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Upon finding Sharrowsmith's body, Laafdahni stands over him and solemnly shakes her head. Why did he cause so much damage and harm? These kobolds are not mindless animals; he should have bargained or reasoned with them. He and too many others lost their lives...over what? All we had to do was talk to people, and it turned out fine. She is deeply perplexed and ashamed of what Sharrowsmith has done.
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"I haven't gotten to make many today but that one was satisfying, thanks Bask." she nods before helping the others translate if needed.
She turns to the kobolds with a wink.
"See, we aren't so bad. Not compared to those goons at least. We can get them out of your hair for good."
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With the missing VC found and them making there way back, Sin is more at ease.
"I wouldn't let this one keep breathing but I am smart enough to know how useful he will be in a cell. Let's take the two Aspis with us to the nearest lodge as well."
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Looking down at Sharrowsmith's body, Guy says “Certainly not the way I would want to end my career.” There is a mixture of sadness and disappointment in his voice.
Looking at the two Aspis agents, he says “We may want to allow the kobolds to handle justice on the man. The woman showed some sense.” He checks for Magic items on all three of the Aspis. He also searches them for Aspis badges.
Looking to Sinaryn, he asks “Are you sure we want to try and take the man across that much country? I expect he would do everything in his power to make trouble for us.”
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Once the Pathfinders retrieve Sharrowsmith's body the kobolds start dropping hints that they would like all the big tall intruders to leave their home, saying things like, "So....you guys probably having a long walk to get to where you're going," and "You probably need to get going soon if you want to reach Fort Bantu by night fall."
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With a shrug, Guy notes “Seems we have worn out what little welcome we had. Best we get going.”
He stripes away anything that might be used as a weapon on the guy and ties him up, hobbling his legs as well. He considers a moment, then gags the man as well. After he is done with that, he turns to the woman and asks “Are you going to make trouble on the way back? By the way, we haven’t exchanged names. I’m Guido, what is your name?”
After getting an answer, he nods towards the man. “Mind telling us his name?”
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Laafdahni's limpid eyes narrow in thought as the party debates bringing along the Aspis agents. Mercy is good, but surviving is also good. Despite her worries about their prisoners' cooperation, she agrees that killing them now, or leaving them to be killed, would be just the sort of thing the Aspis would do. The high road is a hard one sometimes.
Upon the not-so-subtle urging of the kobolds, she bows her head to them respectfully and replies: "Yes, you are right. We are preparing to leave, but we need to be confident that we've secured our prisoners well enough first." To the party she adds: "Perhaps the Captain at Fort Bandu will be interested in holding these two. It's worth asking."
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[ooc]I'm pretty sure that the party did well enough on the knowledge checks to know that their leader is the Ustaliv aristocrat Zaril Namoth. The rumors around him is that he adopted the practices of the
The woman says her name is Chika and says, "I'm not a real Aspis agent even. I'm just a scout doing a job for them. Please let me go. I won't cause any trouble."
Zaril leers as he carefully scans each party member. His gaze is unsettling, likes he is undressing them in his mind, but somehow worse.
The party makes a brief stop at Fort Bandu and meet with the beleaguered Praetor Sylien briefly. He seems annoyed at the sight of the Pathfinders and the prisoners they are dragging with them. "I am not going to draw the ire of Bloodcove keeping one of their agents here and frankly, I don't have the soldiers I need to properly guard a monster like him. You are welcome to resupply but I'm afraid that you need to keep moving."
Zaril attempts several escapes on the journey back to Nantambu, but none of them are successful. The Aspis agent patiently bids his time and takes advantage of every opportunity when the party's guard is down. The closest call is on the river when they get spotted by what is almost certainly a group of Aspis agents who follow their boat along the river. Sinaryn comes up with a brilliant plan to evade the patrol and the party escapes into the jungle.
Eventually the party arrives in Nantambu, ready to meet with Aya Allahe and report to her everything that has transpired since departing from her store several long months ago.
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The woman says her name is Chika and says, "I'm not a real Aspis agent even. I'm just a scout doing a job for them. Please let me go. I won't cause any trouble."
If he believes her, Guy is willing to release Chika here or any settlement along the way.
The party makes a brief stop at Fort Bandu and meet with the beleaguered Praetor Sylien briefly. He seems annoyed at the sight of the Pathfinders and the prisoners they are dragging with them. "I am not going to draw the ire of Bloodcove keeping one of their agents here and frankly, I don't have the soldiers I need to properly guard a monster like him. You are welcome to resupply but I'm afraid that you need to keep moving."
Guy accepts this, but does mention "Yes, Bloodcove is likely who sent the people who caused all the problems for the Grippli. Watch your back when dealing with them."
Eventually the party arrives in Nantambu, ready to meet with Aya Allahe and report to her everything that has transpired since departing from her store several long months ago.
Guy first inquires as to if there is any place to hold the prisoner Zaril. When informed there isn't, he frowns but does not complain.
He gets cleaned up before meeting with Aya. He suggests the others may want to do so as well, given how long the party has been in the field.
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Bask keeps a close eye on the captives, and talks to them at camp each night of a second chance at life, and the healing power of genuine repentance.
If any of them seem to genuinely regret their actions he will put in a good word with the Nantambu guard when they turn them over and accuse them of assault and attempted murder.
If the Nantambu guard are not interested in crimes committed outside their borders (and they're not already wanted for crimes there), then Bask is in favour of releasing any of them who claim to want to change.
