Gameplay here. We'll get started once everyone is ready.
You are in Absalom, the mighty City at the Center of the World, and you’ve always longed to explore one of the countless ruins of failed conquerors that litter the plains outside the city’s walls. You’ve heard rumors that one of the sealed siege castles has been laid open by a minor earthquake. Word on the street is that no one has yet entered the tower, which folks are calling the “Fallen Fortress.” What better way to start a life of excitement and adventure than by exploring its long-abandoned, dusty halls and perhaps claiming its ancient treasures?
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Remember Agni, these are your friends.
Any observant eyes will notice the wrinkled, scowling face of a man in his late 40’s peeping through the window and scanning the faces inside. He’s motionless for several long moments as he watches the inhabitants scurry about, and when the crowd inside hits a short lull, he slides over to the door and pushes his way inside. A tall, tanned, rough-looking man of Osiriani heritage, Agni nods at patrons as he brushes past them and makes his way to one of the barmaids. He briefly exchanges words with her, discovers he isn’t the first of his party to arrive, and gives her a nod before joining those he will soon be calling his allies.
”Greetings, my name is Agni.” His voice is raspy, and thick with accent. ”I pray you have not waited overly long.” The hand he offers to the gnome is wrapped in thick bandages and covered in burns, a trait that’s matched by the rest of his attire. ”You will be going to this ‘Fallen Fortress’ with us, yes?”
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Relgar's eyes spark with a touch of excitement at the bandages that covers the burns. He knows that it really is not polite to discuss this but he feels compelled to do so anyways.
"I have been caught in several fires myself. In fact I might have been the cause of one or two of them or so my relatives say."
"In fact when I casually mentioned that I might want to join the Pathfinder Society I found that my bags were packed next to my walking stick the very next morning."
"But here I am rambling again. Yes to the Fallen Fortress and I am known to some here as Relgar."
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Agni smiles a toothy, yellow grin at Relgar. "I've been the cause of more than a few fires myself." He peels back the folds of his robe to reveal a torch holstered where a sword would normally lie. His ensemble is completed by rows of overlapping scale armor that cover his body and a heavy shield resting on his back. "A gnome adventuring without armor who has an affinity for flames, you are a wizard? Or Sorcerer perhaps? Magic arts are beyond my means, I spread my lady's flames through more mundane means." Agni gives a small bow. "It is an honor and a pleasure Relgar."
With that Agni settles in to await the rest of their company.
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A burst of raucous laughter flares up from a knot of patrons nearby, cutting through the general hubbub of the inn. As it passes, a high but bold voice with a hard-to-place accent can be heard to proclaim:
"So now you better remember this- in Thuvia, you always check your boots before you put 'em on. But in Absalom, you don't take 'em off at all!"
There is another roar of laughter, and the cluster of happy drunks opens to reveal a most bizarre figure. A halfling man, whose jet-black skin marks him as a son of southern Garund, hops off the table where he was holding court, and makes his way over toward the adventurers. He's clad in a motley ensemble, with the flowing blouse of a dandy accoutered with a snakeskin belt, rustic beads hanging from his neck, bare legs and loins covered only in a breechcloth, and his face dappled with intricate white patterns of dots and lines, and a wide-brimmed, foppish hat to top it off.
Even more strangely, he's followed by a small, hairy pig- not of the domesticated variety nor the tusked boar of Avistan's wilds, but some other breed, and similarly adorned in painted marks. The outlandish pair strut over to the fellow Pathfinders, and hands on his hips, the halfling looks them over with an impudent grin.
"You gotta forgive me, I don' like being late! These guys-" he jerks a thumb over his shoulder at the barflies he was regaling- "-always, 'One more story, one more story!' Mbende knows a tale for every drink Cayden ever took, and they all need tellin'."
The pig, meanwhile, has taken an immediate and intense interest in the nagaji, and is snuffling furiously at his unfamiliar scent.
"Eeey! I think 'e likes you! That's real good luck!"
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Agni watches the new arrival with fascination and curiosity, his eyes fixated on the patterns that paint Mbende's skin as he speaks. So engrossed in the halfling is he that he doesn't notice the pig until it brushes over his foot.
