"Nah," Zabu answers Bessama's question after a slightly too long pause and without quite the right tone to make it believable. Still, he doesn't actually push Benyan off so maybe he was being honest.
She hesitates for a moment as he holds for a moment, but returns close to his side after he gives his terse answer. Under the cover the the construction she whispers, "I wouldn't mind if you did."
She lets her smile fade into a more calm expression as she returns to work and the day proceeds forward.
Benyan shudders at the idea and quickly covers his face and offers a prayer to Razmir to avoid such dire threats. "Thank goodness no. This place is civilized and protected by our lord and his servants within the church. There may be such beasts farther into our lands, but threatening us? Hardly, especially given all I do for them. As for the undead," he hesitates a moment as he offers a short glance to the west in the direction of the Gravelands. "As for them then our lord works already to ensure they dare not step upon our lands."
The various workers are hesitant to take a break at start, but once Zabu insists they don't question it any further. Although Benyan, now safer on the ground, does call out, "you better be not be spending that time on any side projects. If you are taking me away from my farm days at a time, I'll be sure to let the Mask know if I see you just wasting all our time for your profit rather than my own!"
Plisken happily takes the chance to break free of the town for a few hours although he notes, "I still not sure about this hunting as a pair, it has been years since I've hunted with someone else. You better not get me to like this too much, else I might actually miss you when you lot head out!" He continues to laugh and guffaw well into to day, aside when approaching prey.
Bessama happily accepts and spends yet more time with Zabu into the evening. Although as the evening settles Lotte Mayar does come looking for the servant demanding the girl get to work on getting her tasks in the Inn done before she sleeps.
Junissa pushes the workers even more aggressively during the day, chiding every single mistake with a vicious vigor. Matthild takes the tirades and threats with a stride, each time declaring she will do better. Aasif is far less passive and at a point clearly postures to ready to fight Junissa. The stonemason doesn't take the swing and holds herself ready, silently daring Aasif to make the first swing. Under the force of the overbearing pressure from Junissa, Aasif reluctantly submits and returns to his work.
Progress is still made in the day however and the project is still on schedule to finish in the next few days.
Start of Neth 15th (Day 8 of Rebuild)
Today's sermon offers a question of what to do if you travel through a wasteland with another both dying of thirst. If you have water enough for one of you, what do you do. Lumley presents the question as clear depending on the nature of the companion. If they are a member of the church than give it to them, Razmir demands that of you.
Shagrat: Create Goblin Scrapyard (Athletics or Perception check)
Zabu: Clean the Fort (Roof)
Kornel: Decipher Ancient Writings
Meadow: Decipher Ancient Writings (aiding Kornel)
Jayma: <No Task>
After dozens of hours reading through ancient script Kornel is finally able to piece enough of it together to identify who the shrine is devoted and learn more of the power that radiates from the alter at the center.
The shrine is devoted to Urgathoa, the goddess of undeath. Her faith rejects the passage of soul into the great beyond. The table at the center has been imbued with powerful divine magic of a permanent consecration spell empowering those who would be her servants.
Even defaced the shrine still maintains that unholy strength and it wouldn't change no matter the damage dealt to the room now that it has been seeped within the divine power.
Only another consecrate ritual will be able to break the hold Urgathoa holds on this shrine.
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Brekovi looks worn down as the day ends. I need to focus more! We can't have Junissa berating people like that, but we do need her skill in order to do the work.
After the days work, Brekovi approaches Aasif to speak with him.
"Thank you for not starting a fight with Junissa. I'm sorry, I should have intervened sooner. Although there were mistakes made, none of them were that bad. We were still able to get the required work done."
"If you no longer want to work in a team with either myself or her, tell me and I will respect your wishes."
---
Later he also approaches Junissa. "I am sorry that you are frustrated with how long this work is taking. I will try to better direct people tomorrow, allow you to concentrate more on the task rather than having to constantly direct the laborers." She really is getting impatient. I hope she doesn't blow up like that again!
After a moments thought, he adds "If you need a day off, let me know. I think everyone else has had at least one day off. We are making good progress, and I don't want to overwork you."
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“Seems where ever I go, what ever the task, some unforeseen danger shows itself. The sooner the lodge is ready, the better prepared we can be when something unforeseen happens.”
Jayma says playfully, "Oh Brekovi dear, you're such a worrywart. What could possibly happen to us out here in the middle of nowhere? Let Mr Creed have the day off if he insists."
After all, we wouldn't want to work the Horgats into an early grave now, would we? There's still plenty more scutwork left for them to do at the fort," she adds to herself, their abominable welcome still fresh in her mind.
Noticing Meadow's new cloak, she says, "Nice new cloak you've got there Meadow. Where have you been hiding it? I especially like the embroidered owl and, uh..." Jayma squints slightly. "Is that a cat? That can't be right; it's green after all, and those feet are a strange shap... Ooooh, it's meant to be a gecko, I think. Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound. After an almost imperceptible pause, Jayma continues, "... gecko." It is only with supreme willpower that she avoided the rising lilt of a question at the end of the last word.
