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"Okay, where's the larder?"
Aurora moves into the house, looking for a kitchen and food. Finding none she exclaims "It's all a trick! How can you have a home without a pantry?! And Fimbrik doesn't care we're here, so that's not right! Well if there's nothing to eat I'm going to look at the library."
She proceeds to leaf through the book collection.
Marching into the Meeting Room, Onye checks the desk and finds a letter Underneath the letter is a hastily scrawled note in similar handwriting, which contains the name "Karina Clamp." The Gnome remains seated in its chair, gives him a nod, and reads his newspaper.
Miffed about the lack of basic living accommodations, Aurora settles for the library. Curiously, a Gnome peruses the books with her. Eventually, it settles on one and pulls what appears to be a duplicate out of thin air before settling down to read it. This library is stocked full of books on illusions, their application, ideas, theory of use, and a few fictional stories where illusions have a strong role.
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Tsamara heads for the only other room on that hasn't been checked and looks around. "Oh...this looks like some sort of guest room. Lots of room for guests," she calls over her shoulder.
*Hsst!*
Then, as she turns back, she nearly jumps out of her skin as the gnome casually saunters in and sets about reading his newspaper.
"Oh! Are you Fimbrik? We didn't think anyone was home..." her voice trails off as she realizes she's getting no response.
"Hello?"
Tsamara blinks with confusion as the gnome gives her a wink but otherwise doesn't respond to her presence.
"Are the rest of you seeing things or is it just me?" she calls out again, shaking her head as though to clear her vision.
"Well...figment or spirit, I need to search this room," Tsamara remarks aloud to no one in particular as she moves to look at the papers on the desk.
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"I've got a Fimbrik in here too!" Aurora calls. "Lots of books about illusions. Makes sense. All the Fimbriks here are illusory, that's why they don't react to a fight breaking out in the house. They just do the same thing over and over."
"Well, I'd like to stay and read some more, but reading makes me hungry and we've got a mission to complete. What did you guys find?"
While perusing the house and its contents, you also find two potions covered in dust.
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds!
Potion of Lesser Restoration!
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"What do sea cucumbers taste like?" Tsamara asks, genuinely curious. "Are they bitter? Based on the face you just made, I'm guessing they taste bitter."
"But even if some of the potions taste bitter, at least we have them," she adds brightly. "Normally I wouldn't suggest just taking things out of people's houses but it looks like Fimbrik hasn't been here in a long time. He's either still looking for his friend...or something happened and he won't be coming back, ever. So we should make use of them. If he ever does come back, we can repay him somehow."
To Aurora's suggestion, she nods. "Yes! Now we know what to look for, so the Wall of Names should certainly be our next stop."
Once you're satisfied and ready, you make your way to the Wall of Names at the Grand Lodge.
The monument is a curving wall of black glass that stands atop a small hill at the western edge of the lodge’s grounds. Trees surround the hill, providing ample shade and privacy for those visiting the wall to remember fallen comrades. Carved into the wall are the name and date of death of every Pathfinder killed in the course of duty since the wall’s construction, and most entries also include a sentence or two summarizing either the agent’s greatest accomplishments or how she died.
Looking for the names listed in Adolphus' notes, you find that each is inscribed on the wall with their own epitaph.
You recognize that the underlined portions of each inscription refer to failed aspirants to the test of the Starstone.
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"Oh, I know what those mean" Aurora chimes in. "These three are all completely invented Pathfinders, remember? Those lines underneath have to do with failed aspirants to the Test of the Starstone. I distinctly recall that somebody wanted to be the God of Rations and Wastefulness! Bizarre, really. I mean, rations implies fairly uninspiring fare - but no food should be wasted! Had the aspirant succeeded I think that the Divine Princess would have been displeased!"
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"I remember that too, from class," Tsamara nods. "I'm not even sure how rations and wastefulness really go together, unless someone really wanted to be a god of wasting rations? Seems strange but since there seem to be nearly as many gods and goddesses as stars in the sky, I suppose there could eventually be a god for every little thing."
