The Rose starts shooting at the mob of cheliax supporters, sacrificing cover for speed.
Rose fires into the mob, wounding several of its members. Adolina stabs Tombus twice, but he resists Farrina's attempt to charm him and parries Tanjona's trident. He jabs at Adolina with his flaming swords as the mob surges around the paladin and the shark-toothed ranger.
Farrina curses under her breath. "Ok, so he's not easily swayed by a pretty face. An admirable trait in any man, but certainly a pain in my arse at the moment."
She shakes her head and considers her options.
"Well, what's a party without glitter?"
With a wave of her hand over the crowd, golden, shining particles descend upon the masses.
The Rose continues her work, pincushioning as many of the rabble as she can.
Tanjona seems to ignore the mob, focusing his hate on his singular target; the blood-frenzy is upon him now.
The attackers prove to be possessed of surprisingly strong will as they resist Farrina's spell. Tombus dodges Adolina's strikes, but Tanjona scores two light hits with his trident, and Rose grazes one of the mob members with an arrow.
The mob continues to assault Adolina and Tanjona as Tombus lands two sneak attacks on Adolina, sneering as he spills her blood!
Tanjona lets out an angry hiss as he swings his trident in a broad arc and then jabs it again several times.
"Now you're just pissing me off," Farrina declares, her lips tighting into a thin line. "How about something a little more focused?" She directs a spell at Tombus again.
Tombus's eyes bulge as Farrina's spell invades his mind. "No! NO!" he shrieks before his eyes roll up in his head and he crumples to the street, struck dead from fright!
The remaining militia members are shocked by their leader's sudden demise. Adolina and Tanjona cut down a few of them before the rest lose their resolve and flee!
|
Adolina doesn't move for some time, allowing the magic of her boots to absorb both her own and Tajona's injuries until they are both restored to full fighting fitness.
"Well... that should neuter the Chelish Citizen's Group for a while." She says grimly. "I wish it hadn't come to that though. Well done Farrina, he was a tough one."
"Once I'm fixed up we should push on to the records hall. Let's keep Thrune off balance!"
The Rose keeps guard from the opera house balcony until Adolina is free to move once more, in case of follow-up attacks. Once her friend is fully healed and ready to go Rose joins the rest.
"Come to the fourth pier from the bridge in twenty minutes." She says, slipping away. "My contact will meet us all there."
The vigilante is as good as her word. Twenty minutes later a small boat and a man in a large hat and scarf are waiting on the water-front along with Rose herself.
You take the boat across the Yolubilis River, dodging patrols of dottari and Hellknights as stealthily make your way to the Kintargo Records Hall. Located in the Greens, not far from the gate to Villegre, the Kintargo Records Hall is a squat, one-story building with no windows and thick stone walls. Before the Night of Ashes, city records were stored here, but when Barzillai Thrune took office as lord-mayor, many of those records were redacted, removed, or destroyed.
Today, the Records Hall is nearly empty, used primarily as a workshop by a few dozen inquisitors to craft hundreds upon hundreds of copies of Barzillai’s proclamations, as well as to produce a series of tracts and volumes the lord-mayor intends to release some time in the future to present an entirely re-written chronicle of Kintargo’s past—one devoid of mentions of rebellion-related activities in the city’s past. If Barzillai has his way, a generation from now, few will remember that Kintargo ever stood against Cheliax’s government at all. Recovering the numerous surviving documents and shutting down this operation will help the Silver Ravens erode Thrune’s control.
The doors to the record hall are locked tight. Rose also discovers a magical trap on the doors--a glyph of warding.
"Back off." The Rose warns. "Magical traps are... difficult at the best of times." Once everyone is a safe distance away she sets to work.
Rose disables the glyph on her first attempt, and you quietly push the door open. The entry hall is sparsely furnished and empty of decor. Several doors are set along the hall's length, including double doors at the far south end.
The double doors are protected by both an arcane lock and another glyph of warding. Rose is able to disable both of these wards, allowing you access to the vault beyond. Numerous documents are stored on shelves here, as well as a large adamantine-and-darkwood box.
A hazy, indistinct figure crouches in this room. This eerie beast appears to be the animated skeleton of a huge fanged cat, its bones glowing with fire and seething with smoke. It snarls as it prepares to attack!
It pounces on Adolina, clawing her and grabbing a hold!
Farrina, on the other hand, shrieks in surprise and leaps back out of the way. She gestures with one hand and five glittering pulses of violet energy slam into the creature.
Rose circles the beast and fires an arrow into its flank where it cannot defend itself properly.
Adolina fires an arrow into the hellcat's flank, while Adolina lands a critical hit on the beast! Tanjona misses the indistinct creature, but Farrina's magic missiles strike true.
The hellcat bites and claws at Adolina but her armor keeps her safe!
With a twist of her ring, Farrina repeats the magical words she just spoke and sends another set of missiles into the hound.
Since the hellhound isn't trying to get away the Rose takes advantage and keeps shooting.
Rose shoots the hellcat twice, while Adolina stabs it once more. Farrina blasts it with more magic missiles, and the monster releases its grip on Adolina as it falls to the floor, lying still.
Unfortunately, the sound of the battle has carried through the records hall. Behind you, you can see doors opening as a squad of Asmodean inquisitors rushes towards you!
The Rose seems to take Adolina's message as a command to her, which suits her fine. Drawing her bow once more she sends a flurry of arrows whistling into combat.
Tanjona presumes that the command is for the team, and he brings down his trident but waits in position for the presumed charge.
