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The descent down through the forgotten maintenance tunnels and natural caverns below Absalom has been mercifully uneventful, and offers plenty of time to think back on the events of the day.
Messengers found you across Absalom before sunrise and summoned you to the Grand Lodge on orders from Venture- Captain Drandle Dreng. His milky, half-closed eyes, normally offering a bearing of regal decrepitude, instead looked sour as he apologized for the early hours and introduced a thick man bearing the scars of many horrific burns seated in a chair in Dreng’s office, his feat soaking in a small metal bucket of steaming water. Behind him stand two enormous, heavily armored half-orcs, their arms crossed over their massive
chests and all four of their eyes constantly scanning the room for danger. “Pathfinders, this is Grandmaster Torch,” Dreng muttered sleepily. “He’s an… associate of the Society. We owe him a favor after that business in Sedeq, and it seems he’s looking to collect.”
“You wound me, my lord,” said Grandmaster Torch, leaving Dreng chuckling softly to himself in the background. “I come in the interest of the common good. You see, my good friend and occasional business associate, Nuar Spiritskin, is missing. You may know him better as the Minotaur Prince of Absalom, the head of the Taurean Embassy and something of a famous foreign dignitary, what with his assertions that he speaks for all Minotaurs everywhere. A collection of papers recently entered my possession that spoke of a grand maze beneath the city; naturally, my first instinct was to discuss the matter with Nuar. He seemed as intrigued as I and after I elicited his help, he set out at once for the maze. It has been several days, more than enough time for a minotaur to solve a maze, and I grow worried for my bovine chum."
“Clearly, I cannot take this matter to the guard. Poor Nuar would be scandalized if word got around that he couldn’t solve a simple maze. I can provide you with directions to this maze, called Delirium’s Tangle, if you promise to return Nuar quietly to his home. I’m even willing to let your organization keep the artifact I believe lies in the maze’s center. Some ancient, elven hourglass—my notes aren’t specific as to what it does. Just ensure the Prince’s safety.”
Dreng looks incredulous, but solemnly nods. “Nuar is a useful ally to the Society and a lost labyrinth below Absalom herself is too convenient to pass up. Take an hour to prepare and then head out. And be thorough; no telling what you’ll find down there.”
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A dark bird perches on a side table. "Oh Drandle, what have you drawn us into this time? With Torch no less..."
It seems to shake its head, and look up at the half-orc standing nearby. "No matter. A minotaur prince, you say? Gerald, my boy, that could be a prime possibility. Minotaurs are known for seeing the way that isn't obvious to others. Perhaps, Prince Naur could see a path that we haven't taken to restore my full body and power!" The bird's attention is suddenly drawn away by the sound of a beetle. It hops the tries to find the juicy insect.
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The young half-orc sighs and nods. "Of course, maybe the Prince can help." He turns back to Torch and the others. "It sounds like we will go."
At a sharp squawk from the bird, the half-orc suddenly steps forward, his greatsword on his back bumping into a chair. His voice, however, is monotone as if he's recited this bit dozens of times before. "The esteemed Pathfinder, Javon, will be willing to help. His current state is unfortunate, but his aid will undoubtedly by critical. I am Grax, his porter and guard."
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”I must say, the last time I went down this many stairs...” another half-orc remarks as the groups descends below Absalom. ”I think I lost track somewhere around the two-thousand-six-hundred-seventy-something step, but it’s the furthest below ground I’ve ever gone! I’ve only been assigned to towers before this. Well, and that one time in the desert. Guess you could call that flat stairs!” He laughs easily, grinning at his companions. ”Am I right?”
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Bahram looks to each of the half orcs in turn. Though they are dressed very different from himself, he is nevertheless surprised to see so many half orcs in one place.
Bahram is dressed as if to travel through the desert. Light and airy pants, bare arms and bronze green skin. His wooden armor is at odds with his dessert wear, however.
He leans over to Kiyoko and whispers, "We come directly from slaying one minotaur to saving another. Our job is never boring, is it my friend?"
To Grandmaster Torch, "Am elven artefact you say?"
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Conig glides into the room on a floating disc. The levitation saves him from looking up too much at the towering orcs.