During the lunch break at the fort, Jayma finds a nice secluded corner not far from the others (but far enough not to be casually overheard) and waving a sandwich in her hand to catch Rakka's attention, calls out, "Yoo hoo! Rakka! Come over here and have lunch with me where it's quiet. I want to hear more of your stories."
Once they're sitting close and have exchanged some opening pleasantries ("How is work going today? Isn't the weather perfect?"), Jayma cuts to the chase.
"Rakka, the reason I wanted to talk to you a little privately was to present you with an opportunity. We Pathfinders talk amongst ourselves in the evening about how well the work is going at the fort, and quite often your name is mentioned as someone hard-working, dependable, and steadfast."
Jayma looks into Rakka's inscrutable eyes to see if she sees anything to call her off from the path she's decided on. Seeing nothing, she continues. "Well, when we were given instructions for setting up this new lodge, our venture-captain asked that we keep our eyes open for any locals that we thought the lodge could hire as guards and whatnot. Pathfinders tend to move around a lot, so most lodges keep a permanent staff of area residents to maintain them year-round. Your name kept coming up as the perfect candidate for that kind of position."
Before Rakka can reply, Jayma nods her head, "I know, I know. You're an upstanding Razmiri who is loyal to the Church and who looks out for the safety of its denizens. I know that working at the lodge might seem like a strange idea, but I can assure you that we Pathfinders have no interest in changing anything here in Razmiran. We have nothing against the Church. In fact, we welcome the stability it has brought to this part of the world. The only thing that Pathfinders are interested in is exploration and adventure. I'm pretty sure that Mask Narsen wouldn't have given permission for us to set up a lodge here if he thought we were any kind of threat to Razmiran or the Church."
Jayma reaches into her pouch and pulls out a token.
"I'm not asking you to make any decisions right now. All I ask is that once the new lodge is up and running, that you please take this token to the venture-captain in charge. They'll know immediately that you are someone that they can trust. Please talk to the venture-captain and give him a chance to convince you to work for us at the lodge. If you accept the position, that would be great; if not, that's fine too. Will you do that for me, Rakka?"
vs. (helpful) Rakka
That afternoon Jayma drops by the smithy to see if Edgar and Martin are about. Seeing them at work, she says, "No, no. Don't stop working on my account. I happen to have the day off work today and was getting bored, so I thought I'd come by to see what you fellows were up to."
Jayma looks around the forge with great interest. Except for that one time at venture-captain Smine's Weaponworks in Tymon, where she barely glimpsed what was going on as she quickly passed through the work area to get to the secret lodge in the back, she had never really stopped to watch a blacksmith at work. Back in the castle, one never got to see those types of servants, let alone converse with them. She sighs inwardly, embarrassed by these memories of her youth. A pity really; all this hot metal, pounding hammers and flying sparks, seemed very exciting to her now.
In the lulls, she asks pointed questions about what they're doing and listens in apparent interest at the answers. She didn't even have to pretend, as to her surprise, it was all very interesting. With some trepidation, she asks if she might try some of the tasks. Much to the couple's amusement, she can barely lift the hammer, let alone reach the handle of the bellows. And so it goes until she finally wishes them well and returns to the inn.
vs. (friendly) Edgar
vs. (indifferent) Martin
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In an offended tone Meadow replies, "Yes that's an owl and the other is a gecko of course. Why in the world would I have a cat on my cloak?"
"Ah, now that you mention it, it is... lizard-like. Of course, heh. Fine artistry."
****
"Ah, how did I miss that? It was staring at us, hiding in plain sight... Clever..." Kornel mutters when he begins to arrive at the conclusion of days' worth of research.
Soon upon discovering this, as if reacting to the acknowledgement of Urgathoan presence, Kornel's eyes flash magically, if only for the blink of an eye. His balding dark hair regrows and turns a few shades in a healthier color. Any wrinkles on his skin smoothen — he's seemingly a decade or two younger, in his thirties.
He explains the discovery in full to Meadow, seemingly oblivious to his own de-aging. "It makes sense, no? The fort's origins related to Ustalav, all this secrecy and hiding, shrine in the underground dungeon, the divine magic eminating from the altar..."
"The Society can, eventually, dispel the effect and hallow the place, of course. Until then, well, we can seal the chamber. Us Pathfinders know: sealing an ancient, evil chamber has always worked out, eh?"
By the time Kornel and Meadow have exited the chamber and joined the other agents, Kornel's rapid de-aging has reversed, and the Varisian is back in his middle-aged self.
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“Seems where ever I go, what ever the task, some unforeseen danger shows itself. The sooner the lodge is ready, the better prepared we can be when something unforeseen happens.”Jayma says playfully, "Oh Brekovi dear, you're such a worrywart. What could possibly happen to us out here in the middle of nowhere? Let Mr Creed have the day off if he insists."
