From her new vantage point Hope began to pull in power again before she unleashed a blast of gravity. It flew down at the bugbear with increased power reaching even from her lofty perch atop the building.
Finishing his casting, Screaming Moon points at the bugbear and a bolt of lightning strikes down from the night sky.
With a flick of her wrist, Fi's scimitar erupts into flames and the glow of the flaming blade illuminates her less-than-ideally-clothed body in night streets. With more solid footing this time, she lunges forward and strikes again!
Ruby Meadow's strength returns and fights off the effects of the poison.
Grinning, she does her best to end the bugbear.
The bugbear dodges some of Screaming Moon's lightning blast, but both Ruby and Fioralba land hits on the assassin. Hope lands the finishing blow with her gravity blast, and the battered bugbear crumples to the street.
The note the bugbear carries appears to be a list of your names written in Varisian in elegant handwriting. This note bears an aura of faint transmutation magic.
Feeling more than a little embarrassed at her bad landing, Triel picks up the note the bugbear dropped.
"...right. Makes me wonder if the handwriting belongs to someone we know." She quips before looking around for any rubberneckers.
Having spotted a few, she gives them a suitable glare before moving to retreat inside. Surely, a pair of naked aasimar women would prove to be a good enough distraction.
Seeing Triel's discomfort, Screaming Moon opens another wormhole to move her back into the suite.
"Ruby Meadow, I can't bring you back up. Let me go fetch a rope."
He heads back inside to find a rope to drop down to the street for the others.
Triel stumbles as a wormhole suddenly swallows her up and deposits her back in her suite.
"WHA?!"
With the bugbear down and the corpse rifled Hope heard Screaming Moon tell Ruby Meadow he would let down a rope. Hope had a different idea and began to drop down towards the ground with bursts of gravity.to guide her. She came to a stop above Ruby and asked, "Need a lift?"
She wasn't entirely sure if this would work but it was worth a try. Better to find out if she could carry people now rather than later. It was obvious that her control was a bit shaky and she wobbled as she hovered but, at least so far, Hope had avoided hurting herself.
Ruby Meadow peers up at Hope for a moment, then looks at the twins and their current state of undress.
"Thank you, Hope DuMorne. I fear that I might be a bit heavy for you though. Maybe start with one of them?"
Shrugging Hope said, "OK," She drifted over to where Ela and Fio were and asked, "Anyone want to try a ride back up?" She pointedly tried not to look at eh naked Ela and was blushing furiously regardless.
"Why, that sounds lovely, it's a bit chillier out here than I first noticed." Fioralba responds to the request and makes her return back above. Once up top, she pecks a kiss on Hope's cheek and says "Thanks, Hope."
She looks down at her sister and says "Come alone, Ela." before turning to look at the broken window with a frown. "Do you think they are going to make us pay for that?"
She asks for the list of names and studies it, surprised by her findings. "Hmmmm. This note has some lingering magic on it."
Fioralba identifies the magic as the effects of a secret page spell. Without knowing the activation word, though, you'll need to use true seeing or dispel the magic to read the note's true contents.
"It has a secret page spell on it. I don't have the spell I need to find out activation word, so the hidden text eludes me. We can go shopping tomorrow and I can pick it up though."
"I can prepare Dispel Magic in the morning, unless you had some other plan"
"If they DO try to charge us for the broken window, we can charge them in turn for failure to protect against an attempted assassination." Triel grumbles as she sits down on her bed.
She doesn't spare the naked twins too much thought.
...huh. They really are identical.
The rest of the night passes without incident. A carriage comes to fetch you after you enjoy a gourmet breakfast at The Gryphine, returning you to Heidmarch Manor and your audience with the Sihedron Council. When Sheila Heidmarch learns about the various attacks on your party, she’s aghast that the Gryphine wasn’t secure, while simultaneously becoming more resolved in her convictions that big events are unfolding and that you are at the center of them.
Before the council meeting occurs, Screaming Moon is able to dispel the secret page spell on the note. Once revealed, the real note is short and to the point, indicating where you could be found in the Gryphine and that your party may have been softened up by a “gift of special cigars.” The note concludes with a promise for more work “once we return from our duties in the Forsaken Mezzanine.”
