Keep pushing them! it's working!
Jonah fires another volley form his magical contraption
it proves difficult to shoot a shadow ghost thing.
Magdi darts into the chamber, circling around the outside, before calling upon his magic to seal the shadow of the creature to the ground.
Tonny's whip makes the ghost reel up a bit, giving an advantage to both Tewa and Adriana.
Jonah's bolts pierce the waters, one of them hitting the spirit's essence, hurting it.
Magdi ventures into the room, the incorporeal reaching for him as he goes through the door's threatened area.
The human is badly touched on the very same heart, halting its beating for a very hard second!
The shaman then gathers his magical strength and magically pins the shadows against the table, not allowing the spirit to move away. It howls in rage "Haoooooowww!"
Gritting her teeth as her scimitar slashes through and dissolves the first shadowy wraith, Adriana follows through on her swing and uses the momentum to slash through the second shadowy wraith.
Tewa steps into a flank with Adriana and slams her sword down through where the spirit hovers, chopping into the table below it.
Adriana's scimitar shines with divine might as she cuts through the spirit, taking again part of its essence, but also considerably halted by the water.
Before Tewa's mighty swing breaks through the table, the magical metal tears the raging incorporeal leaving a hard mark. Her blade seems unhindered by the water that fills this level of the manor.
The wraith turns against her, trying to touch her.
This time, the spirit is faster and gets over her head despite Tonny's good help. The sailor warrior feels her hair freezing.
Jonah does his best to remain calm and keep shooting the wraith while it hurts his friends...
Tewa yanks her sword out of the table as she tries to bring it back up through the spirit on the backswing, but the jolting throws her off balance.
Tonny's whipping keeps the wraith entertained while Jonah steps in the door and manages one more shot through the undead being.
Tewa's backswing fails, but she manages to keep on feet and not loose the massive blade.
Attempting to ignore the water around her and remain focused on the wraith trapped by its own shadow, Adriana continues to press her attack.
Adriana cuts strong through the water, her scimitar boiling the liquid as it passes through turning hot red. The wraith wails as the blade damages it despite the water resistance.
Magdi does something heroic.
The incorporeal attempts to attack Tewa once more.
But Magdi's storm burst gets in the way and pushes the spirit making the attack to fail.
The storm burst finally comes to an end and disperses, the water whirl quickly fading away as its magic comes to an end.
Magdi hesitates, before shaking his head. Not good. With that, he skips around the chairs and rushes at the creature, thrusting with his spear, though to no avail whatsoever.
His attack failed, Magdi takes a step back from the wraith, gesturing and summoning a storm cloud around the creature once more.
keep at it! surely it will go down soon!
Jonah fires another volley, with at least one bolt hitting.
Magdi pierces the water with his magical spear while the others attack, but founds the spirit is also very quick and moves to Tewa's side before he can reach it.
A moment later the Storm walker puts the water to a crazy state once more, making it swirl around the wraith!
Tonny keeps giving advice to the party and lashing out with his whip, that moves like a serpent in the water, distracting the undead.
Jonah puts his crossbow to talk once more, and despite two of the bolts are very close to land on target, the wraith dodges them in the last moment, which gives the perfect chance for him to put another bolt through, this one damaging with its magic!
Ignoring the roil of the boiling water caused by her scimitar briefly glowing red hot, Adriana continues to press her attack on the rippling spirit.
Getting frustrated at this tenacious last spirit, Tewa swings again with might—if inaccurate—force.
Even though Tewa's swing goes wide, Adriana's scimitar cuts with furious bane through the spirit entangled by magic. The magic consumes the remaining hate and the incorporeal fades away.
As the last spirit disappears, you can feel as the manor rooms light up, like finally relieved of a long lasting sorrow.
A watertight glass case on the table contains a single bag of seer’s tea, but perhaps more useful is the collection of ancient silverware etched with dramatized scenes of Lirgen’s history. As a whole, the tarnished utensils that swirl in the water thanks to Magdi's magic, are worth only 250 gp, but they can be used as an item of tribute.