“He can take a day off, that seems reasonable. It seems I might need to give Junissa a day off as well, she has been getting” Brekovi pauses a moment, evidently searching for the right word. “anxious?” It doesn’t sound like he is fully satisfied with that description. In a frustrated tone, he admits “I don’t know exactly what the issue is.”
“As for what could happen, on the last building job I was sent to workers got eaten by large cats before we were able to sweep away the threat.”
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Brekovi seems quite determined as he prepares for another day of work. This time he asks for Junissa, Rakka and Avan.
“Back to the wall! Let’s build something that will last!”
He once again reviews the plan with people on the hour long walk out. Confident that Junissa knows her part, he concentrates on advising Avan and Rakka on their specific tasks. “Hopefully we will be able to get a little ahead of the schedule today.” He also suggests that if they hit a problem, come to him first.
He is pleased with how the work goes today.
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Zabu looks at Bessama in surprise for a moment as she mentions her approval of his threat. Then, he laughs, though whether because he thinks her saying that in truth is funny or if he thinks she's joking.
Given his success at hunting, Plisken probably isn't going to miss Zabu as a hunting partner, much. Maybe it was the fact that the two men spent more time chatting and joking than stalking.
He's in a much better mood as he returns to work, gathering up his crew. He still just tosses things off the roof, but is more careful to avoid anyone on the ground.
"Come on, Benyan. Do I seem like the kind of guy who does side projects? If there's work I'm expected to do, I'm going to have someone helping me on it," he says to the man's grumbling.
Whenever the conversation about the altar happens, Zabu frowns and scowls. "I don't care about bricking it back up, if someone wants to do the bricking. But, aren't some of you smart about these kinds of things?" he asks, looking specifically at Brekovi, Kornel and Jayma.
"Why wait for the people who are going to be using this place to fix the problem, if we can do it?"
Eager to start on his project, Shagrat picks people he thinks would know how to find good scrap! Running an inn, Lotte must know how to find other uses for items! Avan needs the skill if he doesn’t have it yet! Petres is tall and strong, he can reach the stuff others aren’t able to!
Unfortunately he spends so much time explaining what he wants to the people, he isn’t able to find the bestest stuff yet!
Today Shagrat chooses new people, hoping some of them might understand what he wants! Sylvania knows lots of stuff, she should know what is good! Matthild is always helpful! Braderock helped with repairs, he should know by now what is useful!
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Whenever the conversation about the altar happens, Zabu frowns and scowls. "I don't care about bricking it back up, if someone wants to do the bricking. But, aren't some of you smart about these kinds of things?" he asks, looking specifically at Brekovi, Kornel and Jayma.
"Why wait for the people who are going to be using this place to fix the problem, if we can do it?"
“Sorry, this is a different sort of magic than I study.” He looks to Kornel and asks “Can you tell us what would be needed?”
Aasif sneers at the thanks from Brekovi. "Don't need no compliment or you running in to save me. I can fight my own battles and I would have ended that in a snap. I just decided she wasn't worth it."
He continues his bit of bluster and holds his chest puffed out. "You don't need to coddle me, if she wants to come at me I'll be ready for a fight. Put me on whatever little job you want. I'm not afraid."
****
The stonemason treats Brekovi with a bit more respect as she addresses him. "Then you take control, but right now I see people letting themselves play loose with the work now. I don't know if they are doing this because the job is nearly done, but I don't care. One slip and it is my head. So I'm more than willing to make sure to let them know I won't let them get off easily."
"If you keep them on task, I'll will be good to finish this job. If you have problem with the way I'm doing things, then speak up and take charge."
****
The next day Junissa is good to her word and lets Brekovi take charge. She gives him a nod for the moments when she notices Avan and Rakka even slightly off task, but lets the wizard keep charge of the group.
The team makes excellent progress for the day. There is only minimal work remaining and the task will almost certainly be done the next day.
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Whenever the conversation about the altar happens, Zabu frowns and scowls. "I don't care about bricking it back up, if someone wants to do the bricking. But, aren't some of you smart about these kinds of things?" he asks, looking specifically at Brekovi, Kornel and Jayma.
As Zabu looks towards Jayma, she widens her eyes and puts her hand to her chest in a moi? sort of way. "I'm afraid, Mr Creed, that this sort of evil-religion altar-neutralization service is somewhat out of my Bailiwick. If Kornel can't deal with it, then re-bricking the room may be the safest approach."
A funny thought then occurs to her. With a straight face, she says, "What if we give Lumley a shot at it? He's a priest after all." She tries to keep a poker face, but it only lasts a couple of seconds before she cracks a smile and devolves into a fit of laughter.
But then, another thought strikes her and she sobers up instantly. "Hold on a second," she says. "Just the other day I was having a nice chat with Sylvina and she drops the bomb that she's a former priestess; apparently of some god I've never heard of before called, um... Hamster, or something like that." She stops to let that sink in. "I'm not really all that clued in on the whole religion side of things. Can an ex-"priestess" un-evilize an altar do you think?"