"The Forsaken Mezzanine... That is one of the many dungeon levels that lies hidden below Hollow Mountain," Sheila says with a frown.
***
Once everything is sorted, you find yourselves once again in Heidmarch Manor's large reception room, but this time you are joined by the full collection of Sihedron Council members: elegant Sheila Heidmarch (the council's leader); Lord Mayor Haldmeer Grobaras, decked out in all his finery (representing Magnimar's government); Sabriyya Kalmeralm, a merchant of considerable influence in Magnimar (representing the city's businesspeople); and Koriah Azmeren, a renowned Pathfinder and adventurer herself (representing Magnimar's citizens).
"I would like to call this meeting of the Sihedron Council to order," Sheila states. "Regretfully, our honored guests were attacked in their lodgings last night. These attacks confirm the seriousness of the growing threats to Varisia." She turns towards you with a grave look in her eyes. "What I'm about to reveal to you must remain secret, both in order to prevent the spread of panic and to maintain any advantage you can hold regarding an element of surprise.
"At the time the events you became embroiled with in Roderic's Cove were playing out, were playing out, similar signs and omens came to our attention. The Sihedron, a potent Thassilonian artifact recently recovered and rebuilt by heroes to aid in Varisia's defense against the runelords, flared in power and alerted us that something monumental had taken place. At first we suspected that this was the result of a runelord wakening, but there are others who believe the flare was the result of a runelord's death. In either case, we needed to know more, and so we sent a group of heroes who had stood against the runelords before out under cover of secrecy to investigate, armed with the Sihedron.
"And that's the last we've heard from them. We continue to attempt to contact the heroes, but with each passing day I fear that they are beyond our reach, and that whatever fate befell them could mean peril for the rest of Varisia. Your news from Roderic's Cove only gives further weight to these fears.
"All signs point now to Hollow Mountain, and to the very likely development that Runelord Alaznist has awoken. We have other agents in the field throughout Varisia investigating these recent events, but we haven't sent anyone to Hollow Mountain yet. We have a proposition for you: we would like to deputize all of you as agents of the Sihedron Council. If this is not agreeable, you may leave this chamber with your rewards and perhaps offer prayers for our success contending with the great threat coming our way. But I hope you will accept. If you do, your first assignment would be a daunting one: sail to Rivenrake Island, enter Hollow Mountain, and investigate the situation within."
Sheila pauses to let her words sink in. The look of nervousness on the lord mayor's face and the empathetic grimace on Koriah Azmeren's speaks to Hollow Mountain's dreadful reputation.
Fioralba frowns and cuts right to it. This was not where she saw this going at all. "Sorry. That's a lot to take in. Let me paraphrase a bit. You sent the best equipped, most experienced heroes with an extremely powerful magical artifact to kill a Runelord, but now you suspect they are dead and the Runelord has the Sihedron and we are plan B."
She folds her arms and asks "Is that about it?"
Triel attends the proceedings wearing her hawk mask and having put her travelling clothes on over her bodysuit.
It can take whatever form I wish... so long as said form doesn't have pockets. The one failing of drow design.
She listens to Heidmarch's debriefing on the situation, her expression turning grim underneath her mask. So... what they're saying is, 'we're screwed and you're the only ones who can cut our losses.'
Oh, come on, Triel--that's unfair. This isn't Zirnakaynin. And they're giving us a chance to back out!
...which they wouldn't offer if we weren't already targets. If we go, we're in danger--if we leave, we're in even more danger with no recourse. Shrewd of them.
Or they're decent people and they have faith that we'll help them.
Fi's summation gives voice to Triel's thoughts.
"...this is an official mission, I take it?"
Hope had Fio stand on her feet and then place her arms around her and hold on. It was very much like a hug except Fio was naked and Hope wobbled a bit as she shot up to the room Once Fio went through the window and kissed her on the cheek Hope went from blushing slightly to a nearly crimson in color. She dropped back down a bit quicker than she intended to and landed a bit roughly.
Hope went to the other naked aasimar, the one she was still smitten with, and stammered, "Um E-e-ela. W-w-would you like a ride back up to?"
