"The gesture is appreciated, Master Lizzo." replies Quecksworth as he too takes up a position with the party.
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Deciding to move rather quickly the group ventures further north. The winding passage ends in a large cavernous chamber. Running through the middle is an underground river rushing from east to west. A narrow bridge crosses the water; it looks slick with moisture and mold. On the far side of the chamber are immense formations of cloudy, green rock, and in front of them is a large black cauldron with a fire burning at its base. Light filters into this chamber from above through a twisting crevasse in the ceiling; the far side of the cavern is lit by glowing green orbs suspended by chains from stalactites.
Stepping out from behind the massive cauldron is a thin woman, gently pointed ears rising up from her oily, raven-black hair. She is wearing stitched leathers bearing countless pouches and pockets filled with glass vials. She looks at you with a sneer.
“So, you must be the fools that arrived with Bort. Sorry about your friend,” she says, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “I couldn’t let anyone piece together what had happened here, and he knew too much. I am sure you think you can stop me and save the town. You shouldn’t have bothered. They are a wicked, worthless lot and don’t deserve compassion. How could they, when they let their own suffer and die in agony? Scorning a child out of spite?” As she says the words, she looks at each of you in turn. “Leave now and never look back. No one need ever know you were here.”
Quecksworth (35/35)
Darr ()
Tyrion (36/36)
Lizzo (39/41)
Mandoo (41/41)
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Tyrion calmly responds, "We did our research. We agree that you and your mother suffered a terrible fate. But the good people living in Plaguestone today are not the ones who committed the immoral acts of their ancestors. This doesn't have to end in bloodshed."
Having said his piece, Tyrion immediately quaffs his Invisibility Potion, and he moves toward the bridge under his blanket of invisibility.
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As soon as Mandoo steps into the large cavernous chamber, he immediately scans the room for enemies and to assess it as a possible battleground. He notes the rushing underground river, and particularly the narrow bridge covered in slippery mold that crosses it. To his trained martial eye, this looks like an easily defensible chokepoint, or worse, a trap to cast the unwary bridge crosser into the river and to a certain death in the underground caverns beyond; either way, it should be avoided if possible.
Ignoring the deadly looking openings used by the river to pass through the room, he sees no viable exits except the one he is standing in. "This has to be where it ends then; there's nowhere else left in the fortress to hide. But where is everyone? Where is Vilree?"
He's about to start searching for secret doors and hiding places when Vilree steps out from behind the cauldron. She starts talking, but Mandoo doesn't care what she has to say. The moment he saw her appear, he was on the move.
He ignores the obvious trap that is the bridge and instead runs diagonally to the right. He reaches the rocks on the edge of the river and uses them to propel himself across the rushing waters below. In his currently slowed state , he barely clears the gap. No sooner than he lands, he launches one of the fire bombs he is holding directly at the evil alchemist as she's finishing her speech.
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Before you are able to answer you quickly move into position. Vilree frowns as she takes this as your definite choice. "Pity." This appears to be a command word for one of her alchemical creations as a massive behemoth rises from the bootom of the raging waters below and climbs onto the bridge, blocking the path.
Invisible, Tyrion skids to a halt as he stares up at the behemoth in horror. Mandoo tosses a quick bit of fire at her. It doesn't seem to do much damage but does cause some of her alchemical supplies to catch on fire.
Vilree looks annoyed as she is covered in glitter. She looks to Mandoo. "You are all alone." She loads a vial of acid into her crossbow and fires it at Mandoo.
The vial of acid shatters against the wall behind Mandoo and Vilree curses. She leaps down from the platform around the cauldron to try and put the behemoth between her and Mandoo.
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Vilree (-8; Persistent Fire 2)
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Lizzo
Tyrion
Mandoo
Quecksworth
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Behemoth
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Darr
Quecksworth commences singing.
"Long, bitter strife has let to this hour
Where evil's thick, situation dire.
We come t'avenge the fallen, t'right many a'wrong
'Fight on, Pathfinders!' be my endless song!"
He then casts mirror image on himself.
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Staring up at the towering monstrosity in front of him, Tyrion considers his options before giving up his invisibility. But hearing Queckworth's inspiration, he quickly draws the magically enhanced Whistler and attacks the behemoth with surprise.
After two quick jabs, Tyrion decides it's best to be anywhere else besides next to the beast. He scampers away to gain cover from some rocks.
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Mandoo watches the Behemoth rise out of the water and is only mildly surprised. In fact, he'd been more surprised to see Vilree alone when they'd first entered the cavern. It was to be expected by now that Vilree would have left more of her monstrosities around to get in our way.
Seeing that Vilree is out of effective range, and that the Behemoth now appears to be the more immediate danger, he redirects his focus towards the pastiche creature.