Benyan glances at Zabu for a moment before give acknowledging what Zabu says seems to be true, at least for now.
Shagrat makes little progress the first day. While those like Avan know the theory of what Shagrat seeks out, there is a lack of understanding of what makes for good goblin scrap and the organization flounders.
They second day goes far better as the team nearly finishes the work on the scrapyard. It isn't enough to make up for the time lost on the first day, but another day of work should be enough to settle the task.
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"I am sorry to fail your expectations, Jayma," Kornel interjects quiet, with an apologetic grin.
The suggestion of asking priest Lumley elicits no reaction from Kornel. When Jayma reveals it was made in (half-?) jest, Kornel lets out an ingenuine sound resembling laughter.
"The necessary ritual would usually involve multiple ritualists, preferably of the same faith. Might be a tall order for Sylvina alone, yes?"
After the rousing conversation Rakka considers the request solemnly as Jayma holds the token. Rakka takes the token and looks it over, "I'll keep it in mind. I will not betray the people here, but your efforts on the fort are to be lauded. I'll hold it and consider it as I continue to see what good your Lodge can do for this area."
The couple listen to Jayma's tails and share a few of their own. Martin confesses that he wasn't aware there was a Venture-Captain who was both a smithy and so near by. "I would like to see their work, see what quality of weapons they forge. Operations like that though I can say I would fit in well. I rather be here with Edgar and work on small projects, than either lead a full workshop or be one among many. I'm my own boss and my best employee, although could easily count Edgar as either of those as well." He opens up a bit as he allows a laugh.
Edgar gives some aid in teaching Jayma the basics, offering a stand to gain easier access to the bellows. He offers advice on the matter and says, "it would take more work than many would put in, but you could learn the trade like I have over the years. We wouldn't have what we have if we hadn't learned so much together."
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"The necessary ritual would usually involve multiple ritualists, preferably of the same faith. Might be a tall order for Sylvina alone, yes?"
With a grimace, Brekovi says “Well we can ask Sylvania. If she can’t do it, I think we will have to talk with Mask Lumley.” It is quite obvious that this is not something Brekovi wants to do.
“Something like this is dangerous. Bricking it up again isn’t going to fix it. Hiding it would be irresponsible and get in the way of future dealings with this country.”
Looking to Jayma, he asks “Do you think you can get Mask Lumley to the point where you could discuss this? I know he currently has no respect for any of us, and I fear I would say the wrong thing and make the situation even worse.”
“If it would help, we can go over the progress made. Complementing him on how well the community has come together to help us with this project. Talk about how Braderock has worked hard and given valuable advice at the beginning that prevented some mistakes. That sort of thing.”
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Aasif sneers at the thanks from Brekovi. "Don't need no compliment or you running in to save me. I can fight my own battles and I would have ended that in a snap. I just decided she wasn't worth it."
He continues his bit of bluster and holds his chest puffed out. "You don't need to coddle me, if she wants to come at me I'll be ready for a fight. Put me on whatever little job you want. I'm not afraid."
“I believe you when you say you can handle yourself. My fear is that such a scuffle would injure the only stonemason I have for this project.”
The stonemason treats Brekovi with a bit more respect as she addresses him. "Then you take control, but right now I see people letting themselves play loose with the work now. I don't know if they are doing this because the job is nearly done, but I don't care. One slip and it is my head. So I'm more than willing to make sure to let them know I won't let them get off easily."
"If you keep them on task, I'll will be good to finish this job. If you have problem with the way I'm doing things, then speak up and take charge."
“Everything I have seen of your work has been exemplary. I’ve been working with you almost every day.” Looking at the diminishing pile of stone he adds “I hate to even think about what would have happened if we attempted to take down the tower without your experience and know how.”
“I will do my best to handle any issues, but please have some patience. I have listened to your advice, changed the plans when you told me of a better way. Trust me that I want to know if there is a problem and get it fixed.”
Definately not going to have her work with Aasif again. He doesn’t seem to respect either of us and it would be just asking for trouble.
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Kornel reassures Brekovi, "Ah, relax. It is not that dangerous, is it? Currently the chamber is mostly just strengthening those faithful to the ol' Pallid Princess. We can just ignore it for now, and so far no one outside our group has even heard about it."
“Would it strengthen any undead nearby, or only those created with her power? How close would they need to be in order to benefit from the power?”
“I know only the basics of necromantic magic. I know that most healing is a form of necromancy. I never studied the religious aspects of it at all.”
Based on the examination Kornel would know that it would bolster any and most undead. It likely would require them to be close to the shrine to benefit from the power. However the power of the shrine is exceptionally powerful, possibly a match for a rare few god-touched artifacts in Absalom. The goddesses power and that might cause other issues that would be difficult to predict and likely unhealthy for the living.
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Morning of day 8.