The greatest treasure in the room is the orrery centerpiece though; this work of art is worth 2,500 gp and can also be used as an item of tribute.
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“Hah… hah… It is done? They’re gone? They didn’t just duck into the floor to wait to ambush us when we least expect it, right?” Tonny puts his hands on his knees and pants heavily, but the effect is slightly ruined by both the fact that he is floating rather than standing on the ground and the tarnished fork he almost inhales. “Ow!”
“Okay, so this silverware could be offered as tribute, but I’d like to get a rubbing of the carvings on them first. And this orrery… If we had to, it could be tribute too?” Clearly he does not like the idea.
"The silverware is an easy choice." Magdi agrees. "But I also believe that the orrery is likely to only improve their chances of doing us harm."
I agree with Magdi Jonah says, not adding that he will pretty much agree with anything the Shaman says to make up for shooting him. Twice. "let's not give them baddies anythign that can make them stronger, yeah? Spoons though seem good
Opening the door to the east, there is still another room to explore, this one half-collapsed.
Rubble from collapsed walls fills most of this ruined room. Long-destroyed paintings hang askew from the western wall, their depictions faded beyond recognition with the exception of one unusually well-preserved Hyrantam landscape still hanging by the door.
The Hyrantam landscape—preserved by layers of alchemical waterproofing and an application of unguent of timelessness—has endured remarkably well over the past 100 years. While the painting itself has no other magical properties, its quality is exquisite; it is worth 1,200 gp and can be used as an item of tribute.
As you finish registering the room, Ketheero the locathah's leader approaches you looking around "Ki taku whakaaro kua waatea tatou ki te haere inaianei. Ka nui ano te mihi mo te watea mai i tenei ahuatanga. Mena kei te hiahia awhina koe, rapua matou i tenei waahi. Tangohia tenei hei tohu whakahoa." he takes the carved abalone shell figurines bracelet and hands it to you. This is worth 1,000 gp and can be used as an item of tribute.
"I guess we are free to go now. Thanks a lot again for freeing us from this situation. If you ever are in need of help, look for us in this area. Take this as a token of friendship."
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Tewa is not feeling great from the encounter with the spirits and has difficulty focusing on this room. She waves goodbye to the departing locathah and wishes them well in Aquan.
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Tonny also thanks the locathah (though not as gracefully as Tewa) before turning back to his companions. “So this painting is also historically significant! I’d really rather not give it to this coven if we can avoid it, but I suppose it would be better to surrender than the orrery if push came to shove.” He pauses, a thought occurring to him. “Say, weren’t the Stormreaders supposed to visit the settlement today? If we hurry back, we might catch a glimpse and verify what we’ve learned! Or… do we want to stay out of their sight for as long as possible?”
"Many of us are distinctive enough that there's a chance they'll mark us as outsiders." Magdi muses. "How much would we gain from seeing them, do you think?"
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“Well, we could identify them? Maybe not as individuals, but confirming that they are hags would go a long way towards helping us confront them safely about why they’re extorting these people for art and historical relics that belong in a museum or under a curator’s care rather than whatever they’re using them for!” Tonny realizes too late that his voice has been growing louder and louder with each word until he is practically shouting at the shaman. “Oops. Sorry for that.”
Jonah tries to find middle ground to difuse the argument.
It would be valuable to know who we're dealing with. But perhaps we should also avoid being seen. what if one or two of us returned, not carrying weapons, and observed the visit? I am willing to be one of the two.
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"Museum, huh." Magdi shakes his head, waving away Tonny's apology as unnecessary. "Where wealthy Avistani can look at the artifacts of other cultures, stolen from the lands of their people, no?" His voice is bitter.
Shaking his head again, he turns to Jonah. "I can do the same. Although not having weapons here feels like it would be more unusual than having them..."
Deciding to go back to the Lirgeni enclave, you do just that. Boarding your ship after giving farewells to the locathah, you set sail to the ruined location. The fresh air is a sudden change from the oppressing pressure of the water.