Conig is a white-furred ratfolk in a long leather coat adorned with mundane sigils. As his coat flaps open, you spy an ornate pistol on his hip and various trophies on his belt and bandoleer from old kills.
Under his breath, Dreng and Torch, good grief.
Speaking up, A maze should pose no great challenge for this group. I am confident in a positive outcome, masters Dreng and Torch. Conig offers a polite nod.
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: An attractive young Tian-Min woman leans against one of Dreng's office walls. Kiyoko is stoic and taciturn, rarely speaking more than necessary. Possessed of pale blue eyes and wearing her platinum hair in a chin-length layered bob, Kiyoko has the toned, athletic body of someone raised in the martial arts, with a distinctive beauty mark to the right of her chin. Wearing a short red yukata and the geta sandals of Minkai, her only armor seems to be a haramaki around her middle; her weapons a paired daisho of katana and wakazashi, the katana bearing a Minkan character at its habaki that reads Reitenseiya, "Starless Night."
She nods at Bahram. "The world is full of wonders."
: Kiyoko glances over her shoulder at Jahz, an expression of confusion on her face. "What are 'flat stairs'?"
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"Am elven artefact you say?"
Grandmaster Torch clears his throat and sloshes around a bit of his tub water with his feet. “The notes mention a large hourglass of elven design. I believe this may be Izryen’s Hourglass, an artifact left behind when the elves first fled Golarion. It appears often in elven astrological writings, and sounds like a complicated timepiece. Should the Pathfinder Society have no interest, I’d love to add it to my own collection.”
"Do we know anything more about Delirium’s Tangle?"
“My notes refer to it only as Delirium’s Tangle. The author claims to have once been lost in the maze ages ago and escaped by pure luck. I imagine it’s hardly the simple mines and crypts you’re accustomed to. The design sounds elven, but I haven’t finished translating everything. Perhaps you can enlighten me on your return.”
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Dreng looks off into the distance a bit absentmindedly before turning back, "Now, I didn't wake you up in the middle of the night for you to start this in the morning! Pathfinders, find the Prince!"
Without any further delay, you don armor, check spell components, and feed Javon. Then you head into the maintenance tunnels below the city.
From there you descend into a more natural maze.
You notice bizarre humanoid tracks and signs of large insects. Unfortunately, the tracks are too faint to identify.
You spend hours wandering the natural maze (which is simply a series of confusing tunnels, caverns, crawlspaces, and so on that surround the maze proper) in search of tracks, signs, or clues of the Minotaur Prince’s path. Eventually a passage opens from a bottleneck into a large, smooth cavern of striated blue stone and pale, sandy floors. The walls glisten with moisture, and a small pool sits on the eastern side of the chamber. All across the area, thick carpets of fungus blanket the stones.
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As they walk through caverns, several times Grax looks like he is going to say something, then he looks around at the twisting tunnels and multiple passages and then shakes his head, just shrugging.
When they get to the cavern, Grax pauses, taking in the striking sight. "I didn't know it could look like this underground. I thought it was all dirt and grime."
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"Oh yeah." Bahram also fishes out his newly minted Wayfinder and attaches it to the broad waistband of his pants. He, however, does not activate it's light.
Looking at Conig, he asks "Bugs? Like, big bugs or regular bugs?" Bahram tries to look Conig in the eyes as he speaks to him, but his eyes keep alternating between his face, his hoverboard, and his magical handbanger. There's something kingly about Conig. Bahram can't help but smile at him.
"You don't suppose this moss is more dangerous than it appears is it? Maybe food for something...or.." He asks no one in particular.
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Kiyoko glances over her shoulder at Jahz, an expression of confusion on her face. "What are 'flat stairs'?"
”Oh, they’re steps that don’t go up or down,” Jahz replies. ”Very difficult to tell apart from no stairs - you have to have an eye for detail, which apparently I do not.” He grins. ”Valsin said my latest report was both, ‘not enough detail and too much detail at the same time,’ whatever that means.”
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”Ooo, look at that!” Jahz marvels at the sight, his own blade glowing like a torch as he holds it aloft. ”Do you think it’s harmful?” He bends over and pokes at the carpet of fungus with his sword.