After a long, boring and quite frankly stressful two days working on translations, Meadow is eager to work somewhere else. She checks the schedule for the day and is dismayed to discover that she misread it two days ago and that she has one more day to spend down in that awful room.
"Oh no! I don't want to go back down there."
She takes a deep breath and steels herself for the work to come as she heads down to finish the translations.
As she meets with Kornel she frowns.
"Kornel, this is a bad place. We need to figure out how to fix it."
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Towards the end of day 8
"Ah, how did I miss that? It was staring at us, hiding in plain sight... Clever..." Kornel mutters when he begins to arrive at the conclusion of days' worth of research.Soon upon discovering this, as if reacting to the acknowledgement of Urgathoan presence, Kornel's eyes flash magically, if only for the blink of an eye. His balding dark hair regrows and turns a few shades in a healthier color. Any wrinkles on his skin smoothen — he's seemingly a decade or two younger, in his thirties.
Meadow recoils at Kornel's transformation but remains transfixed as he reveals his findings.
He explains the discovery in full to Meadow, seemingly oblivious to his own de-aging. "It makes sense, no? The fort's origins related to Ustalav, all this secrecy and hiding, shrine in the underground dungeon, the divine magic eminating from the altar..."
"The Society can, eventually, dispel the effect and hallow the place, of course. Until then, well, we can seal the chamber. Us Pathfinders know: sealing an ancient, evil chamber has always worked out, eh?"
Eyes wide, Meadow nods, still unnerved by Kornel's rejuvenation seemingly caused by this dark epiphany.
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Kornel reassures Brekovi, "Ah, relax. It is not that dangerous, is it? Currently the chamber is mostly just strengthening those faithful to the ol' Pallid Princess. We can just ignore it for now, and so far no one outside our group has even heard about it."
Strangely silent up until now Meadow finally finds her voice.
That place is bad. Very bad. I know that now. I guess I've known it ever since I started sleeping here in the fort at night. I just thought I was silly and having nightmares but it's that...that...evil shrine down there that's responsible. We need to destroy it before it hurts someone."
She turns to Brekovi and points to Kornel.
"You didn't see it Brekovi. He changed! Kornel was changed by that place. He...he...he seemed to draw strength from it. He grew younger...stronger. There was a weird glint in his eyes. He looks better now but who knows what it will do to people in time. We need to stop it as soon as possible."
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Strangely silent up until now Meadow finally finds her voice.
That place is bad. Very bad. I know that now. I guess I've known it ever since I started sleeping here in the fort at night. I just thought I was silly and having nightmares but it's that...that...evil shrine down there that's responsible. We need to destroy it before it hurts someone."
She turns to Brekovi and points to Kornel.
"You didn't see it Brekovi. He changed! Kornel was changed by that place. He...he...he seemed to draw strength from it. He grew younger...stronger. There was a weird glint in his eyes. He looks better now but who knows what it will do to people in time. We need to stop it as soon as possible."
"Oh?" Brekovi gives a speculative look at Kornel.
Then he says "No, he is part of our team not a part of the problem. We are Pathfinders, we cooperate with each other."
Twitching his whiskers, he then turns and asks Meadow "What was that about nightmares?"
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Moderate confusion is visible on Kornel, answering Brekovi's glance. "This is news to me, too. Perhaps it was a mistake to lock an outdoors person like Meadow in that place for too long. Exhaustion takes its toll. Nothing a little rest won't fix, eh?"
"To answer your question, Brekovi my friend: the shrine might have some side-effects. There is a definite possibility it can bolster undead — comes with the territory when Urgathoa is concerned I suppose — but aside from that... Well, it is hard to say. Anything is possible, with magic that potent."
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Twitching his whiskers, he then turns and asks Meadow "What was that about nightmares?"
"Well you know that I've been sleeping here near my geckos to get them used to people. So on the second night in the evening there was a nasty crunching noise that woke me up. I looked around and didn't see anyone but there was a hole opened up to where I had the geckos pinned. Down near that bad place. I went and looked inside and I saw them eating a mangled corpse. Then Gwendoline turned towards me with guts and stuff all hanging out of her mouth and blood all over her face and she hissed at me. I screamed and then I woke up. It was all a dream.
I thought it was just a nightmare. I thought that I was just worried that the geckos might hurt someone before I got them tamed, but I kept feeling uneasy at night in the fort. It got better when we moved them into the cages and away from that room but since I've been working down there these last few days it's been getting worse and worse.
No more nightmares though thank goodness."
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Nodding, Brekovi says "Well then, that tells us a simple brick wall isn't going to contain this problem."
Looking to Kornel, he asks "Is there something that would help contain it? If not, I think we are back to either Sylvina or Mask Lumley."
"There is something we could still do. Sleep in the fort, at different distances from the table. That might give us a better idea of how far the power reaches."
Start of Neth 16th (Day 9 of Rebuild)
Today Lumley speaks of the foolishness of Melcat, a former ruler of a fiefdom within these lands. He rejected the dominion of Razmir after the the lord's ascension with the Starstone.
