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Loam rolls over on the floor and flexes her now less-broken jaw. She stays there for a minute before picking herself up. She withdraws another wand for Korum to use.
"Thank you, Korum. She didn't appear to be an easy opponent," the ratfolk says, looking at the clotted blood that doesn't grace her alone. "Hopefully this leaves the whole warehouse clear. At least for the time we need."
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"It's okay to be frustrated at your own performance Torku. I'm sure you'll bounce right back. Hey, what's that on the floor? Looks like you made a little 'dirt-angel' while you were laying down. Its cute, kinda like the way you fight." Korum turns to Loam, "I can't take all the credit. The Eternal Rose had plenty to do with it. She guided my blade, I just held on to it. Glad you're back on your feet."
The orc takes a look at Vulpina, "Dressing like you? Your clothes would be a little tight on me, dontcha think? Besides, what would you wear?"
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Perhaps the secret to having a good death is to not find it. Things happen for a reason...all things come to those who wait...or so I am told. Now then...about her....should we muzzle her? I can question her...al though my techniques might not agree with all of you.. Doran says as he cracks his knuckles. He then goes to check her quarters.
You look into the room that Shinri emerged from.
A pair of lamps hang near the door on the west wall of this dark office, while the doors on the north and south walls remain unadorned.
Books of all ages are scattered haphazardly around the room.
Maps hang in loose layers on an easel to the northwest, and a journal sits open on the desk.
You look over the journal on the desk.
Several letters are tucked into its pages, and a quick glance indicates this is Shinri's personal journal, and contains a record of her thoughts and plans.
After reading through the journal, Torku thinks he has figured Shinri out.
It took a bit of work to puzzle through Shinri's somewhat confused writing and some misunderstanding she apparently had, but he determines that several months ago, Shinri made contact with a malign presence during her meditations.
The presence offered Shinri forbidden martial techniques so long as she continued to contact it regularly. After continued contact during her meditations, Shinri realized the being was in fact a powerful fiend.
The fiend offered Shinri blasphemous knowledge of blood magic in exchange for her loyal servitude, and Shinri accepted. Shinri soon learned her master was bound somewhere within the Mwangi Expanse, and that a number of Ghol-Gan relics would be required to hasten the fiend’s return.
Her task was to acquire the Twelve Rites, which were taken to the now-ruined city of Boali centuries ago by the Boalisi people. Shinri’s strict adherence to the fiend’s teachings and continued contact with a growing number of the Twelve Rites have allowed the fiend’s essence to manifest itself within Shinri’s psyche.
Shinri attempted to draw what she saw; a grotesque six-armed female giant, beings with blackened flesh and three heads and fiends with dozen eyes or with a splayed crown of golden horns.
Loam and Korum deduce the same information!
You peer into the first room and see a dark chamber.
With darkvision you see that the lamp beside the door has been shattered.
A circle is drawn in the center of the room in blood, surrounded by a ring of twenty-four unlit candles of various heights.
Small stone tablets are laid out along the circle, forming an irregular ring.
You realize that the four tablets lying on the floor bear a strong resemblance to the two you recovered while fleeing from the Great Mother.
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You also check the other door.
You find a modest bedroom, with a bed, a pair of wooden dummies, and a tall cabinet.
You rummage around, and find a large cold iron bastard sword and an odd leather harness that looks like it could be worn over the shoulders of a humanoid creature. The sword is engrated with runes.
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Torku slaps Doran's hand away from the sword before the warrior can touch it. "Wait a minute," he hisses distractedly. "I might be able to learn more about this weapon, but not as much if you start playing with it first." Carefully the tiefling puts a hand on the blade, tracing the runes with a finger in some kind of trance. As he snaps out of it, he hands the blade to Doran. "Alright, that's everything I can learn from it."
At 2nd level, an occultist learns how to read information from items he examines. Examining an item in this way requires him to spend 1 minute handling the item. If the item is a magic item, the occultist learns its properties and command word as if he had successfully examined the item using detect magic and succeeded at a Spellcraft check. This ability does not reveal whether the item is cursed unless the occultist’s class level is equal to or greater than the caster level of the item. If the item has any historical significance, the occultist learns one piece of information about its past (as determined by the GM). Finally, if the item was last used no longer than 1 day ago per the occultist’s class level, the occultist learns one piece of information about the last creature to use the item. This information might be a glimpse of the creature’s appearance, a brief vision of what it saw while using the item, or perhaps its emotional state when it last used the item. The GM determines what information is gained in this way. This functions like the psychometry occult skill unlock, but doesn’t require a skill check and can be used at will. A battle host can use object reading on only weapons, armor, and shields.
You searched everything and have Shinri in your custody.
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Torku stares at Doran as he hands the man the sword. ”Save your flirting for the self-righteous prick,” he finally replies, pointing at Korum with his tail. ”But thanks to your restraint, we’ve got something to verify that journal against. So we can trust a crazy woman’s raving writings, I guess.” He shrugs. ”Now, shall we finish this? Who wants to go play nice with some useless nobles?” His words do little to hide his lack of enthusiasm for the task. ”Let’s grab those tablets though, and everything else here - evidence and all that.”
___________
You prop up Shinri, and set out across town.
You pick up your witness Gideon who is very nervous.
You get some odd looks with the unconscious Shinri with you, particularly as you approach the council hall.
You present your letter of introduction to the secretary and explain why you are carrying an unconscious woman around.
He looks a little distressed, but has her placed under guard until the matter can be sorted out.
He tells you that he can arrange for you to meet with representatives of the four ruling factions in about thirty minutes, and gives you a comfortable room with some water and dried fruit.
