed triceratops lumber forward and attempt to gore her...
While her defensive posture narrowly avoids a more serious wound from one of the stuffed dinos, both horns still hit hard...
COMBAT! End Round 1 / Begin Round 2 - The bold may post!
Faerin (-46)
Stuffed Dinosaurs
Ursahla
Zaarah
Taurus
Ridley
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Ridley tosses another of his greasy concoctions that easily strikes the northernmost dino…
...while the southernmost dino takes full splash damage; both fall prone...
Zaarah's keen black blade cuts deeply into the black dino, doing even more damage than it normally would...
COMBAT! End Round 1 / Begin Round 2 - The bold may post!
Faerin (-46)
Stuffed Dinosaurs (black -66, prone; red -11, prone)
Ursahla
Zaarah
Taurus
Ridley
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Unable to stand, the dinos thrash about with horns, one stabbing at Zaarah, the other at Faerin...
One horn misses Faerin while Zaarah easily parries the other and delivers a devastating riposte, ripping the through the stuffed triceratops, spilling its contents on the floor...
COMBAT! End Round 2 / Begin Round 3 - The bold may post!
Faerin (-46)
Stuffed Dinosaurs (black; red -30, prone)
Ursahla
Zaarah
Taurus
Ridley