Keeping your direction through the channels and currents Vancen advised you to use, it is not very difficult to find your way, specially on this strangely calm day without storm.
You are received by the Harbormaster who seems very worried and anxious "Oh goodness! I started to fear you had some trouble or you just decided to leave. Thanks a lot for coming to this community help."
The man points towards the North "Orleva must be close to arrive. Please follow my lead and do not anger or attack the visitor, for they could retaliate against my people..." he looks at your hands and bags "Also, I would suggest to keep the items you have settled on for tribute handy, for they might be needed to avoid they claiming for more people"
Jonah asks the harbormaster
"How well do they know the group of people here? would we be putting people in danger by showing up all of a sudden? we can hide a few of our number if it would help. we did find some good tribute stuff. right? who's holding the tribute stuff?
Adriana assumes that the smartest thing to currently do is to hide all signs of her Sarenrae worship on her person and then also make sure her hands are occupied by carrying as much of the collected tribute as possible, although she agrees with Jonah and his questions.
"We don't want our being here to be used as an excuse to punish or extort your people further, but if you're confident our presence won't cause problems then we can prepare the tribute. I think we have a decent haul..."
"Displaying everything we've found would be foolish." Magdi agrees. "Let's divide it up carefully, and ensure anything that they could use against us is kept well away from where they usually look."
"You are going to call their attention I guess... but if you are willing to take the risk that is only going to let my people pass unperceived this time. Do not worry compromising us by your presence." explains Vancen trying to calm your worries.
Late in the afternoon, Orleva approaches the harbormaster’s home, accompanied by three winged creatures with streamlined head features sunken, glassy eyes and a circular mouth lined with needle-sharp teeth. She is a beautiful Garundi woman with piercing blue eyes and blue robes that flow as if rustled by a soft breeze, regardless of the surrounding weather conditions.
These are kerakinsis, strange electrically charged monstrous humanoids native to the windswept coasts and boggy isles of the Sodden Lands, and perfectly adapted to living with storms.
They’re well known as dangers in the region, and using them in public appearances as guardians only bolsters the Stormreaders’ notoriety.
She meets with Vancen in public on the piers near his home, greeting the Harbormaster "Good afternoon, who is this who comes to receive the great Orleva?" it is clear Orleva knows Vancen, but she seems to enjoy the show of feigning ignorance. Vancen vows slightly in front of the Garundi "This is Vancen, the Harbormaster, do you remember? I am... I am only your loyal servant"
The woman smiles and looks around placing her eyes over you "I see you have some visitors. I would have thought the storms would make that a difficult task. You should be seasoned sailors" she does turns towards you, approaching "But who are you?"
She does stare at you deeply, clearly showing she expects you introduce yourselves, giving you a first opportunity to impress her.
Tewa She bows and offers to kiss her hand with a kneel. ”I am Tewa She. I once was someone important, but now I am someone free, and I would rather that, wouldn’t you?” She stands and gives her disarming smile. ”I hope I do not overstep. It has been so long since I’ve had the honor of introducing myself formally, particularly to someone so beautiful. I am the ship captain that braved these storms, so I thank you on behalf of the crew for your compliment.”
The Garundi observes Tonny while he explains himself, raising an eyebrow as he cites the kerakinsis, then moves on, letting Tewa kiss her hand and smiling pleased after the gesture "Oh, free are you? Interesting concept..." she also observes her with appreciation as she explains about sailing the storm, then steps forward and stares at the others "And you... who are you?"
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Jonah bows (clumsily) and takes off his hat
My name is Jonah, hunter of beasts and monsters. I've come to this land seeking adventure and fine hunts. Accept this humble token your... uh, majesty? excellency?
He hands her one of the teeth he collected from their last underwater entanglement with the sea monster. Definitely not one of his finer trophies, but she doesn't need to know that...
Magdi remains quiet, his head bowed submissively. Can't trust myself to not give the masquerade away. Stay quiet, and we'll deal with these later.
Leaving her obvious religious items somewhere safe and hoping to look a little rougher than usual, Adriana follows Tewa's lead and kneels.
