The Pathfinders descend on the two surviving geckos and lay waste to the reptiles!
Victus
Aloysius
Khunbish (–7 HP)
Rout (–14 HP)
Pyotr
Erevan (–18 HP, elixir Fort bonus)
The dust settles on a storage room hewn out of the bedrock about 20 feet underneath Fort Agate. Wooden shelves once lined its walls but have degraded to kindling. A brick wall distinct in material from the rest of the bedrock structure stands at the far end of the room.
|
Victus will again hire 3 NPC's and work on the Main Gate
"We're almost there, keep up the great work!" His plans have noticeably improved since the first iteration of drawings in dirt.
Unfortunately it seems that he constructed two left-sided gate doors and is going to need to craft a matching right-sided gate door.
Aloysius reckons that the brickwork was designed to wall something off. He and Khunbish set to work clearing out the dungeons, making short work of the mess and finding a set of intact manacles under one of the broken tables, while Victus and Pyotr keep working on their respective projects. The two dungeoneers demolish the wall, and are immediately overwhelmed by a burst of stale air that reeks of rot and decay: inside is a ceremonial stone table cut out of the bedrock that is eight feet long and four feet wide, its top unadorned and all of its sides sporting carvings of writhing humanoid figures. Ancient writings cover the sides of the table and all the surrounding walls, but they have all been terribly defaced with tools, rendering them utterly illegible. You'll need to spend some time determining what the texts might say by scouring this strange room for context clues.
Erevan's collaboration with Braderock goes swimmingly, and the two's conversation makes the time fly by, finishing the stairs to the roof! Conversely, Rout and his hired help don't seem to get along, and spend the whole day bickering about credentials and strategies.
Victus: 2 days replace main gate
Aloysius: 4 days clean dungeons
Khunbish: 4 days clean dungeons
Pyotr: 4 days revuild collapsed stairs
Rout: day wasted arguing with his hireling
Erevan: 6 days rebuild collapsed stairs
Cost: 4 gp (hire villagers, stay at inn)
|
"I will need time to let these blisters heal," Aloysius announces to the others on the morning of the sixth day. He grimaces at his soft, white hands, slowly opening and closing his fists. "That was far too much shovelling in excavating that basement. Today, I propose that I canvass the town for someone who might aid me in deciphering the runes covering that odd table we discovered in the dungeons of the fortress. It might prove useful if it winds up having some enchanted purpose; alternately, we'd not be thought of too highly by the Society if it wound up being something evil that we hadn't sorted." Aloysius gingerly massages the palm of his left hand with a pained look on his face. "That's my plan, at least."
|
Khunbish sighs with satisfaction at a job well-done. Looking around at what else needs to be cleared up, he decides to head back up the roof. [i]Hopefully, no more blood sucking pests this time.[/b] Thankful that he is at least now out in the open air, he gets back to work clearing the debris there, with not much help from Irves.
|
|
Victus visibly discouraged by his struggles with the main gate, again hires more villagers to aid him. He's sure he has everything right this time. "So we've got an extra left door but not to worry, we're nearly done with this right door!"
With much less struggle than the prior days, they are finally able to get the other door in place to complete the main gate job. Victus then sets his eyes and crew on patching the hole in the outer wall. "Let's survey the issue so I can begin planning".
Victus wanders over there to find that Rout and Junissa have already been making solid progress. "need a hand...or eight?
The Pathfinders start settling into a groove, their teams of workers finishing the roof cleaning and repairing the main gate while making some headway on the damaged outer wall and deciphering the subterranean carvings (which have Sylvina initially furrowing her brow with concern, but she tells her trusted friend Aloysius that she needs more time to make sense of the writings; at the very least she's determined that the script is in Hallit). Erevan tries to socialize with the innkeeper and her less abrasive son, as well as the outsourced stonemason, but the aloof elf doesn't make much headway with any of them. Khunbish and Pyotr settle into the inn that night and share that although the roof is clean, it could use a more permanent covering designed to shed the rain.