Melcat thought he was greater than a god. Razmir was merciful to the ignorant fool. Three times Razmir demanded that Melcat swear fealty to him. Three times Melcat rejected him.
That evening Razmir called upon his divine judgement to bring a plague of fire that billowed through the city, killing all and leaving nothing but ash in the wake. Melcat and those that served him died that day for that Duke's foolishness. Remember the power of Razmir and the power he wields against those who deny his right.
Brekovi: Patch the Hole in the Outer Wall (requires stonemason)
Shagrat: Create Goblin Scrapyard (Athletics or Perception check)
Zabu: Construct Cover (Crafting check, can use level as prof bonus if untrained) (with Braderock)
Kornel: Construct Cover (Crafting check, can use level as prof bonus if untrained) (with Avan)
Meadow: Construct Cover (Crafting check, can use level as prof bonus if untrained) (With Wilfred)
Jayma: Talk to Locals
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"I had a dream after I was working down here, too," Zabu says, a little too casually.
He looks around the chamber as they're discussing what to do. "I don't see any reason not to have Lumley come up here and see what he can do. If he can get rid of whatever this is, so much the better.
"The only real danger is if he tries to take over, for some reason. If that happens, we'll have to talk to Mask Narsen and have him set him straight."
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"Mask Narsen is in the capitol and I believe Mask Lumley would like nothing better than to close down this lodge. Still, I do believe that we will have to tell him about it at some point."
He hesitates a moment before adding "There is also the problem that Mask Lumley may not be able to perform the task." His tail twitches nervously and he looks around to make sure no one else is around. "There is reason to doubt the ruler's claims of godhood, in which case Mask Lumley would be unlikely to be able to perform the ritual. If we are to have a lodge here, we don't want to publicly undermine any claims by the theocracy."
"I prefer asking the help of Sylvania, but if we do that we will have to come up with something to tell Mask Lumley and any others here. It could be as simple as claiming it was already inactive when we found it."
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Brekovi chooses Junissa, Rakka and MIkkel for finishing the wall today.
"We shouldn't have any problems finishing the task today!" He then goes over the final tasks that are needed. He asks Junissa "Will you want to walk through it afterwords, check that everything is to your satisfaction?"
Although there are a few problems during the day, it is nothing they aren't able to quickly deal with. The work finishes with much of the day still left.
Brekovi pays them each immediately, saying "Today's tasks are done! Guess you get off early."
As he pays Junissa, he asks her "So will you be able to return home now, or do you need to wait for Mask Narsen to return here first? It seems to me you have been missing home."
Silence hoots solftly then flies to the edge of the roof and preens his feathers.
Junissa grumbles uncertainly toward the project at the start, but is true to her word deferring Brekovi the entire day. That may have been due the work of Rakka and Mikkel. Rakka does the better bit of the work with Mikkel being a bit slower to ask for more direction once done with a task.
Still near the end of the day the wall is completely patched. The scar is still noticeable but a quick inspection from Junissa shows she is satisfied with it. "Time will settle that."
She takes the coin and confirms with Brekovi, "Even if you ordered me, I wouldn't be leaving this village. Mask Narsen expects me to be here when he returns and available for any work you may need. That could be stonework, woodworking, painting this fort green. I'm to be here until the work is verified by him."
She doesn't seem content with either more work on the construction or doing nothing as she listed the options. Looking it over and then to the horizon Junissa declares, "sun will be setting soon enough. Not enough time for a proper inspection. Unless you have other work for me to do, I can check out the work tomorrow in new light."
Edgar and Martin are strong workers and are showing even more devotion now that they can see the fort taking shape. Martin is says with some pride, "my experience is in metal, so looking at the mess of the fort made me think that this would take well over a month, but a few days later it feels like everything is coming together. I'm still missing the heat of the forge, but this is still a bit of work I can be proud of."
However the day is made somewhat more interesting as Avan takes the construction principles he learned from Shagrat and applies them to the roof cover, finding pieces of scrap wood for panels and binding them with any suitable scrap metal he could use as a nail. "I don't know how he did it, but this doesn't seem to be working as well for me as it was for Shagrat."
Still despite that the work on that portion of the roofing remains on schedule.
Despite the merry stories, Wilfred is far more unhappy with this day's work. As Meadow having less expertise in crafting, Wilfred is far less able to fall into any chance to find a chance to slack off or find chance to rest.
Petres also is unwilling to allow Wilfred any leeway to escape the task. When Wilfred asks for a break less than an hour in Petres is the one that leads with a firm rejection of that idea.
Compounding it Rakka keeps the team on a steady clip of progress as she manages to keep up with bantering with Meadow, her own portion of the work, and making sure the work is divided up properly. At the end of the day Rakka does ask Meadow privately, "is something wrong? You seem to be worried about something. Is this about Petres or Aasif? I know you spoke to Petres the days following. Do you worried we aren't fit for the task any more?"