"I am Adriana. A...survivor." Adriana shows her bandaged hand with its missing finger as a way of explanation. "I have endured, and travel now as crew under the captain. You humble us with your words."
She hopes to not overplay her part as she slowly stand.
The Garundi arches her eyebrows as Jonah calls her majesty, visibly amused, but inspects the offered tooth silently before moving over to the next of you. "Pretty" she states when looking at Adriana then follows her eyes down to the bandaged hand.
Her eyes go over Magdi, but quickly pass on, perhaps confusing him for someone local she has seen before.
The woman looks at you satisfied "It seems you managed to attract quite an accomplished sailing troupe to your settlement Vancen. I am impressed. Perhaps you can later retell me some stories of your adventures and events going on in far away lands"
Then she looks over the buildings in ruins and the gathered people and addresses the Harbormaster once more "How the people of the enclave have been enduring the storms? What actions have they taken to fight the weather?"
"We have closed at home during the worst of it Orleva" he looks down "We... we have only went out to get the basics..."
Some reports are exchanged, then Orleva goes on casually with a totally different question "Well, it seems you are managing pretty good, I wonder if... any of the people have experienced any dreams or seen any visions in the rain"
Vancen negates with the head roundly. You get the impression even if someone has had dreams they would not tell the Harbormaster to avoid forcing him to lie.
The woman stretches her eyes suspicious, then slowly turns towards you "So... what has brought you to Hyrantam? Have you experienced any strange dreams or visions associated with the storm?"
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Tewa folds her arms in front of her as she takes on a pensive expression. ”Oh I’m just a rootless traveler trying to make her way by her wits, will, and whimsy. This lot wanted to come here, and something about them caught my fancy.” She glances to Adriana and smirks. ”I certainly have not had any strange visions. I do not think any of the others have either.”
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"Erm... No visions that I can recall. Is this a common thing? I suppose such a powerful natural feature of the landscape would make its way into the subconscious mind after a certain amount of exposure, but that would be like asking if I ever dreamed about being back at university in the big assembly hall and I'm late and everyone's taking a test and I haven't studied and I'm not wearing any-" Tonny's face goes bright red and he puts a hand over his mouth.
Sorry, I am but a simple hunter. I rarely dream and when i do I don't recall them come morning. Not much a believer in protents and dreams anyhow, probably wouldn't read much into a dream about the rain.
"I see..." the woman looks at the looks shared between Adriana and Tewa but makes no more comment and looks at Vancen "Your people are skilled at survival, but these storms are but a sputter compared to the true wrath awaiting us if we continue to lack in dream-borne insights"
You all notice that sounded more like a menace than some statement to make aware of danger.
"You must immediately report of any new dreams, and if they occur, alert the Stormreaders by sending the dreamers to the shores of Seer's Summit as tribute" her tone is commanding and she turns to you afterwards "You too. You are well spoken and have landed well on my regard. I am keeping an eye on you, visitors always warrant special attention"
"Now, although I would prefer to bring back a dreamer, coming back with some relics is better than coming back empty handed. You do not know the ire of my sisters..." she open her hands at look at Vencen who looks at you with a sorrowful stare.
You do feel Orleva is pleased with you thanks to your previous diplomatic efforts and she will settle with little this time.
Orleva's hands wrap around the telescope, a smile drawing at her delicate brown face "You sure are an interesting pack and resourceful one. That would suffice for now."
Thanks to your good impression, the Stormreaders settle with just the telescope "Fine. We will see us next month. I warn you Vancen, the need for dreamers as tribute is paramount. The next time we visit, I won't accept anything but dreamers."
Then, she turns towards the piers and placing her feet over two of the kerakinsis, they take flight and quickly disappears among the ruins towards southern direction.
Vancen looks at you and nods at you recognizing your efforts with a mixture of happiness and worry "Thanks my friends. You have saved us one more month. I do not know how to repay you for this. I fear what will happen with us if we cannot provide a dreamer next month. Anyway, we cannot keep going with this for long."