Victus: 3 days replace main gate, 2 days patch hole in the outer wall
Aloysius: 2 days decipher ancient writings
Khunbish: 4 days clean roof
Pyotr: 4 days clean roof
Rout: 4 days patch hole in the outer wall
Erevan: talked to Lotte, Mikkel, and Junissa
Cost: 4 gp (hire villagers, stay at inn)
|
|
Victus hires his group of villagers and heads back to the Outer Wall to Patch the wall.
"We'll need more stone from the stone supply to patch this hole. Let's move a bunch over here!"
He nearly finds a more efficient way of moving the stone to the outer wall but his mind got distracted thinking about how he's halfway through his hellknight armiger training.
Erevan, Pyotr, Khunbish, and their teams fully cover the roof with sloped shingles to better withstand the elements, while Victus and Rout continue their grind with patching up the damaged outer wall. Aloysius and Sylvina work underground, and Sylvina sighs and shakes her head. "I thought this might be the case. These images appear to depict revelry, sacrifice, and rebirth, which is not a good thing based on the Hallit script I could reconstruct. I think this is a shrine sacred to the Pallid Princess, or Urgathoa as you might know her. Based on how actively folks tried to damage these writings, I'm guessing it's probably infused with her priest's magic, which probably makes it a real danger with the Whispering Tyrant so close." She scratches her chin. "I think I might have some of the things I'd need to undo Urgathoa's blessing, but it'll take some work. It also won't be cheap; I'll need incense and offerings to the tune of 40 gold marks. Is that in your budget, friend?"
Aloysius: 4 days decipher ancient writings
Victus: 4 days patch hole in the outer wall
Khunbish: 4 days construct cover for roof
Pyotr: 4 days construct cover for roof
Rout: 2 days patch hole in the outer wall
Erevan: 6 days construct cover for roof
Cost: 4 gp (hire villagers, stay at inn)
|
|
Victus spends more time working on the outer wall with 3 hired hands. "Nearly there! One more days of work and we'll be done!" he says in a particularly hopeful voice.
"We did it! Can hardly tell anything was wrong with it to begin with. Well done!" he says in a cheerful voice to Rout and all the townsfolk who helped. Victus seems to be in good spirit with the progress that's being made.
Aloysius: day wasted failing to perform the ritual
Victus: 4 days patch hole in the outer wall
Khunbish: ??? (new action, no stonemason to work on wall)
Pyotr: ???
Rout: day wasted
Erevan: talks to Lotte, Mikkel, and Junissa
Cost: 44 gp (hire villagers, stay at inn, ritual materials)
|
|
The Pathfinders have done too well! Pyotr is forced back into the relative wilderness of Prophet's Rest. He meanders over to the temple of Razmir for a chat with its three guards, though he hopes to include any priests that show themselves. He brings some good light snacks to share if they're allowed to accept.
"Hello, all! I'm sure you've heard of our good work over at Fort Agate, perhaps the actual hammering. Maybe Narsen went through the many upsides therein. But I wanted to know how you all feel about it. Or anything else you'd like to be known? Requests for when we're better established, the like."
Pyotr certainly listens to their responses, but is also intently focusing on what they aren't saying. Any weak links in their devotion to Razmir, concerns about the Society, or something else they don't want certain locals to hear them say out loud.
Pyotr makes some terrific inroads with the two guards, who are evidently excited to see the Pathfinder presence in town. "Is it true that you all travel the world? We love Holy Razmiran, but I'd love to explore! Maybe see a desert? What are those like??" Lumley watches the Ulfen carefully during his socializing, but doesn't interfere with the dialogue and ultimately returns to his own devices, not paying you much heed.
Aloysius: day wasted failing to perform the ritual
Victus: 4 days patch hole in the outer wall
Khunbish: chillin' and swillin' at the inn
Pyotr: talks to Aasif, Petrus, and Lumley
Rout: day wasted (Natural 1 is always 1 degree of failure worse, so in this case a crit fail)
Erevan: talks to Lotte, Mikkel, and Junissa
Cost: 44 gp (hire villagers, stay at inn, ritual materials)
Over the next two days, Victus wraps up the repairs on the wall while Aloysius and Sylvina successfully sanctify the Urgathoan shrine, purifying the foul air from the dungeon. In only ten days, you have fully restored the keep with 60 gold pieces to spare!