Looking down at the remaining fire bomb in his hand, he thinks, "the last one didn't work so well on Vilree; let's see what this one can do against the big fellow," and heaves it at the Behemoth. He follows up his initial attack with a quick shuriken before putting more distance between himself and the creature. The Behemoth looks dangerous and he'd rather not remain within possible range of its attacks before getting a better idea of what it can do.
He then casts mirror image on himself.
Quecksworth remained in place as he allowed the magic to take hold.
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Lizzo fires a flurry of arrows at the behemoth. All end up missing as the behemoth reaches out a massive hand for him.
The fist closes in around Lizzo's hand and breaks several fingers in the process. Tyrion suddenly appears jamming his blade right through the behemoth's tendon and shredding it down across before rushing away to safety.
Mandoo tosses a flame bath against the behemoth and a shuriken right into it's neck. It stumbles slightly to the side before falling facedown into the raging waters once more.
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Vilree (-8; Persistent Fire 2)
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Lizzo (29/41)
Tyrion
Mandoo
Quecksworth (Mirror Image)
Darr
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Mandoo tosses a flame bath against the behemoth and a shuriken right into it's neck. It stumbles slightly to the side before falling facedown into the raging waters once more.
Mandoo is amazed at the effect that his fire bomb had on the Behemoth. A much more satisfying result than the one he tossed at Vilree earlier. He refocuses on the evil alchemist. "Who's all alone now," he thinks, and ponders his next move while waiting for her to act.
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Vilree gets singed slightly from the electrical spark. Vilree looks at you with contempt. “It doesn’t matter, you know. I’ve already won. I dispatched my minion to destroy the town just before you arrived here. Everyone in Plaguestone will be dead long before you ever get there!”
She quickly grabs bombs from her pouch and begins lobbing them around as she moves in closer.
Both bombs miss but manage to splash the ground around Lizzo and Mandoo.
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Vilree (-13; Persistent Electricity 1)
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Lizzo (29/41)
Tyrion
Mandoo (39/41)
Quecksworth (Mirror Image)
Darr
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Quecksworth follows his fellow agents into the chamber, seeking some cover behind his allies.
He then sings:
"Declaring victory, 'fore the deed is done
Too soon, it is, to state you've won.
For the Society's uncovered your evil deeds
And shall now ensure that none succeeds."
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Vilree's sneer slowly filters into his brain as Mandoo dodges the fire bomb she throws at him. "What kind of minion could she send that would destroy the entire town before we could return?" He watches her as she approaches the bridge, looking for an opening. As he waits, he continues to mull over Vilree's words, and thinking back to the book they found in the Cinder Rat's lair, a cold feeling creeps up his spine. "The plaguestone!", he thinks to himself with sudden clarity. "Her minion must be on the way to deliver the poison to the plaguestone at this very moment."
They needed to finish with Vilree quickly so that could get back to save the town in time. His heart pangs as he momentarily has a vision of Delma succumbing to the green mist. He shakes it off. "No. The wagon is slow. We'll get back in time. We have to."
He casts a quick glance at Tyrion to make sure that he and the halfling are on the same page and then takes off to engage Vilree up close and personally.
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Lizzo was hit out of no where, and when he recovered from the shock the behemoth was gone. He learned a valuable lesson, which could have been much worse.
After shaking the cobwebs, he locks his attention back to the perpetrator of Plaguestone’s problems. With inspiration from Quecksworth he lets lose a volley of arrows.
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Vilree falls as a well placed arrow sinks deep into her chest followed by a shock of electricity. Her body falls, unmoving and smoldering.
On her body you recover: alchemical crossbow, belt pouch (2 pp, 38 gp, 4 sp), bracers of missile deflection, daggers (2), key, leather armor, lesser juggernaut mutagen, lesser stone body mutagen, +1 striking dagger, moderate acid energy mutagen.
You are safe, for now, but what of Etran's Folly? Do you folks want to:
1) Head straight back to town?
or
2) Try to track down and intercept the minion? (Survival check)
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"Nicely done, everyone!" When Lizzo and Darr finish off Vilree, through force of habit, Tyrion considers a well-deserved beverage. But the town must come first.
While others are searching the alchemist's body, Tyrion looks for clues to track down the minion. Standing on the bridge, he studies the river beneath his feet and wonders if it would be a quick way to take them back to town....
As he's searching, Tyrion asks the gnome, "Quecksworth, any chance you could help me focus with a little Guidance?"
If he finds anything, he reports to the group.
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Mandoo quickly collects all the stuff they find on Vilree's body. The bracers he puts on his own forearms; the key he hands to Tyrion with a "maybe need"; the +1 striking dagger he hands to Queck with a "use in extremis". The leather armor and normal daggers he leaves behind with a "too heavy"; and the rest he adds to the party loot in his backpack.
