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Flex gives his breast plate and the two different shields strapped to his arms a look before he raises his hands in frustration. "Ain't no way in heaven, earth, hell or werever this place is, am I going to get into the right positions wiht all this armor on..." He glances over at Reznor and trundles over. "Hey scaly! I think if oyu tuck your tail here and fold the wings in slightly it'd be easier for you to hold and probably work better for meditation... Now everyone, see the nice crossed legs, you want to get yours in the same position if not better!"
Seeing there's not a thing he can do from the first half of the room, he moves to the other half of the room and frowns for a second. After a moment of pondering he comes up with an idea. He double checks that the cooking supplies are still in his pack and then looks for a way to climb up to the balcony.
Flex gingerly tries to haul himself up the side of the balcony. If he makes it to the top, he pulls out a cauldron and tries to plop it over the corpses head. "Jsut shut up already!"
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Reznor carefully unfolds himself and thanks Flex for his assistance. He then turns his attention to the undead preacher and its disturbing sermon. In a loud, clear voice, Reznor calls out to the worshipers in the chapel.
Listen not to the lies of that rotting corpse that spews evil with every word! Following the dead is not the path to redeemption! And doubt not that you can be redeemed ... for Nocticula has risen from the Abyss and cast off evil, so too can you cast off the veil of falsehoods which has fallen upon you.
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The flexing shield provides some guidance to Reznor as her attempts to get into a good meditative position, after a few tries. He begins to levitate through the power of his mind as he achieved some sort of transcendent state. Everyone soon begins to follow Reznor's lead, monks and Pathfinders included, as if Zhuang's mind will it to be, creating a serene and peaceful atmosphere.
And easily from his newly found state of mind, Reznor is able to calmly throw his voice across the room to attract the attention of all the worshippers. And almost as if something had snapped in their mind's immediately, they begin to look to be in shock and whisper of what they had been listening to, waking up from their dream like state.
Flexing shield kind of fumbles as he tries to make an impact, but luckily his mistakes went unobserved with Reznor drawing the crowd's gaze.
And once again, before you are able to decipher what is happening, the rooms fade away and a new environment appears before you. This time you find youself standing in between the Refectory (C5) and the Kitchen (C6). A table covered in scorched dirt and vermin sits at the center of the dining room. Two dozen acolytes choke and gag as they feast on the roiling mess. The madness once more needs to be taken care of, one way or another!
On the other side, a halfling sits in the center of this room,
weeping in anguish. He waves his fingerless left hand and
screams, “Korada has forsaken us! Abandon all hope!”. It's clear that his negative energy is affecting everything around him, distorting cutlery, rotting food, causing rain in the kitchen...etc.
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Not very good in either treating the sick as in flipping a table, Cassiopia will nevertheless aid.
Seeing the halfling without faith, Cassiopia raises her voice.
[b]"Be of stouter heart. The night is darkest just before the dawn. Korada has not abondened you take a deep breath and find peace in yourself and there you will find Korada.
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Sulana continues to be dizzied by the rapidly-changing locations. What the hells is wrong with this person?!
When she comes back to herself, the first thing she sees is the table. What is that why are they eating it get it away! She grabs the table and tries to flip it over, hoping that the acolytes aren't so far gone that they'll continue trying to eat off the floor.
Unable to stomach the stench any longer, she flees to the other side...only to be confronted by a screaming halfling with no fingers. Oh gods this is worse than Roidira at least she was probably real even if I couldn't shoot her. Confused, disoriented, and very, very disturbed, Sulana falls back on what she knows.
Which is mostly how to hit things.
She slaps the halfling across the face. "Pull yourself together! Look, if Korada's forsaken you, then I don't know, find a new god or something. Just...just stop screaming, okay?"
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Flex gives a few long blinks at the table. "Ah Trudd's flexing arm! That is gross! Here let's just get this all on the floor where it belongs." The big man then hunches his shoulders squats level with the table and rushes it with his shields to the front.
As he slides past the table he runs into the other half of the room and skidders to a halt covering his ears over the wailing. He wanders closer and tries to knonk the man on the head with his shield. "Stop that you're ruining the food! If ya calm down I can try making a good meal and we can talk all about it.
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This is like a party hosted by sis's alchemist dad.
Reznor observes the table and its contents with disgust and tries to remember how to force someone who has eaten poison to vomit it up.
He then turn to address the anguished halfling.
There is always hope. If a demon queen can shed evil and ascent from the abyss, then you can be assured of hope.
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Vina gently pulls the acolytes away from the table, with a gentle hand.
When she sees the halfling, she says, "And what if Korada was dead? what would you do? after honoring him for a lifetime would you run around screaming like this, like some kind of madman? your soul is made of sterner stuff after following his teachings! honor him with your actions! help your brothers around the temple!"
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The tables seemed to be firmly grounded for whatever reason, but when the Pathfinders put forth their best efforts to heal the sick, and through the unlikely lead of Cassiopia, the wounded souls begin to calm down, and their sickness lifts slowly from their body.
The halfling looks up and listens intently at the chorus of words surrounding his ears. Clearly, based on his facial expressions, your words reach his very heart and begin instilling hope in him. He begins to speak, but before hear the words, you find yourself awaken back in the garden looking Zhuang, in an awaken state but with a headache. "Thank you! You have helped me come to my senses, while I may be in a weakened state, I am healthy."
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Sulana gasps as the mental world dissolves, leaving them back in the Temple of Empyreal...
Wait a second.
With shaking hands she unfolds the mission briefing, and there it is. The word that should have warned her.