****
One major point of contention between the two deities is on the matter of theft. The faith of Hanspur regards the general code of ethics that loosely govern the River Kingdoms as part of their church doctrine. Among them that burglary, taking of property without the owner's knowledge, is regarded far more harshly than robbery, which allows the victim to face their attacker and resist the theft. On the other hand Lao Shu Po puts no such restrictions on the morality of thievery.
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During their daily after-work discussion the previous evening, the talk about how to deal with the undead altar led Brekovi to suggest that they try to make Lumley a little less unfriendly in case they needed his help to remove the threat it posed. Jayma had thought this was dangerous and unnecessary, but had been talked into making the attempt.
Cracking her mental knuckles for what she expected would be a tougher job than the other locals had so far proven to be, she approaches Lumley after morning services. She greets him with a, "Priest Lumley, I do hope this fine morning finds you in excellent health and good spirits," thinking to herself, she adds, "yes, please be in good spirits at least."
"I've been meaning to talk to you these past few days to let you know how fascinating and enlightening your sermons have been. I found today's sermon to be particularly interesting; that Melcat fellow sure seems to have had it coming to him, eh? Maybe one day I'll get to hear the rest of the story of what happened to the foolish former ruler." she smiles broadly at him to show her sincerity. She considers unleaching a puppy-dog face, but decides to hold off for the time being. No need to resort to the nuclear option until she knew better how tough the priest would be to bring around.
"I have to admit that I've never been particularly religious up until now. Life in Absalom doesn't exactly engender devotion to religious causes; much of its citizenry is driven more by the hunt for lucre than by a search for righteousness. Being assigned to this mission and coming here to Prophet's Rest has been a real eye-opener for me." She opens her own eyes wider to emphasize this last point.
"To pass the time over the past few days, I've been talking to some of the residents. Without fail, they've all shown a great deal of contentment with their lives in Prophet's Rest, and invariably give you credit for this wonderful achievement. I for one, am happy that Mask Narsen chose the old fort for our new lodge. I can't think of a more idyllic location for it, so close to this wonderful village of yours. I didn't want another day to pass without expressing my gratitude to you for making our stay here so agreeable." At this last bit of exaggeration, Jayma can't help but throw up a little in her mouth. "Brekovi is going to owe me big after what I've had to go through here."
vs. (unfriendly) Lumley
After her little talk with Lumley, Jayma goes back to the inn. Once safely in her room, she collapses into a chair exhausted. Swiping her hand over her body, she says, "erado", and tries to scrub the unctuous feeling from her skin. Unfortunately, this doesn't do anything for the bad taste in her mouth, but a couple of hastily gulped-down glasses of water take most of the edge off.
To come off as truly believable when attempting to influence someone in this way, requires that you to enter the mind of your target to see how your efforts would be viewed through their eyes and with their thoughts; you essentially have to reshape your own mind to think like theirs.
With the normal villagers this was not particularly stressful and in some cases actually enjoyable, as they tended to be nice people to begin with, but with someone as twisted inside as Lumley, the story was very different. The mental contortions it took to sway someone like Lumley were particularly brutal, and recovering mentally from such attempts usually took a little time.
After taking some time to recover at the inn, Jayma drags herself from her bed and makes the journey up to the fort. She waits for the lunch break and corrals Martin and Edgar off to one side for a quiet chat.
"I see that you're doing really well on the new cover construction with Kornel. Looks like it might even get finished today. Not surprising really. We were talking amongst ourselves last night and your names came up during the conversation."
She looked to make sure she had gotten their attention before going in for the kill. "You see, when we were given instructions for setting up this new lodge, our venture-captain asked that we keep our eyes open for any locals that we could trust enough to work at the new lodge. We Pathfinders tend to come and go a lot and there's always a need horse shoeing, repairing shields, sharpening weapons, and other similar jobs. Occasionally, we'll even need good strong men like you two to help with other work as well, such as building covers like this one."
"I know that working more permanently for us here at the lodge might seem like a strange idea, but I can assure you that we Pathfinders are not a threat to anyone around here and we pay with good coin. The only thing that Pathfinders are interested in is exploration and adventure, and we're quite happy to leave the more mundane work to others. I'm pretty sure that Mask Narsen wouldn't have given us permission to set up a lodge here if he thought we were any kind of threat to Razmiran or the Church."
She reaches down and pulls two more tokens out of the rapidly dwindling supply in her pouch, and hands one to each of the men.
Looking each in the eye in turn, she says, "I'm not asking you to make any decisions right now. All I ask is that once the new lodge is up and running, that you please take these tokens to the venture-captain in charge. They'll know immediately that you are someone that they can trust. Please talk to the venture-captain and give them a chance to convince you to work for us at the lodge. If you accept the position, that would be great; if not, that's fine too. Will you do that for me, Martin? Edward?"
vs. (helpful) Edgar
vs. (helpful) Martin
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Zabu collects Wilfred and Bessama, the latter more to give her a day off from working at the inn than because he needs her help, and joins the other crews on the roof.
