Rax and Olaf rig up some rope bandoliers and hang the iron anchors and bolts off them, then begin to climb down. The upper section of the cliff is not quite vertical, and makes for a relatively easy descent. Partway down, however, it gets a good deal steeper, and their progress slows. Afte a deep breath and some careful study of the best hand and footholds, the intrepid Ulfens continue down.
Olaf dances down the steep section like a spider, barely even noticing that he's climbing a vertical rock wall with waves crashing on jagged rocks below. He looks up to see if Rax is keeping up...
As Rax climbs down almost as smoothly and quickly as Olaf, Hampton looks about for a place to secure a rope at the top of the cliff. Unfortunately, there is mostly sand and a few smallish stones, nothing that would support the weight of a climber, particularly a falling one, and he opts to just peer over the edge and see how his companions are progressing.
Having made it past the steep crux of the climb, Rax and Olaf study the last remaining stretch of stone. It is not so gently sloped as the first section, but a good deal less vertical than the part they've just descended.
Olaf and Rax hurry down the last stretch of rock, moving so smoothly and easily they start to make a game of it, seeing who can more quickly climb down a stretch, set an anchor for the rope ladder and get moving again. It’s a tight race, but Olaf maintains his slight lead throughout and steps triumphantly onto the ledge by the opening into the cliff!
As the race proceeds, Filbert thinks a bit on why Gol and Sefu were not very forthcoming with information, but he really isn’t sure. It could be that they don’t know anything, because no one has really explored this ruin. It could be that it’s been well-explored, and they’re trying to keep that fact a secret, since their prince has sold the Pathfinder Society a license to be the first ones in. It could be that an ancient dragon or powerful sea-fey lives in the cave, and has ensorcelled Gol and Sefu, so that they’ll continue to bring tasty visitors to the cave…
In any case, with the rope ladder anchored to the cliff, the rest of the Pathfinders can follow Rax and Olaf down to the ledge below. Brynn goes first to test the ladder, and a gust of wind shifts the ladder and she nearly falls off right at the top! She catches herself, however, and begins to descend again.
Brynn and Hampton prove quite adept at scaling the ladder, and could likely have served well on the lead team. Filbert and Farzin, however, move slowly and carefully down the ladder, and both of them just, just make it.
Once everyone is assembled on the ledge below, the party follows a short tunnel, which curves around and ends at a set of stairs carved into the stone. They lead up to a broad landing, where it’s clear that portions of the ruin have collapsed, leaving those areas crushed under rubble, which would take weeks of work to clear.
One side of the landing, however, seems less damaged, and a door leads in that direction.
Hampton and Olaf conclude the door is safe, and Rax pushes it open. It creaks and scrapes across the floor, clearly not having been opened for a very, very long time. Scattered bits of ancient armor lie discarded haphazardly around the room beyond. Ancient tools, some plainly built for alchemy or armor maintenance and others much less clear in origin, are stored on shelves along the walls, which are adorned with carvings of figures in ornate plate armor.
Rummaging through the debris in the room, Filbert finds a small vial filled with a viscous oil, under a pile of mismatched pieces of armor.
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Brynn takes hold of her club as they reach the bottom of the rope ladder, and Sprig practically clings to her leg. "Don't worry, little bud. Even if there's danger to be found, we're in the company of warriors and wizards."
Once they step through the door and rummage about, Sprig seems to grow confident. He flits about on leafy wings, curious at all that there is to be found. When he settles down Brynn pauses, considering all that she's seen so far.
Brynn is convinced that, while the pieces of metal scattered about might resemble armor, they are actually part of an elaborate cookware set, probably once peddled by vendors who would travel from ruin to ruin hawking their wares. Hampton, who comes from this part of the world, has a different perspective, noting that Ancient Osirian armor tended to be light, in contrast to the much heavier stuff scattered about and the depictions of figures in ornate plate.
An open door at the top of a short flight of stairs leads to a long corridor with many doors. A brief inspection shows that several small rooms line this long hall, each containing the by-products of ancient alchemical experiments or broken mechanical devices.
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"You are sure it's armor, Hampton? It seems so flimsy. Certainly no better than the hide I wear," Brynn says, gesturing at the armor she's wearing. "This is made of deer hide, the creature honourably yielding its life to feed a protect me. That sacrifice helps keep me connected with the natural world, as I'm sure you understand."
Feeling unusually loquacious, she looks to Mad Rax. "Tell me, Rax. What connects you to that constant laughter?"
She talks, continuing to study the scene around them.