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Bahram reaches down and runs a gloves hand along the fungus. It doesn't seem harmful from what he can tell. Just then a pair of beetles, each the size of a dog, erupt from the sandy floor, hidden underneath the moss.
Kiyoko
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Beetles
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Old Man Kossar
Jahz
Conig
Bahram
Grax
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Kiyoko quickly moves into action splitting one of the beetles apart. The second one scuttles through the sand, biting at her ankles.
The beetle biffs it and stumbles on the loose soil.
Kiyoko
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Beetles
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Old Man Kossar
Jahz (Red)
Conig
Bahram (Blue)
Grax
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The beetle is not long for its life as it gets pounded back into the mossy ground. Barely breaking a sweat you take stock of your situation.
Looking around, it seems the only direction is deeper into the cavern.
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The natural caverns suddenly give way to worked stone and metal fixtures. Dangling glass balls flicker and cast a weak, greenish glow across the chamber. Ahead, a series of green tiled, wide, terraced stairs slope up to an imposing bronze door, partly torn from its hinges. The stairs bear hundreds of symbols that seem to warp and flicker.
The reek of decay, along with a pungent, acidic smell fills the chamber. Heaps of bones and garbage are scattered about the room. On both sides of the bronze doors, numerous small idols sit in niches and nooks. Their clumsy design clearly contrasts the delicate swoops and strokes of the walls and door.
Some of the remains are humanoid, many having been slaughtered within the past month.
A wealth of small bone and basalt idols crowd the floor around the doors. Though crude, they are nonetheless worth 45 gp each to an academic or collector.
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Conig drifts over to the remains scattered around the room, Humanoid. Something awful happened here. Eyes open, we don't know what may remain. Anything that can blast through a door like that is going to be formidable.
This idols are worth something to collectors. The bones more interesting to me than most I'd wager.
Conig takes out a sheet of paper and lays it on his disk, he raises a hand and a fragment of bone levitates to his hand, Tell me your secrets, friend.
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"Garbage, small bones, and crude idols. Those things all go together to point toward small semi-intelligent humanoids. The door blasted off it's hinges with fire doesn't fit. That may have been something else. Perhaps a ward that was tripped?"
Turning to listen to Grax as Conig goes about his creepy business, bahram strokes his small pointed beard. "Yes, where are these bones coming from? Perhaps whatever creatures made these idols also cannibalize their own. We should be on our guard"
Bahram will cast detect magic as he moves toward the door.
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Bahram searches the area for any signs of magical presence while Conig lays a hand on a dried blood spattered bone fragment. Brief flitting memories pass though his mind with little more information that these bones were brutally slaughtered in the darkness less than a month ago. The last moment they saw were a pair of bulging eyes from a thin frames humanoid.
As Kiyoko approaches the door, Bahram does sense magic but not before his eyes catch motion! It's skin is pale as a slug’s belly, eyes huge and bulging, this thing crawls down the wall like a spider, but its shape is hideously humanoid. It is too late as the creature was hidden just within the darkness and stone so as not to be seen until the last moment. It leaps through teh air at Kiyoko with a club raised high.
Kiyoko dives to the ground at just the last moment as the club swishes over her head.
Jahz (Red)
Grax
Old Man Kossar
Conig
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Bug Eyes
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Kiyoko (4/13)
Bahram (Blue)
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"Eww! What is that?" Bahram asks frantically before he calms down and assesses the creature for what it is. "Well it appears to be a somewhat dim, simple humanoid capable of creating simple idols...but not bursts of explosive fire or strength to break down doors."
Taking all this time to asses the creature caused him to act well after his comrades, but he feels better about his sleuthing capabilities, even if he still doesn't know what the creature is.
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"It's ugly, but I think it still bleeds!" Jahz calls back to Bahram as he strides forward. "So raise your weapons high, my friends, for we are Pathfinders! Exploring the unknown, Cooperating to overcome any challenge thrown our way, and Reporting back that others may learn from our exploits! Your passion for adventure burns brightly within you - now show the world what you are made of!" His own longsword's glow becomes marginally brighter as the other Pathfinders' weapons begin to cast light in a similar way.