Hope woke and felt like crap. Much of the backlash of her blast the night before was still there and she felt like she'd been crushed by a giant all over. At least she wouldn't have to intentionally do this to herself fr quite a while so it at least had it's upside. She moved tenderly for the first part of the day but was functional.
At their meeting with the council Hope listened to what Sheila had to say. It was all pretty terrifying but it seemed important. More Runelords awakening!? The thought was terrifying but it also seemed like she should do something. Even if Hope had become rather jaded and isolated her friends were beginning to pull her out of that shell. She also felt the obligation to help, she remembered the stories of her mom being involved in a fight with the Runelords and kind of felt like it was her duty to get involved.
Hope looked to her friends when the explanation was completed to see what they would do. She didn't want to be the first one to volunteer, and probably wouldn't if they weren't, so for now she waited.
”That is, perhaps, an oversimplification,” Sheila says to Fio, ”but essentially, yes. And this will be an officially sanctioned mission, Madame Hawk, so you will have the full support of Magnimar and the Sihedron Council, should you choose to accept it.”
With the news that the mission is an official one, Madame Hawk nods.
"Very well, then. My expertise is yours."
...and thank you for not asking me to remove my mask.
Screaming Moon listens to the proceedings and frowns with disapproval. The disgusting bulk of Grobaras, and the pretentious wealth of the entire city he has seen so far setting him on edge.
"One group of slavers is being threatened by another group of slavers and you expect the quahs to be moved to protect you? My inclination is to stand aside and hope that in the aftermath we might reclaim our ancestral lands."
He looks around to guage the impact of his words and finds the expressions on the faces around the room to hold little to convince him otherwise.
"I am not foolish enough to believe that the Runelords would be better than the current unjust society of this city, especially if one Runelord is possibly eliminating the others and we have seen the minions these Runelords have working for them. Plus, my fate is intertwined with these others currently. I will go along with the decisions of these others though returning to the way things are will provide me no pleasure."
With everyone agreeing (more or less) to accept the mission, Sheila nods. "Very well. It seems there are two tasks in particular you should complete while exploring Hollow Mountain. First, your description of the malfunctioning portal that the sinspawn Mozamer used to infiltrate Roderic's Cove is disturbing news, and tracking down this portal in Hollow Mountain and shutting it down should be the your first and foremost goal. Second, as you explore Hollow Mountain, you should keep an eye out for hints and clues as to Alaznist's plots and plans, and follow up on those clues as they appear."
Sabriyya Kalmeralm clears her throat. "Pardon the interruption, but Hollow Mountain is a massive complex of twisting caverns and dungeons. How exactly are these heroes going to find Mozamer's needle of a gateway in the mountain's proverbial haystack, even knowing that it's somewhere called the 'Forges of Wrath'?"
Koriah Azmeren leans forward with a slight smile. "Kelhuud. A ranger named Kelhuud. He was part of a Pathfinder expedition to Hollow Mountain a few years ago. Half of his party died in the place, but when time came to return home, he refused—said he preferred to stay on the island. His companions thought he had lost his mind, but he couldn't be persuaded to join them in the boat. Since then, he's been seen in the wilderness of Rivenrake by at least half a dozen Pathfinder expeditions, and those who've been able to catch him in a lucid, cooperative mood have learned much about the various entrances to Hollow Mountain. If anyone knows what part of the complex would have been the most likely place for a creature like Mozamer to dwell in, Kelhuud would. Or at the very least, he'd know where to start looking."
Haldmeer Grobaras nods. "That sounds like a solid lead. How would they go about contacting this Kelhuud?"
"When a Pathfinder expedition wants to contact him, they generally land on Rivenrake Island's southeast shoreline at a beach known as the 'Old Man's Launch,'" Koriah explains. "The beach is said to be haunted by the titular old man and the fiendish hounds said to have devoured him alive, but the Pathfinders have never encountered any truth to the rumors in their dozen or so trips to the beach. Once there, you'd need only to light a smoky fire on the beach to signal him that visitors are on their way. The Pathfinders have kept a trail blazed from the beach to his campsite, and while you may well encounter some monstrous wildlife along the way, the trail itself is easy to follow. Once you reach Kelhuud's campsite, you should be respectful and calm, and if you find the man to be in one of his more uncooperative moods, simply retreat for a day and try to contact him on the morrow."