He lets you know that you can expect to speak to:
* Lord Servitor Vance Kagoshe, a halfling representing the nobility;
* Windspeaker Belbi, a Caldaru woman representing the priesthood of Gozreh;
* Attea Mbansa, a Bonuwat woman representing the Merchants' Compact; and
* Harbormaster Takula Kanwo, a Caldaru man representing the military.
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Doran heads towards the Harbourmaster. He nods his head in salute to the man.
As a former soldier, you know the value of alliances. With the Snakes' business disrupted, we can cut the head of the serpent off. With a former freelancer hired by them.. he points to Gideon...we know of their true intentions. And this Shinri's dealings with whatever malificent agent she contracted with, the need for a united front is now. What say you?
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The paladin approaches the Gozrehn priestess. "Windspeaker Belbi, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Like you, I understand how important it is to find service in something larger than one's self. That is what makes this matter with the Aspis so concerning. They value nothing more than profit, and they will exploit anything and anyone to get what they want." Korum gestures the holding cells. "The agent called Shinri made a pact with a fiend in order to gain some measure of combat prowess. Think of that a moment, the lengths she went to just to fight a little better." He flips through the pages of her journal until he finds a drawing. "Had she been allowed to continue, there is little doubt a grotesque six-armed female giant would have eventually been released inside your city! Set loose among your people. Look at it! These are the soulless bargains the Aspis make."
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Loam follows behind Korum to say her piece to the Windspeaker. "These Aspis are detestable, and careless," she adds, saying it as if it were the worst insult she could hurl. "They hired unscrupulous mercenaries to work in Boali. But they were worse. Which is quite the feat, considering their hired hands drew the anger of a massive frog-beast! We barely escaped with our lives; many of them did not. This is the sort of creature that despoils the land and waters it walks, and they had no qualms about the possibility of unleashing such threats to menace everyone."
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"Korum, you sell the threat short," the tiefling adds. "Six arms and three heads aren't exactly a common number of body parts. This threat is from beyond the Material Plane, originating in the Great Beyond - and it should stay there, rather than come here and try to destroy all life as we know it. Only an idiot would offer such a being their service in exchange for temporary power."
After a while, you are escorted to a moderately sized meeting room, where the four representatives are gathered.
The secretary makes introductions, ”Dear council members, these representatives of the Pathfinder Society seek your attention and also have brought before you a witness as well as a prisoner! It was of utmost importance to me to let you see them as the information they provided to me seem to indicate a danger for Senghor!“.
Kagoshe asks, ”So, what business do you have with us today?“
The Pathfinders then present their arguments!
The council representatives listen to Gideon’s testimony, look at the journal and the tablets and listen to your arguments, then Mbensa and Belbi confer for several seconds and nod.
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Torku tries to put a smile on his face that only makes him look constipated as he addresses the Lord Servitor. ”Your honor, this is truly an... unfortunate occurrence in your city,” he says through gritted teeth. ”Imagine if she had gotten enough of these tablets to unleash some unspeakable horror on the people who look to you and your fellows for protection and leadership. Unfortunately, with the Aspis’s singleminded focus on profit, there is little to hold their agents back from activities like this. It would be wise if you to consider banning their activities from this city - wiser still to coordinate with the leaders of the surrounding city-states to keep these snakes out of all your homes.” The tiefling’s tail lashes like a cat’s behind him, but Torku keeps his face composed.
Kagoshe speaks after hearing Torku’s arguments.
"You make excellent arguments, and your evidence is quite persuasive. The testimony of this man", he points to indicate Gideon, "goes a long way as well. He shall have to answer for his own role in those crimes, but we shall see that he receives consideration for what he has done here."
Only the last council member seems unconvinced at the moment.
The harbor master is momentarily startled by Makras’ words. He stands up to leave the room. The others have question marks on their faces but follow. You are asked to leave the room!
They seem to confer for several minutes.
The clerk calls you back when they are done,
Kagoshe stands and with a stern look starts speaking.
"Provide us with a way to contact the leaders within your Pathfinder Society. We will recommend to the full council that we formally ally our city with your organization for as long as our goals coincide. And for your part, please allow us to thank you with a token of our favor."
He presents you with a phylactery of faithfulness and a pair of gloves of swimming.
You leave the council and are now back at the docks. You all can feel the pull of the tablets.
Now that six of the rites are joined together their power makes you almost sick.
Flashbacks to a cyclops city and the fiends you saw in the drawings haunt you! A feeling and pull to the Mwangi Expense is almost irresistible ...
You take the tablets and with the support of Mirian Raas return to Eleder.
The Venture-Captain can’t wait to see you after your return.
Finze Bellaugh nods as the team explains what happened and finally smiles.
”You were successful!! The council reached out to me and asked if perhaps an arrangement can be made that suits Senghor and the Society! Well done!“
He smiles.
”I heard that you were hustled into the council halls and stood in front of everyone combined with the evidence you retrieved over the course of your mission and that you easily swayed the entire council! Congratulations!“
He then takes out a letter.
”I just received this message via magical means from the council: Our auguries and our divination have always warned us against Bali, and for the Aspis to use our city as a launching point to desecrate the city, not just for personal gain, but in pursuit of power gained by devils? Inconceivable! Pathfinders, Effective Immediately, the Aspis charter is revoked, and the Pathfinders will have a chance to negotiate for their position in this city. Thank you for helping to avert would could have been a disaster! “
He then looks at the reports you wrote on the ship.
”Tell me about the tablets. What do you think we should do?!“