"Calistria's garters!" he exclaims, hopping back and moving a hand to his waist in preparation to attack. His wide eyes soften when he sees that the source of "danger" was nothing but a fuzzy pig, and after a moment he says with a chuckle, "We nearly had bacon for dinner!" Falling back into a relaxed posture, Agni extends a welcoming hand to Mbende and introduces himself.
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"Bacon, I love bacon."
The Gnome rubs his hands together as if he is going to use his magic and then he remembers.
"Right. Right. He belongs to you."
The gnome looks up with a whimsical grin.
"So can we can get started already? All this talk of bacon is making me hungry and anxious to well ... use some magic."
You gather your packs and provisions and exit Absalom. The plains stand ahead of you and in the distance the tower can be seen. You move towards it, trepidation and excitement in your belly.
The ruined siege castle now being called the Fallen Fortress rises out of the churned earth of the Cairnlands. No doors or windows mar the otherwise smooth expanse of the tower’s walls. The tower is quatrefoil in plan; its eastern wing has largely collapsed, exposing the interior floors to the open air. Only the topmost level seems whole, though its eastern portion hangs precariously over the mountain of rubble left by the collapse. At ground level, the rubble frames a gaping hole in the side of the building that provides access to the tower’s darkened interior.
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Relgar whips out a scroll. He speaks a few carefully chosen words of power and he is surrounded by a cloak of invisible power. His eyes adapt easily to the darkness and he feels at home in the crumbling urban environment.
"It will be dark for some of you. So prepare yourself."
His familiar named Walter nods to Relgar and blends back into his skin as a stylized frog like tattoo.
Relgar awaits for the party to finish their preparations to enter the castle.
"Hurry up. Who knows what wonders can be hidden inside!
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Agni spent much of their trip through the Cairnlands alternating between talking to himself, and talking to whoever would listen to him explain why something or someone needed to be “cleansed by fire” or “returned to ash.” When they finally arrived at the tower he seemed exhausted, but it was hard to tell if from walking or rambling.
”This tower strikes an imposing figure,” he says breathily, ”but Agni did not come so far to be dissuaded by a crumbling fortress.” As if in defiance of the structure, Agni withdraws the torch from his waist along with a flint-and-steel from his pocket and lights the torch in a singular smooth motion. He smiles as the warmth and light washes over him and says, ”Ymeri’s fire will guide and protect us. Should hers fail, mine will not.” As he stares into the dancing flames of his torch, he slowly draws the shield from his back and slides his feet apart, shifting into a wide combat stance.
”Agni is ready.”
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"A man says he's ready?" Inquires a smoky alto voice from a short distance behind Agni. "Music to my ears. Always."
Striding up is one of the most strikingly - even alarmingly - beautiful women you have ever seen, with features that suggest both Humanity and Elvenkind, but also...neither. Every motion and surface of her body, which is covered about as much by various weapons and dangerous-looking tools as by clothing and armor, suggests barely-contained vigor.
"Sorry to be so late to the party, I...happened to run into an old friend along the way." As she says this, you finally notice the bloody, battered, decapitated Ratman head she'd been casually holding by the ears. As if noticing your noticing, she lifts it up to eye-level, looks it over one last time, shrugs, then tosses it over her shoulder, flying several yards before landing somewhere in the rubble of the Cairnlands.
She turns her gaze to the tower as if whatever-that-was hadn't just happened, a small but enthusiastic smile on her face.
"Let's paint the world red."
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Before embarking out on their journey, Mbende donned a simple set of leather armor, well-worn and likely of second-hand origin, along with a traveling pack. Throughout the march, the little raconteur scarcely falls silent for a moment, chattering endlessly to anyone who will listen on any number of topics; his own past in the deep jungles of the Mwangi Expanse, his time in bondage in the slave-pens of Cheliax, the latest fashions in Absalomite couture, phrases that translate poorly from the halfling tongue to Taldane, improbable sexual positions rumored to be in vogue in Kaer Maga, the likelihood of a full lunar eclipse in the next year and what it might mean for the price of pesh in Qadira, and everything in between.