"A SOLID LEAD?!" she blurts out, "Find a delusional, detached and hermit ranger who lost all of his friends in a place that we need to go? This is your plan for us? Sure. This is a great plan. No wonder you lost the other group." Fioralba throws her hands up in the air in frustration as she walks out.
Screaming Moon listens with some concern at the description of the man and his only occasional lucidity. "Was the man driven mad by what he saw? Have any attempts been made to heal this ailment?"
"Do you have a better idea, Ms. Thehm?" Triel says as the frustrated aasimar walks out of the room.
"...and of course you don't. As expected." She turns back to the room. "How soon are we to leave?"
”He won’t let anybody stay near him long enough to diagnose him, let alone attempt to heal him. But you are welcome to try, if you are so inclined,” Koriah says with a shrug.
”You should leave as soon as you are ready,” Sheila says. ”Transportation to Rivenrake Island is normally difficult, as few ships are willing to make the journey to the notorious isle. I suggest you broach the subject with the captain of the vessel that brought you to Magnimar. We will offer twice the typical rate for the journey from the Sihedron Council's coffers. If Captain Sursha Antefalle turns you down, then we can investigate other methods."
Triel nods.
"One last thing--what dangers can we expect on Rivenrake Island?"
"Some monstrous wildlife dwells there, but you should be able to handle that," Koriah says. "The real dangers lurk within Hollow Mountain rather than outside of it."
"Very well, then."
"I believe I am ready to leave."
After answering any other questions you might have, the members of the Sihedron Council bid you good luck and send you on your way.
When you broach the subject of traveling to Rivenrake Island to Sursha Antefelle, she snickers a bit. "Of course! I'm more than willing to take the Sihedron Council's coin and help out my newest friends. We can be ready to head out tomorrow morning. I'm not surprised you want me to sail up there, considering what I've heard from other sailors over the past few days."
She goes on to explain how Magnimar's waterfront has been abuzz lately with stories that not one but two ships were chartered by separate groups to travel to Rivenrake in the last several days, and Tyalee's Whim will be the third. Sursha can tell you that the first of the other two ships was the Lordim Racer, a Magnimarian merchant-transport similar to Tyalee's Whim, hired by a group of brutish-looking thugs for passage to the same location you seek: Old Man's Launch. The second was Frijaya, hired by a smaller group of "well-dressed fops" who paid well on a larger ship bound for Kalsgard in the Land of the Linnorm Kings to sail close enough to Rivenrake for the trio to debark on their own magical folding boat. Little is known about this second group or their intended landing spot on Rivenrake (and the Frijaya is, assumedly, well on her way north to Kalsgard by now), but the Lordim Racer returned to Magnimar a day ago with the crew recounting a harrowing tale of having put their six passengers ashore on a longboat only to then watch in horror as the passengers murdered the two sailors who had transported them. The Lordim Racer's captain made the decision to abandon the bodies and skiff to Rivenrake after it became apparent her crew would have mutinied if she'd forced any of them to shore on the notorious island. The Lordim Racer didn't remain in Magnimar for long, and it left just this morning on a journey to Korvosa, but it sounds like the group they'd transported were cultists of some sort who had planned the murders all along.
You have a day to take care of business in Magnimar. It may be a good time to assist Audrahni with her request...
"How dreadful! What end could possibly be served by killing those who have accomplished a service for you?
The other group sounds like what I imagine The Peacock Society might be like, but these thuggish cultists sound horrible. I wonder if either group are the ones who tried to murder us?"
Screaming Moon considers the possibilities for a moment before continuing. "It appears the forces of Pride and Wrath are assembled before us and both have a head start. I suspect these groups would be happy to fight each other, but do you think they would band together to fight us?"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
With their plans made and discussion on what to do next Hope said, "I don't need more gear, I think I am fine with what I have. We do need to help Audrahni with her task. She has helped us and we owe her for that."