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Whenever she catches Zaril staring at her, Laafdahni has to try mightily to resist the urge to cast Color Spray on him. Of course, she knows that if she did, he'd be able to count the number of times she did it to have a good guess of the limits of her power. She can easily see him planning an escape for when she's run out of spells. Instead, she positions herself so that he has to maintain an uncomfortable position to stare at her. I can't wait until he's out of our hands! What a creep!
She's disappointed that they can't leave their prisoners at Fort Bandu, but understands why the Praetor has made that decision. She sighs, anticipating having to keep watch over him all the way back to Absalom.
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Guy believes that Chika is being truthful when she says she has no loyalty for the Aspis Consortium. She is clearly afraid of Zaril and says that she mostly wants to get as away from him as possible. She claims that she has witnessed him desecrating the corpses of her fellow fallen comrades and even ate someone's liver at one point. Zaril denies ever doing this, but a flash of an arrogant smirk undercuts his words. "Let me go into the jungle and you'll never see me again."
Aya Allahe suggests bringing the sinister Aspis agent to the Magaambayan academy. She says that the school's wizards and magic warriors help protect the city and have been known to tangle with raiders from Bloodcove from time to time. "They are the best equipped to imprison a dangerous man like this and they are also wise enough to know what to do with him."
Once Zaril has been turned over to the Magaambayan Academy's Tempest Sun wizards, the party is ready to tell Aya about their journey and what they have discovered.
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Toral is glad that they are rid of the evil Aspis cleric.
When they arrive at the lodge and meet Aya he tries to tell their story.
”I am very sorry but we could not bring the venture captain back alive! He died because of structural damage to an old dwarven structure that is now inhabited by Kobolds!“
He takes out his notes of the dwarven history they witnessed.
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Through the trip Sin has no hesitation ins threatening and prodding the captive when he attempts to flee.
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"He was one of the overzealous ones that lost sight of the world around them chasing a specific goal. It made us enemies but I think we repaired a great deal of it...and gave the Aspis a little trouble. Win in my book but I need a break from this dreadful jungle." Sin adds to the brief.
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Provided no one objects, Guy does release Chika.
He is very glad to find someone who will accept the prisoner Zaril, even more so when he finds out that they are an organization dedicated to good.
——
“I think the only win was our contact with the Grippli tribe.” Guy says. He then tells of what happened with the Grippli and how the group procured some large reptile eggs for them.
“Although we fought the Aspis alongside them, I do not think the kobolds would welcome anyone back to the dwarven ruins.” He adds his own notes that he took while at the dwarves ruins.
“We might be able to salvage something at Fort Bandu, but even that would be a challenge. The Praetorian there currently sees little difference between our organization and the Aspis. Hopefully he will change his mind in time.”
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Throughout the debriefing, Laafdahni has remained pensively silent so far. Eventually, though, she speaks mournfully: "Sharrowsmith did so much damage, caused so much pain and death, not only in his immediate vicinity, but in the various communities of a large area of the jungle. I can't...understand why he was so destructive. 'Explore, Cooperate, Report'... Cooperation would've produced better results with far less bloodshed and anger." She drops her eyes with a heavy sigh.
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Aya listens carefully to the party as they describe their journey and the discovery of Sharrowsmith's corpse underneath the collapsed ceiling. She is clearly saddened when she hears about his death.
"I do not know what drove him to go off alone and take such reckless risks. All I can say is that when Nieford set his mind to a course of action there was nothing in this world that could stop him."
“Nantambu will not be the same without my friend Nieford Sharrowsmith. When he was younger, he traveled to all corners of the Mwangi Expanse and truly made the region his home, despite having been born hundreds of miles away in Avistan. He never truly lost his adventuring spirit, and as this lodge grew, he found his hours dedicated more and more to paperwork and less and less to exploring the lands’ rich history. I know his soul would take no offense at my saying he died as he would have wished—active, engaged, and in the field. I take solace in being able to provide him proper funerary rites."
“With his passing, Sharrowsmith’s Exports has no venture captain, but I have corresponded with Nieford’s colleague Ambrus Valsin and agreed to act as the temporary manager of the lodge. After all, the full extent of the Pathfinders’ involvement in Nantambu has remained a something of an
open secret, and it would be an embarrassment for anyone but a friend or family member to take command of the business so soon after the owner’s death.”
“I dearly appreciate what you have done for the Society, for your venture-captain, and for me.”
Aya Allahe also examines the metal component the party found in the Krihirik talisman. After a moment’s study, she quickly stands, recovers a piece of stationary bearing five graphite illustrations, and slowly smiles.
“I think I understand why Nieford was so persistent. This object that you have recovered is remarkable find,” she announces. “The shape of the talisman matches one of the drawings Ambrus Valsin sent me. What you have found is a piece of the Sky Key, the device even now the rest of the Society is at its wits’ end attempting to reassemble!”
Then, with quiet affection, she murmurs to the Sky Key component, “Congratulations, Nieford. You and your agents have once again done what the rest of the Society could not—a fitting tribute, and a fine legacy.”
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Bask is very happy to turn Zaril over to the Magaambaya, but he shouts to him as they lead him off.
"It's never to late to give up evil Zaril, not if you truly regret your actions. Think on that"
He listens to Aya's explanation and nods quietly at her thanks.
"It has been an honour working with you all to recover this artifact. Salim and I won't be staying, I hope to get back to northern Garund for our next job I think. Good luck in your travels, and thank you for depetrifying me!"
He heads off into the sunset, but not before purchasing a pair of smoked goggles