She considers the significance of the underlined words and frowns. "What does this have to do with the Test of the Starstone, though? I can't speak for anyone else but I don't think I'd want to become a god..."
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While you ponder the folly of testing into divine ascension and how to fit the pieces of the clues you've found together, the flow of foot traffic starts to change. You catch a small snippet of chatter...
"Have you heard? Sir Reinhart will be making his attempt soon!"
"Ha! Hope they have more room in the Shrine of the Failed!"
"Anyone know what he wants to be the God of?"
"I heard he wants to woe Iomedae and join her battles against Demonic hordes!"
As the flow of people starts to swell, it becomes clear that everyone is heading Northeast, to the center of Absalom. To the Starstone!
You weren't even trying to look for it, yet, curiously, you seem to have found it. Perhaps it has found you? Beckoning for your eyes to read it is the name "Vortig Volus."
Inscription...
Vortig Volus
Deceased 4643
Led an academic expedition into the Uskwood.
Last seen immolating on a stone dais by the Shades' pale green flame, abandoned by his remaining colleague.
Something on the Wall of Names has caught Aurora's attention...
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"Oh, I don't know Tibitz. Sometimes a goddess needs an assistant. How about: Aurora, Goddess of Gourmet!" Aurora draws an imaginary underline in the air as she cheekily suggests her own divine future. And when her hand stops, her eye follows the line of her hand and sees a name on the Wall...
Master! So he was a Pathfinder!
"Just a moment guys." She moves closer to read the inscription. "Seventy-seven years, if my Absalom Reckoning is correct.... Uskwood. Hey, does anyone know where 'Uskwood' is?" And he had a surviving colleague. I wonder who that was? There must be a record in the Lodge somewhere.
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Tsamara is more focused on the conversations of the passersby than what's going on immediately in front of her face and thus misses that Aurora has spotted something else of interest.
"Hmm...Uskwood? That doesn't sound very familiar, I don't think..." she replies distractedly, her eyes still on the crowds. "Um...the Shrine of the Failed is where they bury the ones that fail the test, right? Or at least set up a memorial, like our Wall of Names? Maybe we should go have a look..."
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"Hmm? Oh, Tibitz, yes. It's my Master. Here, look. Vortig Volus. Died 4643, in the Uskwood." Aurora points out the inscription.
"The old wayfinder he left behind must be his. And somebody survived the mission. If I can find that person, maybe they'll know where Master Volus has gone."
"Shrine of the Failed? Mmmm. Okay. Sounds about right."
Aurora's mind drifts off, as she wonders what Master Volus was doing in the Uskwood and how she might find out.
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THE SHRINE OF THE FAILED
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Following the crowds moving towards the Starstone, you eventually cut down a side street towards the Shrine of the Failed. The shrine is a stone edifice with several levels. While normally guarded by guards and caretakers alike, the compound is entirely empty when you arrive. With the help of a directory in the front atrium, you quickly find the name "Karina Clamp" and follow signs to the basement annex, accessible by a large set of stairs at the side of the shrine.
The monumental chamber you find yourself in stretches eighty feet from end to end, with a ceiling suspended thirty feet from the floor by great pillars. Seven arched passages lead to humble rooms, each of which contains a polished stone altar dedicated to one of the failed aspirants who attempted the Test of the Starstone.
Each of these chambers contains a small stone altar to one of the failed aspirants. Each altar stands upon a raised dais and bears a small brass nameplate identifying the aspirant and the would-be-god’s areas of interest.
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Tsamara heads for one of the other altars, clearly of the same mind as the others that spreading out to search would be quickest. She looks around, a little awed by the size of the shrine.
"I guess that in a way, even the failed gained a touch of immortality," she remarks. "Their names will be here for the rest of eternity..."
Then again, I guess any sort of monument is like that. People worry too much about trying to live forever instead of doing something to be remembered by.