Frankly, he has almost no idea what he's doing and uses techniques similar to Shagrat's but without the years of practice and expertise underlying it.
He doesn't say much, letting others take the lead but letting his silence insinuate that he would have done the same thing.
In the end, he doesn't do too bad, even if he does say so himself.
Lumley responds to the idea of learning more of Melcat with a mocking laughter. "There is no more to the tale. His story ends there as a lesson to all that defied the power of the living god."
"It however, exceptional that you see the ideals I have cultivated in this place over the years. Although Mask Narsen has taking his own hand to affect the village, what you are seeing are my successes." He looks down with in indomitable and towering pride. "It is a mark of wisdom for you to recognize it."
"Although you clearly still are blind to faith, if you can't find it living in the city that Razmir, thrice-blessed be His name, ascended to divinity." He glowers down and shows contempt for Jayma as he declares, "At least you show hope for learning and correcting those errors. Far more than I would have expected of your ilk."
"I'm curious if any of your companions feel any differently than you. You are more than welcome to continue to the sermons and learn more of the faith and confession is open for anything you need to report."
Overall his criticism is toned down significantly as Jayma struck a strong cord within his pride.
Martin looks at the token and asks, "we are more than willing to do the work for the pay, but in any case I don't like being talked down to or thrown condescending lies. If this was a matter of just working for your lodge that wouldn't be trying to hand out tokens marked with the symbol of Razmir on them. That isn't a sign of not being a threat to the church."
Edgar also looks apprehensive, "I ... we have worked hard to stay safe and keep our work. Then you pull these out and manage to drag that into danger with a smile on your face? You may leave, but this is our home, business, and lives being risked."
Martin takes both the tokens and pockets them. "I don't being treated as a common tool you can wield about. I'll take your advice and not decide now. We will see if your actions hold more merit than your words."
While Zabu isn't able to get Wilfred, but Matthild is happy to take up the place and work on the construction.
Braderock isn't certain how to take the silence at first, but as the work nears the end of the day he seems somewhat satisfied with the full work as the cover is now completed. He still seems nervous about the quality of the work, but the taciturn response from Zabu seems to avoid setting him off in a panic.
It takes the rest of the day, but Shagrat and his workers are able to finish the task for the day. It certainly doesn't match the ascetics of the centuries old fort, but at the end looks like it will hold together well enough for some time.
Start of Neth 17th (Day 10 of Rebuild)
Freshly inspired, Lumley speaks of Razmir's ascension as a deity. He accomplished something grand by being the first to pass Test of the Starstone in the modern age and no others have been able to accomplish it since then.
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Jayma collects Braderock, Martin and Edgar after morning services and tells them, "Looks like it'll just be us working at the fort today. If things go well, then tomorrow we should be all done with the rebuilding of the fort. Won't that be a joyous day."
After another long day of work they stand back and look at the progress...
... and are satisfied with the results. "Tomorrow we'll have two teams working to finish this up. The end is in sight!"
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Still day 9
Despite the merry stories, Wilfred is far more unhappy with this day's work. As Meadow having less expertise in crafting, Wilfred is far less able to fall into any chance to find a chance to slack off or find chance to rest.
Petres also is unwilling to allow Wilfred any leeway to escape the task. When Wilfred asks for a break less than an hour in Petres is the one that leads with a firm rejection of that idea.
Compounding it Rakka keeps the team on a steady clip of progress as she manages to keep up with bantering with Meadow, her own portion of the work, and making sure the work is divided up properly. At the end of the day Rakka does ask Meadow privately, "is something wrong? You seem to be worried about something. Is this about Petres or Aasif? I know you spoke to Petres the days following. Do you worried we aren't fit for the task any more?"
"No it's not that Rakka. I'm just worried I guess. About what will happen when we leave here. Has Petres always been mean? You've known him for a long time right? Has he always been like this?
And Wilfred. He's the town carpenter. He doesn't seem to want to work to improve this town. What's wrong with him? Has he always been lazy?"
Meadow will ask Kornel if she can take the box of letters and its contents for awhile to examine. After the day's work is done she takes Silence out hunting. Once she finds a suitable spot for the owl to find some field mice or lemmings she will take out the letters and map and spend some time examining them thoroughly.
"Petres has always been stern, but the guard has made him more resolute in his devotion and aggressive. He thinks the country will only thrive through the devotion to the cause. There was a time where he was more lienent in his judgement, but that was years ago."
Rakka's feelings are mixed on Petres and seems grateful to move onto the subject of Wilfred.
"I've only known Wilfred for the few years I've been assigned to town. I know he used to apprentice at the carpenter, but that was before I arrived. He has always been among the devoted at temple, but less for his own work."
The fort is very quiet compared to the prior weeks with only a handful of workers rather than the dozen that the fort has been seeing on a daily basis.
Braderock seems happy with the quiet and the couple work well as a team moving lumber into position as the carpenter and Jayma manage the details of the construction.