Seeing Lizzo's injuries, he hands the ranger his last lesser elixir of life , and says, "Lizzo drink. No time to treat wounds."
Mandoo thinks, "we must leave now. If we head straight back to the town and set up a defensive perimeter around the plaguestone we can stop the minion from reaching it. Delma's life depends on it."
Mandoo then says "Know where minion going. Not waste time chasing. Must head back now. Fastest route; straight to town. Straight to plaguestone. Stop minion." Brooking no argument, he immediately turns and heads out the cavern at a fast clip.
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Tyrion calls over his shoulder to Mandoo, "While you're searching the body, I'm looking for some clues. There may be a shortcut that will cut our travel time in half. When we both finish, we'll be able to make an informed decision. "
As Mandoo hands Lizzo the heal potion, Tyrion is just finishing up and offers, "Before we spend a valuable potion, perhaps I could take a look." With Lizzo's permission, Tyrion moves up to provide some in-battle healing for the iruxi.
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Indicating the trail through the crevasse in the ceiling, Tyrion says to Mandoo, "My friend, we agree we must make haste. But perhaps the passage above is a shortcut to town?" While he waits for Mandoo's response, he accepts the small key that was found on Vilree and tucks it away near his thieves' tools.
Tyrion looks for the best way to get up through the crevasse.
"We must hurry along and stop the alchemist's monstrosity, no matter how exhausted we may be." notes Quecksworth.
"As for how best to stop it..." the gnome ponders aloud, "I suspect it is likely better to follow the creature's trail rather than head directly to town. If we could beat it to town, we could give a warning to the townsfolk and, perhaps, have a modicum of time for preparation."
"However," concludes the Pathfinder, "I suspect the creature is likely to take the shortest route and, thus, would arrive before us if we were to trace our path to this place. Yet, if we follow it, we could perhaps stop it before it can do any harm in town, or at least slow it down."
"I say we follow it, Masters." urges Quecksworth with an assertiveness and fervency that he has not before displayed. "And, if there be someway to get a warning to the townsfolk in advance, then all the better."
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Mandoo stops on his way out of the cavern when he hears Tyrion call out about finding a trail and turns to see him pointing up at the crevasse in the ceiling. Mandoo looks up a little surprised. Indeed, it does appear to be a faster way out than working his way back through the fortress.
Without pause, Mandoo turns and starts climbing up the cavern walls and out of the crevasse into the open air.
Once he gets to the top, he drops down some rope and helps pull the rest of the group up and out of the cavern below. While helping the others out, he notices the pain from the burns on his arms and, pulling a minor Elixir of Life from his bandolier, gulps it down.
Mandoo appears to be in a state of some agitation and will urge the group to get going. He has no intention of stopping or resting until he gets back to town.
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Mandoo leaps into the air to keep on the tracks. handhold by handhold Mandoo makes it to the surface. While all are not able to follow the treacherous climb it doesn't take long at all to exit the fortress and get to the surface with Mandoo waving in their direction.
After finding the trail, it is a simple matter to follow the plodding footsteps of Vilree’s minion as it makes its way toward Etran’s Folly. Miles pass, minutes turn to hours, and the unsuspecting town grows ever closer. Vilree’s alchemical servant never seems to tire, and there is no sign that it ever stops for food or rest, but it does seem the distance is closing. The trail looks more and more recent.
Just as Etran’s Folly comes into view, so does Vilree’s drudge. It is close to the town but with haste it is still possible to catch it before it can complete its grim task!
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Seeing the drudge just up ahead, Tyrion has renewed hope. He waits for some musical inspiration, and gives Mandoo his all-too-familiar nod that indicates: If you can take a position on the far side, I'll flank from the near.
Once Mandoo attacks, Tyrion makes his move. He closes the gap, flanks with the monk, draws Whistler, and jabs twice. Before doing so, he activates the Potency Crystal affixed to Whistler and enchants the rapier.
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Mandoo sees the apparently untouched town with the drudge still some distance from it and relief floods his body. "There's still time, barely," he thinks, and with Queck's lovely lyrics to inspire him, he squeezes a little more from his fatigued body, and breaks into a run, placing himself between the drudge and the plaguestone.
Not wanting the creature to get any nearer the plaguestone, he does a low spinning back kick and sweeps it off its feet.
Mandoo then jumps on top of the prone drudge and starts pounding it into pulp with his fists.
Upon spying the creature, Quecksworth moves forward, a song on is lips.
"Aft a night of long travel and toil,
We've found where the threat now does lurk.
So fight on for the vile scheme to spoil
And of this drudge let us make short work."
The gnome then retrieves his sling.