Elanna nods, repressing a slight sigh as she does so. Audrahni has been useful and its only fair that they help her in response - but some time to relax and enjoy Magnimar is much higher on her list of things she wants than investigating a long-ago tragedy.
"I suppose so."
"Oh, yes, of course! We should definitely check in with Audrahni and see if she is ready before we leave."
Audrahni says she is ready to perform the cleansing ritual later tonight. You spend the rest of the day visiting Magnimar's markets to shop and prepare for your journey. As night approaches, Audrahni leads you to the site where she intended to raise the statue of Saint Sazzleru. It has been left empty in the years since she engineered the statue's collapse. Today, the lot is empty save for a low mound of rubble at its center.
Audrahni seems more morose than normal, timid even. As night falls and the time comes to perform the ritual, though, she takes a deep breath, steps up to the edge of the rubble, and, a tremor of nervousness in her voice, begins to pray to Ashava for the first time in many years.
A few moments after Audrahni begins to pray, her words have a startling result. A humanoid shape composed of gusts of dust-laden wind and churning bits of bone rises up from the debris. This can only be Ilsynor's restless spirit. "Audrahni!" it gasps. "You killed me, and now, I will have my vengeance!"
The shade flies at Audrahni, brushing her as she dodges away and leaving a light wound behind.
They are susceptible to high winds, which they react to as if they were Tiny corporeal creatures.
When the spectral spirit appeared Hope felt a wave of fear wash over her leaving her shaken. The void inside of her tried to swallow it but was unable to. Instead Hope bit back on the fear and sent a blast of gravity lancing out at the ghostly being.
Once her attack was away she quickly moved back until she no longer felt so shaken by the thing's presence.
Screaming Moon looks at the shade with some pity. but does not find it to be fearful. He notes that its attack did not appear to have any draining effect, for which he is grateful.
"Stand strong, Audrahni. We are here to back you up and cleanse this site."
Gesturing at Ilsynor, he causes motes of light to form on the shade.
Before setting out for the site, Ruby Meadow drinks her mutagen, accepting the bestial appearance in order to be as effective as possible as a defender.
Following Screaming Moon's example, she ignores the instinctual fear of the shade and moves in to assist Audrahni.
Fioralba moves to setup flanking alongside of the shade, before taking a swipe at him. Unfortunately for magus however, she is so unnerved by its presence that she isn't able to focus as well as she should.
Triel sneers at the spirit as it makes its wrath known, her eyes flashing a familiar eerie blue behind her hawk mask.
"Enough, ghost. BEGONE." She says with a glare, sending a burst of psychic magic its way with the intent of tearing it to pieces!
Ilsynor howls as Triel's magic disrupts its form, but it resists the worst of it. Screaming Moon outlines it with glowing stardust, but it manages to avoid Hope's blast and Fio's slash. Ruby lands a solid hit, though, and the shade turns from Audrahni as the wide-eyed elf scrambles to get to safety. Ilsynor reaches for Ruby, landing one hit.
Rather annoyed that Ilsyor didn't take the hint, Triel gives him another blast.
Out of range of the shade's aura Hope pulled together another blast of power and sent it flying at the undead shade.
So far pleased with the way the battle is going, Screaming Moon retrieves his wand of Bless and activates it.
As the shade's touch leaches her energy, Ruby Meadow becomes uncertain. She does not back down, but the uncertainty causes her swing to go wide.
This time, Hope's blast strikes true, the burst of gravity disrupting Ilsynor's spirit. Fio scores a hit with her scimitar, then Triel purges the undead shade again. Even though it resists her spell, the amount of damage Ilsynor has taken is enough to cause him to vanish with a final strangled cry!
Shaken by the undead's attack, Audrahni takes a few moments to compose herself. "Thank you for saving me from his wrath, friends. Now I must set things right." She resumes the ritual, eyes closed in prayer. The elf raises her arms to the night sky as she begins the graceful steps of an intricate dance.
Screaming Moon watches the ritual, but keeps his eyes open, waiting to see if more spirits appear.
Recognizing the purpose of the prayer and its accompanying dance, Triel opts to join in.