Looking over the altars, you find they are all quite clearly labeled: a nameplate sits prominently at each one. Onye locates Karina Clamp in the Southwest corner and calls y'all over.
While inspecting this altar, Tibitz notices something isn't right about the Western wall in this alcove. After a little bit of fiddling, he realizes it must be a secret door! Although for the life of him, he can't figure out how it opens...
Meanwhile, Tsamara notices that the nameplate here looks a little askew.
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Aurora brings up the rear. Her mind is on her Master's last pathfinder mission and she's lost in her thoughts.
At the shrine, she manages to get her horse down the wide steps and ties the animal off on one of the stone columns before joining the others.
"Stone isn't forever Tsamara. I've seen enough undersea ruins. Water will wash away these names eventually. But you don't need the starstone to achieve immortality. Just magic and the will to do it."
"Have we wiffle'd yet?"
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"No, but maybe this is the time - look, that nameplate there is a little askew," Tsamara replies as she pads over, pointing it out to the rest of the group. "And no, I guess stone isn't really forever either...but memory can be, as long as someone takes the time to write it down or remember it and pass it on to others."
"Wiffle" echoes gently in the alcove. A few tense moments pass as you wait for something to happen.
Eventually, it becomes increasingly evident that it didn't work.
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"Oh. That isn't the answer?" Tsamara frowns when it becomes apparent that saying the password didn't do anything. "Is it something with the nameplate maybe? Let's try straightening it back up!"
Unsure of what else to try - at least at this specific moment - Tsamara reaches out and begins fiddling with the nameplate to see if putting it back in place does anything useful.
While Onye does more flexing than pushing, Tsamara's fiddling slides the name plate to the side! Behind it is a small piece of slate and a thin piece of white chalk.
As Tsamara finishes writing 'wiffle' on the slate with the chalk just as Onye gives one more mighty heave and the stone door slides straight up!
With the light that trickles in from the Shrine, you see that the cavern before you is made of stone. The opening curves slightly north before you can see no more.
The air is pretty musty, but as fresh mixes with old, you catch whiffs of excrement and sickness. Nothing overpowering or dangerous, but unpleasant nonetheless.
The walls are made of stone, but this occurrence isn't natural. You're confident that someone cleared this area using stone shape spells.
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Tibitz recoils from the light of Aurora's torch as it sputters to life, "Torchy-things mean no shadowy-things and no shadowy-things means no sneaky-hidy things. I will go and do Path-Venture things first. Then you come. I be extra-hidy-sneaky this time."
Tibitz will check for dangers (traps) and such before entering with his cloak drawn tightly around himself.
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"Ooh, someone used magic to make this place," Tsamara remarks in wonder as she studies the walls beyond the secret door. "The stone is natural stone but see - smooth. Much too smooth to be natural. Someone shaped the stone to make it this way."
She obligingly waits for Tibitz to take the lead on moving forward before falling back behind Onye, her longspear at the ready.
You're confident there aren't any traps and stealth into the cavern. Following the only path, it starts to widen into two paths separated by a 20ft wall. Down the right most path, you can see all the way down to the edge of a dimly lit room.
Before you progress any further, you hear something heavy moving around further back. It sounds like it is slowly plodding in your direction from the fork on the left, but based on the lack of urgency, it is unlikely to have noticed your specific presence.
With alarm in his eyes, Tibitz scurries back to the party and informs you that there is something coming your way!
******
Global Effects: None
Initiative:
Tibitz
Tsamara
Onye
Green
Aurora
Bold may take SURPRISE round actions!
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Initiative
Tibitz follows behind Onye towards danger. Those of you who move deeper into the cave, hear the sounds of heavy breathing.
Once Onye and Tibitz move further into the cave, they see a squat, powerful, and vaguely canine beast. Foul-smelling fluids ooze from weeping sores across the scaly skin of this beast.
******
Global Effects: Bless
Initiative:
Tibitz
Tsamara
Onye
Green
Aurora
Bold may take first round actions!
Thaaaaat's a Trollhound. It is a medium sized magical beast.