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Rax stops for a moment. He lowers his blade and the perpetual half-smile vanishes from his face. "Brynn, have you ever watched an arrow fell a man in battle? Not just any arrow, but an arrow meant for another? Have you ever seen a rockfall kill a passerby? Have you ever seen Desna laugh an impoverished child and smile at a greedy merchant?"
He takes a deep breath before pushing it out like the ibuki of some Minkain monk, "I laugh because it is absurd. All of it. Everything. This world and the next a but storms of happenstance and chaos. If I were not to laugh, I'd have to take it seriously. This is not a dilemma, for one of those options is misery."
He stares, eyes locked on the Bear-Talker for a solid and uncomfortable handful of seconds.
Then he smiles, "So live a little and enjoy the storm for the ride it is! HAHAHA!"
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As Farzin walks along the corridor, Papayo remains tightly gripped to his shoulder.
”Our barbarian the philosopher, and our druid the cookware expert.” Farzin Smiles broadly as he follows his companions. ”But what do I know about armor? These small chambers with their signs of experimentation are concerning though.”
Despite her controversial views on the scraps of armor, Brynn is able to shed some light on what the party has found in the small chambers off this hallway. She remembers that Ancient Osirion was not known for its alchemical or mechanical inventions. In fact, Brynn recognizes these types of experiments to be more the province of Osirion’s rival, the Jistka Imperium.
As she explains this, Olaf finds another small flask, this one with a liquid that seems to shimmer with a silvery light.
Moving into the room at the end of the hall, it turns out to be a large room, with wooden limbs and flasks containing alchemical reagents strewn all around.
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"Hampton, I will defer to you on things Osiriani. But one of the books Master Shaine made me real was Cogs and Concoctions: The Alchemical and Mechanical Might of the Jistka Imperium. It was clearly written by someone with a bias against Osirion, but it helped me get to sleep at night during my travels back to Absalom. I kept it until one night the fire got low and there was no nearby kindling," Brynn says. When the others look at her, realizing that she had burned one of the elf's books she adds, "What? It was cold and had served its purpose. And I'm sure no one else would want to read it."
She then takes in the surroundings of the large room.
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Filbert watches the "armor vs cookware" exchange, alternately nodding in agreement as each argument is presented. As the group moves on to the next room, the hoary-haired fellow frowns and whispers, "I guess we're not hungry..." then nods his head slightly and begins to peer around at the new room's contents.
Olaf thinks that most of the broken mechanical devices were probably used in the manufacture of candies, but Hampton disagrees, asserting that they clearly all were part of an elaborate machine used to predict the weather. Squinting thoughtfully at the scattered junk, Filbert can almost make sense of what he’s seeing. But before he can sort it out, he follows his companions into the room, and his thoughts are interrupted by a strange figure of wood and glass rising to its feet at the far end of the long, narrow chamber! It’s a humanoid form, in that it has two arms and two legs, but in all other respects it is truly bizarre! Its rough-hewn wooden body stands ten feet tall, has a glass dome for a head, with a brain floating in a strange, greenish solution within. Instead of fingers, it has long, glistening needles, each attached to a vial, and each vial contains a glimmering liquid of a different color!
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Not liking the look of a creature with hypodermic needles for fingers, Olaf springs into action. Along the way he knocks the butt of his staff against the floor triggering the potent runestone dangles from the weapon's grip. Gripping his weapon with both hands as if it were a club, he slams it into the guardian's knee.
Rax and Olaf charge the strange, constructed creature! Rax’s attacks miss, but Olaf makes up for it, landing two devastating blows! Unfortunately, this causes some of the glass vessels on the thing’s body to shatter, spraying Rax and Olaf first with an odd blue liquid, then a mysterious red fluid!
As each of these unsettling sprays of liquid happens, it drains the vials attached to the creature’s finger-needles, suggesting it can no longer inject Pathfinders with that particular solution! Farzin’s spell seems to have no effect on the creature, as if it didn’t even happen, and Hampton’s arrow hits but doesn’t seem to penetrate the alchemically hardened wood of its body.
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"Oh dear..." murmurs Filbert, grimacing at the creature. "Highly inappropriate. Looks like the mayor's daughter, what was her name..."
Shaking his head and tsking softly, he glances around the room, makes a face, and waves a hand at some alchemical ingredients against the far wall. "Here now, let's see if you like this..."
The ingredients flow together mid-air and form a cohesive whole, then fly, shimmering, at the monster!
Filbert’s snowball flies just over the alchemical oddity’s glass-domed head! It then stabs at Olaf and Rax with its finger-needles! Fortunately for the Pathfinders, it stabs with the needles whose vials have been emptied, so the attacks are painful, but do not inject any alchemical concoctions!