The following morning, however, a disheveled Narsen unexpectedly bursts through the door, disrupting your breakfast. “Pathfinders! I am so glad to have found you! How are your renovations going? Well, I hope? What am I saying, I have no time for this!” The priest lets out a small shriek of nervousness and pulls back the hood of his robe to scratch at his unkempt greying brown hair. He then smooths his hair before taking a deep breath.
“I’m sorry for my outburst, but I have bad news: our scouts along the Glass River caught sight of a small company of skeletons and zombies who seem to be marching toward Fort Agate, slaughtering everything in their path! They are no more than a day away! I know you don’t owe me anything, but our armed forces are deployed far to the East and won’t be able to reposition in time. Fort Agate is the most defensible position in the area. I don’t think you would stand much of a chance against so many undead on your own, even behind the walls of Fort Agate, but I also don’t think the villagers would survive if they fought them in the village. Can you take us in, so that we can make a stand together? If you do this, I promise you, Razmiran will be in the Society’s debt.”
|
|
Pyotr wrinkles his nose at the thought of the desert. "It's...something any traveler should experience. But I can't speak too favorably about deserts, they're too warm by day and frigid at night. I've always preferred the latter sort of climate; easier to be less cold than less hot. But that wanderlust is a good trait no matter how much or little you can exercise it!"
-----
"If we're not all too tuckered out, maybe we can turn our newfound craftsmanship to Prophet's Rest itself," he says over next morning's breakfast. "I'd be surprised if the nightlife was up to snuff as of now. And who knows how much longer we'll be here?" That question is answered in part at Narsen's arrival. He listens intently, processing the new crisis.
"Worry not, we'll be here to help. Anywhere a Pathfinder Lodge stands is a place we should be bound to defend in times of need. But what more do you know of this company? Numbers, perhaps? Do the corpses seem sentient, and if so, do we have any idea of their motives?"
|
|
Rout sighs after another day in which he struggles to contribute even with the help of his hireling. He's pleased when the work on the keep is finished, if only that it means the cleaning and repairing is done and he can get back to something he's more skilled at.
---
Rout nods after his companions respond to Narsen. Best to all stick together like clan. He waits to hear if Narsen knows anything more about the advancing undead.
"Oh praise to Holy Razmir, I knew inviting you was the right decision! According to our scouts the undead are headed straight for Fort Agate, like they're drawn to a magnet! Perhaps that shrine you cleansed is the cause of this catastrophe, the last gasp of evil in this blessed land? Anyway, the scouts told of fifty or more undead, mostly mindless abominations like walking skeletons and corpses. If we gather the townsfolk inside the walls of the keep, and manipulate the surrounding terrain, perhaps we can fend them off!"
Narsen rushes to gather the townsfolk, who all hustle to the keep and stand at attention for how to prepare for the oncoming assault. Sylvina even offers her emergency stash of 10 lesser healing potions to support the cause.
This activity creates a series of deadfalls using rocks or trees to crush large numbers of undead that trigger them. This activity requires 8 hours and a successful DC 18 Crafting Check.
This activity creates and hides pit traps to detain (or at least slow the advance of) the undead. This activity requires 8 hours and a successful DC 18 Crafting Check.
This activity creates and hides a large number of snares in one area to entangle the undead and allow them to be easily dispatched. This activity requires 8 hours and a successful DC 18 Crafting Check.
This activity trains 8 noncombatants of Prophet’s Rest in the basic use of weapons, shields, and armor. Although it won’t make them proficient fighters, it’s better than nothing. This activity requires 8 hours and a successful DC 15 Diplomacy check.
|
|
Pyotr draws his never-used sword and goes to town with a lecture on the finer points of combat. His points seem cribbed from storybooks, but most are realistic enough to use.
Unless he is sure that the townsfolk are as ready as they'll ever be, he gladly works himself to the bone training a second shift of would-be defenders.