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Catching the target close to town Lizzo sends some arrows through the trees. Two manage to wing the Drudge as it stomps forward. Mandoo and Tyrion set up a quick signal as the pair move to cut the Drudge off.
Mandoo grabs the Drudge and slams it down to the ground, only one of his fists connecting while Tyrion stabs it more times than Julius Caesar. A spark of electricity snaps into it's body as it lies still once more.
Tired and wounded you at least have the relief knowing that Delma's life is safe once more.
Defeating Vilree and saving the town of Etran’s Folly completely closes the book on Bort's murder. Even Sheriff Rolth is impressed that "the strangers did so much to help the tiny community." Delma lets you stay at the Feedmill, free of charge, for as long as you'd like, and any tab you might have acquired is wiped away. You are free to leave and continue the journey to Almas if you'd like, but you will have to wait at least a day if you want to continue traveling with what is now Tamli’s caravan, as the caravan members want to give Bort a proper burial.
Tamli invites you to the funeral and gives you all a chance to say a few words, "a fond farewell to the caravan master that treated us all amicably." (In spite of any shady deals he might have made over the years with questionable characters.) Tamli sheds more than a few tears as she says goodbye and attempts to bestow a gift. "Bort was fond of rings, collecting a variety of them throughout his travels. I wish to give one ring to each of you."
The band of this ring is made from bluecolored iron and has two sharp, decorative protrusions on each side of the red-stone inlay. It feels quite heavy and reliable. Wearing this ring grants you a +2 item bonus to Deception and Diplomacy checks, but only if the associated checks involve haggling or bargaining over a purchase or trade.
Activate [[three-actions] (envision, interact); Effect You can determine if an item is magical simply by handling it. You detect no other indication of its power, only whether or not it is magical, granting the effects of a 1st-level detect magic spell that affects only the object.
This rose-gold ring is adorned in the center by a somewhat ominous-looking horned skull. This ring gives you the power to cast the following innate arcane cantrips any number of times each day: detect magic, mage hand, and prestidigitation. Each is cast as a 1st-level spell. If you are an arcane spellcaster, these can instead be heightened to the level of your cantrips.
This fanciful golden ring has an ornate band cast with delicate, swirling decorations and is inlaid with three bright-green emeralds. While wearing this ring, you gain a +10-foot item bonus to your Speed, but only when determining your overland movement per hour.
Activate[three-actions] (envision, interact); Effect You refresh yourself from fatigue. For 10 minutes, you can ignore the penalties from the fatigued condition. This does not remove the condition, it merely suppresses the penalties and drawbacks of having the condition. If something would cause you to become fatigued again while the ring’s power is in effect, the suppression ends, and you immediately take the penalties again.
This fairly simple ring has no gemstone inlaid, but the band is cast to resembled a fanged wolf’s head. Once per day, during your daily preparations, you can meditate on this ring to grant yourself 5 temporary Hit Points. These last until your next daily preparation, as long as you are wearing the ring.
This ring is utilitarian in design—indicating its martial use. Its band is decorated only with a simple, sharp-edged sculpture on the band’s center. While wearing this ring, you add your level to your attack rolls with all weapons with which you are untrained.
Activate [free-action] (envision); Frequency once per day; Trigger You make an attack with a weapon in which you’re untrained; Effect You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to the attack roll. If you are an expert in any weapon, you instead gain a +4 circumstance bonus to the attack roll.
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When the drudge hits the ground, Tyrion finds a stump to crash on and have a refreshment. He mutters dryly, "Well, THAT was easy. Never in doubt. Am I right?" He grins, until he realizes his flask is empty.
Back at the Feedmill, when Tyrion hears the business about the tab being taken care of, he plops down in his familiar barstool. He occasionally tries other beverages, but always comes back to the blackberry wine. "Why yes, I think I will have just one more."
While he's sitting at the bar, he chats with Delma. "You know Delma, Mandoo was magnificent." He pauses, downs another mug, and continues, "He was of a single mind to save you, and this town, from an unspeakable tragedy." Tyrion leaves out details involving the trail of dead bodies, and the finer points of Mandoo providing flanking during combat.
Later at the funeral, Tyrion bows his head and says, "Bort, you had a keen eye for coin -- which I respect a great deal. Unfortunately, your business partners were more treacherous than you realized. By the grace of Cayden Cailean ..." Tyrion raises his glass, as if he needs an excuse, and continues, "...we're honored to have been in a position to avenge you. Rest in peace." After he empties his mug, he wonders whether refills are being served here at the service. He looks around hopefully.
The next day, Tyrion refills his flask, sadly for the final time at the Feedmill bar, says his goodbyes, and hops onto Tamli's caravan. He looks around to see who will be joining him, suspecting a certain companion might have some unfinished business here in town.