”The Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment.” She spits out ‘enlightenment’ as if it’s the foulest of curses. ”I should have known.”
She refolds the paper and stuffs it roughly back into her bag. ”Yes, very good, glad to have helped. Can we get out of here before Korada shows up and starts spouting riddles and driving people insane? Actually...” She looks at Zhuang. ”Is that what happened to you? Uh wait, sorry, that’s rude isn’t it. Forget I asked. I’ll just, uh, go. Somewhere else. The fountain, right? That’s where people wanted to go next.”
Pull yourself together Sulana!
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Flexing gives a small start as the halfling fades away and the temple gets replaced with the real one. He lets some of the tension out of his shoulders and drops the shields by his side. "Dang, that was a trip! Almost like I'd overdosed on something." Listening to Sulana, he gives a small frown, nodding at her words. "Yep, if there's some god that's going to come and make things even more complicated then I'm outta here. That's a majo reason I follow Trudd. He doesn't mess around with riddles or annoying stuff like that!"
He pauses for a second, pulls out a flask and takes a swig of something that smells like protein powder and alchol. "Alright we we going to go after that fountain right?"
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With the folks as the temple at ease, you bid your way and immediately seeking the bridges made of tattered fabric decorated. It becomes plainly obvious which of the bridge would take you towards your next mission.
ON the other side, nestled in the center of a serene woodland valley, this small lake bed is devoid of water. At its center, a dozen humanoid turtles lie on their backs, alive but unable to move. To the north, a ravine leads to a small temple on a rocky hilltop. The creatures hail you, calling out as soon as they observe your presences, “It’s not a trick! Please help!”
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Flex moves in a bit closer and gets a good look at the creatures.
Unsure of what he's looking at, Flex moves in a bit closer and decides to follow his friend's actions and start helping the turtle like things onto their feet. As he pulls the first one on to its feet single handedly, he strikes a pose flexing his free arm. "Don't worry! The Flexing Shield is here! You'll now have 300 pounds of pure dwarven brawn between you and the bad things! .... So, uhhhhhh, mind telling us what's going on here, and who you are?"
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Although they seem low in spirits, they respond rather jovially, "We are people of lake, we travel long and far and found a beautiful home here." The tallest of them speaks while the rest nods their heads aggressively. "The lake... is dry. North here, temple where fountain feeds all lake. But dragon now stay and destroy it! Stupid dragon, you need to drown the stupid dragon!" Again the group nods their heads aggressively. "you will slay dragon for us?"
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Flexing nods at his friend's words but counters with a boisterous, "Ah but if we do have to kill a dragon think of the stories they will tell of us!"
He gives the kappa one last long look before asking, given his sagely sounding tone, he believes is an insightful question. "And what color might this dragon be?"
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The kappa's gratefully accept the drinking water, clearly showing signs of dehydration. "Colour that dragon's be of course! Colour of sun! Magic! If dragon dies water returns, we know it! The dragon stays in temple and stop water! No one else could do it!"
Travelling north, you find a ravine is slightly damp at the base, perhaps indicating it was normally filled with water. The walls of the ravine are 20 feet high. Following the path, it leads you to what you believe to be the Taikaga Temple. At the base of the temple lies a beautiful looking fountain that seems to dried up. Also nearby, is a tiny magnificent dragon covered in splendid golden scales, and
horns jut from its head like a crown. The dragon clearly observes you but does nothing but stares intently.
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Cassiopia knows the dragon to be a Guardian of balance, the sovereign dragons, or lungwangs as they are also known. Rumour has it that were placed in the skies by the gods themselves to safeguard harmony in the world. His breath weapon is of a sonic effect.
The dragon turns his eyes to the human Psychich and begins to respond, he has a strong booming deep voice that echoes in the ravine. "Pitiful human, you do not know the situation at hand do you! The Kappa's suffering is but a small sacrifice to ensure the sacred waters are protected till balance is restored."
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”From what we’ve been told, these waters are a necessary part of keeping the entire Tapestry from collapsing. Your actions are directly interfering with our ability to restore the balance.” Sulana’s eyes narrow. ”And it’s easy to talk about ‘small’ sacrifices when you’re not the one being sacrificed. Continuing to stop these waters will kill the Kappas, and Erastil only knows how many others.”
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Flex pauses for a second thinking. "Why do the sacred waters have to be stopped in the first place? Is there a threat to them or a reason they should be left alone? And what happens if balance is not restored? All of those kappas will have died for no reason and the fountain will still it be safe. In other words, it almost feels less like you are protecting the fountain than gambling with lives that this place will be saved. "
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The tiny but fierce dragon seems to calm down and begin coming to it's senses. "Hmpf. Your ways may have some bearing of truth to them, however if I should find that there is any misuse of these waters, and that forces shall use them to create chaos and disharmony, I will immediately halt the flow of the water once more." Immediately, the fountain gushes with water and begins to rapidly fill the ravine. Whether you like it or not, the dragon has forced you out or you might find yourself drench and drowning in the waters soon.
Returning to the area where the lifeless Kappa lay, you find them rejoicing and their head-bowls filled with water once more. The grateful kappas gladly share with you that since the Aspis Consortium stopped turning up (thanks to the Pathfinders), the tapestry has generally been a more peaceful and stable place—current events aside. Lowering their voices to hushed whispers, they also share that many residents have begun having terrible nightmares. Before you leave, they urge you to keep an eye out for mysterious strangers, “even stranger than you lot, with purple skin and evil eyes.” Lastly, The kappas agree to help inspire agents of the Pathfinder Society to complete their mission.
From afar, you notice some strange noises coming from the ravine...