His porcine companion, who he has introduced as "Ojukokoro", is equally verbose, snorting and snuffling along the whole way. For the first leg of the journey, he disdainfully ignores Agni- apparently quite unhappy with the reference to his potential as foodstuff- but gradually warms up to him, and by the time they reach the tower the pig has begun responding with thoughtful-sounding grunts to the Osirian's self-directed mutterings, as if the two were old friends grousing over shared woes.
With the tower in sight, Mbende draws forth a pint-sized crossbow from his pack, along with a quiver of bolts, and loads one with a strained effort from his rail-thin frame.
"Eh," he mutters dubiously. "Big, ugly, don' go nowhere, not good for nothin'. Remind me of me brother-in-law back home."
He turns to his companions and shrugs. "Mebbe it gotta nice view from de top, though, right?"
Just as you approach the tower a pack of creatures runs up and begins to growl at you.
Combat Round 1 - Bold May Act
Relgar
Agni
Red
Blue
Yellow
Mbende
Jezebel
The dogs approach and Agni swings and misses as they rush up. Relgar is more ready and blasts the lead dog with a splash of acid, it falls to the ground, no longer in the fight.
Combat Round 1/2 - Bold May Act
Relgar
Agni
Red
Yellow
Mbende
Jezebel
The party dispatches the dogs with ease.
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The halfling quickly racks another bolt into his crossbow, his pig trotting merrily by his side, as he makes his way over to the dog he'd put down. He was, apparently, not joking around for once when he termed the beast "dinner". Drawing a long-bladed knife from his belt, he slits the belly of the beast open to allow Ojukokoro access to its offal amd then began working the blade through the skin of the haunch, quickly and expertly separating both rear haunches from the torso. As merrily as a little girl plucking daisies in a meadow, he butchers the meatiest portions of the animal and stows them in pouches harnessed to the back of Ojukokoro, who is grunting happily through his red-stained snout.
"I take back those bad thing I say 'bout de nice castle! Very good host, serve us up good snack before invite us in for party." He seems genuine in his appreciative personification of the fortress- to all appearances, he does indeed think he's received a personal invitation from the hulk, and walks with a bit more pomp and dignity as they stride toward the wound in its flank.
The northern wing of the tower seems to have escaped the worst effects of the collapse, but rubble still litters the floor and everything is covered in a thick layer of stone dust. Thick cobwebs cloak the ceiling and hang down the walls like gossamer tapestries. A single archway stands open in the southwest wall but the rubble and collapsed masonry makes that area unpassable.
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Mbende scampers along after Agni, Ojukokoro at his heels, taking up a position just outside the entryway. As he peers around the corner, grinning impishly as if hoping for trouble, the pig's wet nose snuffles and wiggles, drinking in the moldering dankness of the long-closed interior. Mbende lets his friend's porcine feelings seep into his own mind, relishing the vivid sensations of a world made of rich, fetid odors.
Mbende, Relgar and Agni move into the northern chamber.
The northern wing of the tower seems to have escaped the worst effects of the collapse, but rubble still litters the floor and everything is covered in a thick layer of stone dust. Thick cobwebs cloak the ceiling and hang down the walls like gossamer tapestries. A single archway stands open in the southwest wall.
A giant spider drops from the ceiling. Its legs wave menacingly as poison drops form on its fangs.
Combat Round 1 - Bold May Act
Mbende
Relgar
Agni
Heroki
Red
Jezebel
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Mbende raises up his crossbow again, a grimace of disgust painted in clownish extremes over his face. He looses his bolt toward the center of the arachnid's cephalothorax, then turns with a gasp as he sees Ojukokoro dashing in a wide arc to a position near its bulbous abdomen, squealing eagerly even as he stays light on his trotters, ready to fall back from the dripping mandibles.
"Stupid greedy pig!" shouts the halfling. "Dat thing not no kinda good food!" He locks another bolt into place and readies to fire again.
Mbende fires and hits the giant spider square in it's abdomen.
Combat Round 1 - Bold May Act
Mbende
Relgar
Agni
Heroki
Red -6
Jezebel
Agni crushes the spider with a torch. Rubble litters the floor and a doorway leads away to the south west.