"Oh, thank you. I was just considering running over there," Farrina says in mock relief with a roll of her eyes. A spell follows, centered on one of the new figures in the rear.
Adolina and Rose score hits on the enemies while Tanjona hangs back. There are too many inquisitors for Farrina's charm to do much good, so she readies the spell instead.
Some of the inquisitors cast healing spells while the others swarm around Adolina, attacking her.
Behind them, a blonde woman in Asmodean robes strides into view, an imp perched on her shoulder. This is one of Barzillai's lieutenants, the witch Tiarise Izoni!
Farrina unleashes her charm spell, but the witch resists it. She narrows her eyes and casts a powerful spell, attempting to petrify the fabulous one!
"Oh no you did not just try what I think you tried," the Colorful One replies with an expression of disgust. "Fine, let's be all like that, then."
Farrina gives a wave of her hand, concluding with a finger snap filled with attitude.
With a snarl, Tanjona leaps into the fray now, unwilling to wait longer. He stabs at one of the Asmodeans in an attempt to create an opening for Adolina.
Attack is, as the Emerald Rose well knows, the best form of defense. She fires a single shot into the mob and then slips behind a nearby bookcase, hoping to get the drop on Izoni.
Tiarise's eyes widen in terror as Farrina's spell takes full effect. "No! Noooo!" she shrieks before falling to the floor, struck dead from fright! Her body swiftly fades away into a coil of shrieking mist that dissipates, leaving her gear behind. The imp that was on her shoulder cackles malevolently as it disappears, and you can hear its wings flapping as it flies off.
The rest of you attack the inqusitiors, wounding them badly, but they continue to fight back, battering Adolina and Tanjona.
"Teach you to tangle with the wrong b!***," Farrina says, taking a moment to buff her nails against her dress. Having nothing else that will affect such a mass of people, she draws further back behind the others.
With the troop no longer focused on her, the Rose can take the time to line up her shots perfectly...
Tanjona takes the hits with a snarl.
"You t'ink dis is bad? You should see da beating you take to get jumped in on a pirate crew!" he says through his distorted toothy mouth as he swings his trident in a wide arc.
You continue to assail the inquisitors, and after a few more moments of intense battle, you finally emerge victorious!
Searching the vault, you discover all of the surviving documents from the city's archives, as well as a locked adamantine-and-darkwood box worth 2,500 gp. Tiarise's key fits the lock. Inside the box can be found several documents, including an infernal contract between Tiarise and an individual named Oughorthan. Other documents in the chest include rough notes for numerous rituals Tiarise aided Barzillai in devising or researching. Finally, four magic scrolls are found here—two scrolls of legend lore, a scroll of planar ally, and a scroll of stone to flesh.
Devil-Binding: Rituals for the binding of a devil to a living creature in order to create a devilbound creature. These notes indicate Nox and the blue dragon Rivozair have been subjected to this ritual.
Mephisto Manifestation: A staggeringly complex ritual intended to lure direct intervention of the archdevil Mephistopheles into events on the Material Plane.
Binding the Soul to the Stone: A ritual to transform a person into a guardian undead spirit called a nemhain. Notes further indicate Tiarise has performed this ritual on herself, but that her transformation into an undead guardian will take some time after her death.
Heart’s Harvest: A ritual that may grant some form of immortality that seems to have been of particular interest to Barzillai.
With the recovery of the documents and the disruption of the operation here, control of the Records Hall and the Greens overall reverts to the Silver Ravens. You'll need to assign one of your trusted friends to watch over the district to ensure that Barzillai's forces don't take it back.
Farrina tosses aside the divine scrolls dismissively, but her eyes light up at the discovery of magic more in line with her abilities. She scans over the symbols on the parchment, some of which are beyond her comprehension ... for the moment.
"Try and stop me," she says with a grin of avarice.
You return to your headquarters under the Lucky Bones to report your success. Rexus Victocora agrees to keep take charge of the Silver Raven supporters in the Greens to ensure Thrune does not regain control of the district.
It is still early in the evening. There's more time to strike against Barzillai's forces! Perhaps now would be a good time to either break the blockade of Bleakbridge, or to try to find the missing Hetamon Haace!
"The Order of the Torrent is skilled at locating missing people," Lictor Octavio Sabinus says. "While you were at the Records Hall, I was using my divinations to try to pinpoint Hetamon's location. It would seem that the tiefling is located somewhere beneath the ruins of the Silver Star, Shensen's former studio. There are likely chambers hidden beneath the shop that Thrune's inquisitors failed to discover. Go there and rescue Hetamon from whatever plight has befallen him."
"I would prefer that we wait until I can transfer these scrolls to something more ... permanent - like my spellbook - before consuming them in frivolous casting," Farrina points out.
The Rose, who hasn't bothered to change, nods her agreement. "Letting information out is dangerous." She says grimly. "Not just for the Ravens but for anyone who depends on them. Thrune won't be moderate in his reprisals if he learns something. Besides, we need the support. Our fearless leader is remarkably resilient but having a true cleric would be more useful." No offense. She mouths.
You head back out into the streets of Kintargo, stealthily making your way to the ruins of the Silver Star. Searching through the rubble, you come upon a narrow break in the debris that leads down into tunnels below.
When you clamber down into the partially-collapsed chambers, you can see a bipedal dinosaur pacing back and forth in front of a large door. When it sees you, it shrieks and adopts a ferocious and angry stance, but it does not immediately attack! Curiously, the beast seems to be wearing a glittering medallion around its neck and a ring on one of its claws.